FILE SHARING NEWS ARCHIVE
Walruses and sock puppets
 p2pnet news view Freedom | P2P:- The pic on the right came in an email yesterday.
No text, but the message is clear enough.
There were also other emails waiting for me this morning, most of them saying, politely and not so polititely, I’m making a Big Mistake by talking with Billy Bragg.
But before I go on, to address points raised in one email: p2pnet isn’t entrepreneurial and it isn’t a business. Corny as it may sound, it’s a commitment.
As regular contributor catflap has just said in an email, “You own and run p2pnet, but p2pnet has become more than you — commenters and readers and writers alike. Don’t you think so?”
I do indeed.
There’s no paid staff. In fact, there’s no staff at all. Just me. Everyone who contributes – including people who post Reader’s Writes — does so because s/he wants to, or because I’ve asked if I can reproduce their work here. But no one receives a dime —- not that I wouldn’t love to be able to commission works and pay for articles.
p2pnet is a personal page which went online in August, 2002. As I say in About »»»
It was the first Internet web page to carry daily, frequently updated news, stories, features and commentaries on digital media, distributed computing and associated technologies and events which haven’t been spun, filtered and pre-digested by vested corporate interests.
It places special emphasis on freedom of speech, P2P and sharing.
It’s my sole source of income and believe me, it’s often a struggle, and always a worry. No fat cigars, even if I did smoke. 
p2pnet survives, quite literally, month-to-month thanks to a supporter who wants to remain anonymous, but who’s been meeting the lion’s share of my expenses for approaching two years, and to flat rate payments from advertisers, all of whom I regard as friends.
Those @#$%^&* pirates!
In We are the walrus. Or, thank you Lily Allen, “I ran a post slugged Billy Bragg solves the file sharing problem,” I said, going on »»»
It was based on his September 30 editorial in The Guardian called A better way to sink internet pirates.
I followed it up yesterday with Billy Bragg to p2pnet and over the course of the two posts, something happened I don’t believe has happened before since the file sharing controversy was launched by the labels in 2003.
Then, working for Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music, Sony Music, their RIAA started the bizarre sue ‘em all marketing campaign under which the people who kept the labels in business are called criminals and thieves and are ‘persuaded’ to continue consuming ‘product’ under constant threat of being financially ruined in the law courts if they don’t.
My original post was less than complimentary to Billy Bragg. But he responded in a series of comments addressing individual points raised by p2pnet readers.
I added, “And I believe his explanations and observations not only clarified what’s going on in the minds of some, at least, independent and contracted artists in a way never seen before, but by virtue of the fact he bothered to post at all, he also gave us access to musicians who until this point have been locked off.”
I still see it that way.
The Big4 love fragmentation
For close to eight years there’s been a vicious fight started by the major corporate music labels, who want to control everything at any price. And that includes everyone who likes music. But to the best of my knowledge, there’s never, ever, been a way for fans to talk directly with musicians, and vice versa.
Which suits music industry just fine. They love fragmentation. They adore it. It suits them right down to the ground to see us constantly at odds with each other.
Because divided, we’re just a bunch of powerless fools running around like headless chickens. And that’s precisely the way Vivendi Universal (France), Sony (Japan), EMI (Britain), and Warner Music (US, but controlled by a Canadian) who are, to all intents and purposes, the corporate music industry, want things to stay.
The absolute last thing they want is to see us talking together without corporate interference.
There are lots of differences. And there are just as many misperceptions. On both sides. But the only way they’ll get sorted is if we talk to each other. And that means taking risks and being open to being wrong.
So fuck ‘em. It doesn’t matter a damn if we’re disagreeing. As long as we’re talking, sooner or later, we’ll reach common ground. Guaranteed.
As I said to someone in an email this morning, “On Billy Bragg, for me, it’s simple. This is a fairly well-known UK performer who’s plugged into the music industry. I can talk with him without agreeing with everything he says. The way things are, everything is so polarised that intelligent, two-way communication is practically impossible.
“I’ve spoken with Bragg on the phone and he strikes me as someone who’s genuinely willing to talk and listen and who might be able to help.
“If I’m wrong, we’ll soon know and I’ll freely and plainly admit it in big black letters.”
Keep on talking …
A little while back I was attacked by a Big Music executive for standing up for two people chosen as Big Music poster victims.
Now, somewhat ironically, I’m being attacked for wanting to see conversations start between fans and music-makers.
However, the only way any of us can move forward and, not at all incidentally, confound Big Music, is to start talking to each other and keep talking.
So if you have any ideas, share them. 
For example, here’s what Henry Emrich suggests Bill should do »»»
1. Retract your ‘overwhelming’ support for Liy Allen and her corporate paymasters. Do NOT support throttling (even for ‘incorrigible’ file-sharers) because doing so inevitably demonizes the entire p2p community, and in so doing, concedes the corporate labels’ entire argument.
2. Issue a statement advocating that copyright terms be reduced to something more reasonable/less overtly pernicious. (Remember, Billy: for all your bravado about how p2pers are ’stealing your apples’, the fact is, those ‘apples’ were — and are — indended to eventually enter the Public Domain. Monopoly privileges like copyright are just that — PRIVILEGES, and, as the p2p thing illustrates, you/your corporate handers ignore that at your peril.
3. Read Lawrence Lessig’s book “Free Culture”. It’s available on the Net for free, and it’s not that long. Hell, there’s even an “audiobook” version for free download, so you don’t even have THAT excuse. If you’re going to run an ‘advocacy’ lobby, it only makes sense that you understand at least something about the issues you’re lobbying about.
4. Please stop recycling corporate boilerplate about the ‘threat’ posed by p2p. Despite their whimpering, the corporate entertainment industry is doing just fine. P2p represents a potential threat to them, alright: the threat that folks might be able to get noticed WITHOUT having a multi-billion dollar corporate propaganda machine behind them. (You, of ALL people, should understand the inherent appeal of DIY, REAL grassroots, etc. After all, you did come out of the Punk scene, which was pretty much built on fanzines and GENUINELY independent labels, some of which were thrown together very literally on a shoestring budget.)
5. Please follow this link: http://questioncopyright.org/compensation
Meanwhile, one of the emails I saw this morning suggested I’m being paid for “ratting out to the labels”.
A long time ago a significant music industry figure suggested I might find it “interesting” to see the corporate music industry in a more “balanced” way.
But this, not that, is what’s interesting.
Stay tuned.
AND KEEP TALKING !!!!!
Cheers!
Jon Newton – p2pnet
Pirate Bay on the run as hosts jump ship The Local
File sharing site The Pirate Bay was out of commission on Tuesday as it struggled to find hosting providers willing to serve the site. Last Wednesday, Swedish bandwidth supplier PatrikWeb quit servicing The Pirate Bay, and since then the site has been forced to use different providers throughout Europe, the Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) newspaper reports. At first a supplier in the Ukraine ensured that the site could continue functioning late last week. But the solution was short lived after BREIN, a Dutch anti-piracy organization, discovered Pirate Bay’s traffic was being routed through the Netherlands and pressured a Dutch supplier to cut off service, according to the tech news website Torrentfreak.com. Since then, The Pirate Bay has bounced around to several providers, most recently landing with CB3Rob.net, a German host with ties to the country’s own chapter of the Pirate Party.
Revealed: iiNet’s film copyright defence IT News
Next Tuesday, Perth ISP iiNet will throw the spotlight on the film industry, accusing it of being the primary copyright infringer in a Federal Court case to be heard in Sydney. iiNet provided iTnews fresh details of its defence against Roadshow Films and the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft today. It came less than a week after the Federal Court declined to release the federation’s responses to iiNet’s defence prior to the case being heard. “The alleged authorisation infringement is, on the applicant’s own case, actually brought about by actions of the applicants,” iiNet told iTnews it will argue next week, pointing to how the federation gathered evidence against the ISP. The ISP said it will also argue that wading through every infringement allegation against customers who use peer-to-peer software would put it at commercial disadvantage. iiNet will further argue that it encouraged only legal downloads over its network by offering a “freezone” of unmetered, legal content.
PhotoSketch: better than sliced bread, Photoshop ZDNet
This is quite possibly the coolest thing I’ve ever seen a computer do. What if you could draw some stick figures on a screen and somehow magically create a beautiful image montage? Well, it’s possible. A group of students in China have created PhotoSketch, a project that does exactly what I just described: it takes a rough, hand-drawn sketch, scours the web for photos that match, and runs them through an algorithm, stitching it all together
Media giant to seek bankruptcy protection Canadian Press
The company that owns Global Television and the National Post newspaper is filing for creditor protection in a deal with a key group of lenders, as it seeks court approval to restructure a mountain of debt. Canwest Global Communications Corp. has been struggling for months to deal with the debt load, which the Winnipeg-based broadcaster took on when it bought the former Southam newspapers and the National Post earlier this decade. Business units of the media company that will be filing for creditor protection include the Canwest Television Limited Partnership, which holds Global Television, MovieTime, DejaView and Fox Sports World, and The National Post Company. After the restructuring, Canwest creditors would receive shares of the restructured media company. Canwest’s current shareholders would own just 2.3 per cent of the shares of the new Canwest.
Trial set for movie-mimicking murder Canadian Press
An Edmonton man charged with murder in a case police say mimicked a movie script is to be back in court Oct. 16. That’s when a judge is expected to set Mark Twitchell’s trial date. The fringe filmmaker is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Johnny Altinger. [ Snuff-film maker charged with murder ]
Sex workers to challenge Canada’s prostitution laws CTV
The laws that control prostitution in Canada will go on trial today in a Toronto courtroom. Two prostitutes and a dominatrix are challenging the laws, saying they make no sense. Alan Young, the Osgoode Hall law professor representing the women, says his clients can’t understand why prostitution itself is not directly prohibited, and yet all incidental transactions involved in prostitution are. Young plans to argue in Ontario Superior Court that the Criminal Code sections that prohibit “communication for the purpose of prostitution” means that prostitutes can’t properly screen potential clients. And he’ll argue that the sections barring “living on the avails of prostitution” or “running or occupying a bawdy house” mean that sex workers can’t work indoors or in brothels, or hire security staff to protect themselves. Young will argue that leaves prostitutes vulnerable and forced to work on the streets. The Crown is expected to argue that decriminalizing prostitution could cause women to view it as “a career choice,” make Canada a haven for sex tourism, and perhaps lead to the “red-light districts” across the country. They also plan to argue that prostitution is inherently degrading, dangerous and unhealthy, and should not be encouraged by lax laws.
MGM Catches A Break From Lenders IMDb
Burdened by a heavy debt load that has barely allowed it to remain a functioning studio, MGM on Thursday said that its lenders had agreed to allow it to defer interest payments for the next three months so that it could continue its participation in the development of The Hobbit. MGM currently has a deal with New Line to co-produce the prequel to The Lord of the Rings.
Groundbreaking Agreement Between Verizon Wireless and Google to Leverage High-Speed Network and Open Android Platform for Wireless Innovation Press release
Verizon Wireless and Google(TM) today announced a strategic partnership that will leverage the Verizon Wireless network and the best of the Android(TM) open platform to deliver leading-edge mobile applications, services and devices. Both companies view this agreement as an opportunity to offer consumers an array of products that combine the speed of the nation’s largest and most reliable 3G network with the flexibility of the Android mobile platform. Integral to this agreement is a commitment by the companies to devote substantial resources to accelerate delivery of leading-edge innovation that will put unique applications in the hands of consumers quickly. The two industry leaders will create, market and distribute products and services, with Verizon Wireless also contributing the breadth of its nationwide distribution channels. Consumers will be able to purchase products resulting from the collaboration in Verizon Wireless retail and online stores. Verizon Wireless and Google plan to co-develop several Android-based devices that will be pre-loaded with innovative applications from both parties as well as third-party developers. The family of Android phones on the Verizon Wireless network will come from leading handset manufacturers.
Stallman vs the CodePlex Foundation and Miguel de Icaza H-online
In a posting on his FSF blog, Richard Stallman has attacked Microsoft’s creation of the CodePlex Foundation and dubbed Miguel de Icaza an “apologist” for Microsoft. De Icaza has responded in his own blog comparing Stallman’s language to that of George W Bush, and defending the foundation as “great way of helping steer Microsoft in the right direction”.
Google retreats on Pirate Bay DMCA take down
Tue,06 Oct 2009 07:22 GMT -4:00 http://www.p2pnet.net/story/29440
news view Advertising | P2P:- Giant online advertising company (and Number One indexing site) Google last week dropped The Pirate Bay home page.
The action was attributed to a Digital Millennium Copyright Act complaint.
Oh! The Horror!
But it was all a big mistake, says Gargle.
“The removal appears to be an internal error and not part of a DMCA request,” it says in a statement quoted by CNet News.
Ex-TPB spokesman Peter Sunde-Kolmisoppi, “told Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagblated that The Pirate Bay’s attorney sent a letter to both Google and the companies that are suspected of being behind the allegations and demanded that the Pirate Bay be returned to Google’s index,” says the story, adding:
“The Pirate Bay accused Google of censoring a competitor and of stifling free expression, the paper reported.”
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dropped – Google dumps The Pirate Bay home page, October 2, 2009
CNet News – Google: Pirate Bay booted off search by mistake, October 2, 2009
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WiFi imaging sees through walls …
Tue,06 Oct 2009 07:22 GMT -4:00 http://www.p2pnet.net/story/29439
- How about this for Über Cool?
Wi-Fi X-Ray!
Researchers at the University of Utah says they’ve found a way to image, localize, and track motion behind walls in real-time.
In other words, they say they can see through solid matter.
And they’re using WiFi to do it.
Say Joey Wilson and Neal Patwari in their abstract »»»
The method takes advantage of the motion-induced variance of received signal strength measurements made in a wireless peer-to-peer network.
Using a multipath channel model, we show that the signal strength on a wireless link is largely dependent on the power contained in multipath components that travel through space containing moving objects.
A statistical model relating variance to spatial locations of movement is presented and used as a framework for the estimation of a motion image.
From the motion image, the Kalman filter is applied to recursively track the coordinates of a moving target. Experimental results for a 34-node through-wall imaging and tracking system over a 780 square foot area are presented.
“In a mission-critical application, we envision a building imaging scenario similar to the following,” they say in Through-Wall Motion Tracking Using Variance-Based Radio Tomography Networks, going on »»»
Emergency responders, miltary forces, or police arrive at a scene where entry into a building is potentially dangerous. They deploy radio sensors around (and potentially on top of) the building area, either by throwing or launching them, or dropping them while moving around the building. The nodes immediately form a network and self-localize, perhaps using information about the size and shape of the building from a database (e.g., Google maps) and some known-location coordinates (e.g., using GPS).
Then, nodes begin to transmit, making signal strength measurements on links which cross the building or area of interest. The RSS measurements of each link are transmitted back to a base station and used to estimate the positions of moving people and objects within the building.
Now you know.
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First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
October, 2009
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Microsoft health hazard?
Tue,06 Oct 2009 07:22 GMT -4:00 http://www.p2pnet.net/story/29438
news viewAdvertising | Freedom:- Seriously, would you want Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer (right) to be in charge of your health records?
That’s what it already amounts to for some people.
Shudder.
And not only Microsoft.
Google, the net’s most pernicious online advertising company, and other US conglomerates are now routinely accepted as major controllers of health care records.
“The electronic medical record field remains in its infancy,” said the Washington Post last year.
But, “While U.S. privacy laws govern actions by medical providers such as doctors, there is little in the way of other established privacy, security and data usage standards despite decades of industry efforts.”
And this July, “Terrific news for Britons!” said . “If the Conservatives oust the current UK Labour government, Microsot or Gargle may soon be looking after your health records!
“Just like they do in America.
“Conservative leader David Cameron, ‘wants people to use services like Google Health and Microsoft HealthVault as an alternative to the, “£12bn national patient record database ordered by the government’, said The Guardian.
Back to Ballmer, “MSN this week released its beta version of a new online health information management service, including widgets to upload and organize data stored in HealthVault accounts,”says CNet News.
“MSN describes My Health Info (requires Silverlight — but of course) as a feature designed for busy parents, adults managing aging parents, and anyone managing chronic conditions and multiple medications.”
Riiiight.
Scary. Very scary.
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Washington Post – Electronic health-record standards agreed, June 25, 2008
– UK National Google Health Service, July 6, 2009
The Guardian – Cameron: Patients should store health records with Google or Microsoft, July 6, 2009
CNet News – MSN launches personal health management service, October 2, 2009
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What if you got home from space …
Tue,06 Oct 2009 07:22 GMT -4:00 http://www.p2pnet.net/story/29437
- “What if you got back home —- and there was nobody there?
“In 1973, the first Russian cosmonaut on the Moon is unable to make his way back and is declared missing in Space. However, through ghostly radio messages, he claims to have come back to Earth and found it empty, not a living soul. His unreal presence and voice will little by little destroy the world of his loved ones.”
If the quotes above look like clips from a sci-fi movie promo, that’s because because they are.
“Hello,” says an email from Pol Rodríguez. “I am writing you because, since P2P is about free information and media, I think you could be interested in the latest
project of the independent cinematographic company where I work, Riot Cinema
Collective.”
Interesting.
“A SCI-FI feature film produced by lots of people (like YOU) starting from 2€. Licenced as Creative Commons so that you can edit it, copy it, remix it and share it as your wish. For Free.
“???????!.”
So it says on the web site for The Cosmonaut.
In his email, Pol goes on »»»
Directors from everywhere in the world have been looking for years for alternative models of funding, exhibition and distribution that actually work in this new scene, and in some way our project, called “The Cosmonaut”, is our contribution to this debate. The Cosmonaut is a full length sci-fi film project financed with crowdfunding (the public itself produces the movie, amongst other sources ), and its premiere will be free, in HD, on the internet and under a Creative Commons License.
The film tells the story of the first Russian cosmonaut sent to the moon. He disappears, but eventually, radio messages from him are received. In them, he claims he has come back to earth, finding it empty.We already have the support from various institutions and personalities, such as *Sergey Volkov* (a Russian Cosmonaut) *J.L. Ruiz de Gopegui*(theformer director of NASA Programs in Spain),*Richard Stallman* (founder of the GNU and Free Software Foundation), or the *Laboratory for Experimentation in Space and Microgravity*, as well as lots of other people and entities, that can be seen in http://www.thecosmonaut.org.
(A funny fact: thanks to this collaborations, for example, everyone who contributes to the film participates in a prize draw for an authentic cosmonaut suit!)
From its beginning, the project seeks the creation of a closer relation withits audience and invites everyone to participate in the different stages of the film production. As said, it is mainly funded through crowdfunding and non-invasive publicity, and everyone who decides to get involved (from a minimum inversion of two euros) becomes a producer, being a member of ourcommunity “K Program” and always receiving something in exchange.
The premiere of the film (in spanish with english subtitles) will be in the internet, for everyone, for free, and in HD.
All the material created until now and everything there is to come is, andwill always be, under a Creative Commons License, so anyone can access it,copy it, remix it, and redistribute it, even commercially.
And – a very important point to us – we always keep a premise oftransparency.
We uploaded our site on the begining of this summer and we are surprisedwith the general response. We already have more than 1000 producers and the 65% of the funds we need and every day more and more producers and collaborators from all areas decide to join or work with us.
If you check it out you’ll find a short version of the script, a project dossier http://s268192870.mialojamiento.es/The_Cosmonaut.pdf, a press kitand some more information. There’s also a blog called Diario de abordo http://elcosmonauta.es/blog/(OnboardDiary).
We have not had the time to translate all the posts to the English version yet, but it’s very active.
There’s a short video about the project. BUT —- it’s in rapid-fire Spanish. ;p http://www.vimeo.com/4652176
Definitely stay tuned.
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First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
October, 2009
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Monty Python is 40 years old!
Tue,06 Oct 2009 07:22 GMT -4:00 http://www.p2pnet.net/story/29436
- Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to YOOOOO
Happy BIRTHday dear Monty …
Happy birthday to YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Say na MORE …
… nod nod, wink wink.
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October, 2009
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Adobe Flash Player 10.1 on everything
Tue,06 Oct 2009 07:22 GMT -4:00 http://www.p2pnet.net/story/29435
- Adobe says it’s forged deals with RIM Windows Mobile, Palm and Google to promote Flash on smartphone platforms.
Missing, however, is Apple’s iPhone.
Are Adobe executives immune to the wonder of the Jobs Reality Distortion Field?
Nope.
“In the past, Adobe executives have stated that it is working with Apple to make Flash work on the iPhone, but that it will come out on a separate time table,” says paidContent, going on:
“The new Adobe Flash Player 10.1 software will be one piece of software that work [sic] across PCs, smartphones, netbooks and other devices, which is the vision of the company’s Open Screen Project”
Meanwhile, to date, “phones have been running a scaled back version of Flash, called Flash Lite, says the story.
But, “now that phones have faster processors, the content renders more easily and has to be tweaked less, Adobe says. Phones capable of running Flash 10.1 will get updated over the air, meaning phone owners will receive Flash without having to do anything, much less buy a new phone.”
Palm will likely be the first to update, “with other platforms coming later,” it says.
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paidContent – Adobe Extends Full Flash To Just About Every Phone But The iPhone, October 4, 2009
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Hotmail passwords leaked online
Tue,06 Oct 2009 07:22 GMT -4:00 http://www.p2pnet.net/story/29434
- If you’re a Windows Live Hotmail user, change your password and security question immediately, warns Neowin.
Because, it says, it’s received information, “regarding a possible Windows Live Hotmail ‘hack’ or phishing scheme where password details of thousands of Hotmail accounts have been posted online.”
An anonymous user posted details of the accounts on October 1 at pastebin.com, a site commonly used by developers to share code snippets, says the story, going on:
“The details have since been removed but Neowin has seen part of the list posted and can confirm the accounts are genuine and most appear to be based in Europe.
“The list details over 10,000 accounts starting from A through to B, suggesting there could be additional lists. Currently it appears only accounts used to access Microsoft’s Windows Live Hotmail have been posted, this includes @hotmail.com, @msn.com and @live.com accounts.”
Neowin says it past the alert to Microsoft’s Security Response Center and PR teams in the UK and US and is, “currently awaiting feedback on the situation.”
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Neowin – Thousands of Hotmail passwords leaked online, October 4, 2009
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Canadian anti-spam déjà vu
Tue,06 Oct 2009 07:22 GMT -4:00 http://www.p2pnet.net/story/29433
- The introduction last spring of Bill C-27 — the Electronic Commerce Protection Act — represented the culmination of years of effort to address concerns that Canada is rapidly emerging as a spam haven. Industry Minister Tony Clement’s anti-spam bill has steadily made its way through the legislative process, with the Standing Committee on Industry likely to conduct its final “clause by clause” review over the next two weeks.
Although support for anti-spam legislation would seemingly be uncontroversial, various business groups have mounted a spirited attack against the bill, claiming requirements to obtain to user consent before sending commercial email will create new barriers to doing business online. The Conservative MPs on the committee have remained supportive of the bill, yet Liberal MPs have expressed growing concern about some of the bill’s provisions.
A close examination reveals that the bill sets reasonable limits for online marketing consistent with laws found in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. In fact, there are four major caveats to the consent requirement.
First, the bill includes a business-to-business exception so that businesses that send commercial email to other businesses are immediately exempt from the need to obtain consent.
Second, the bill only applies to commercial email. Non-commercial email between friends, family, and colleagues is excluded.
Third, a wide range of business-to-consumer commercial email is also outside the ambit of the bill. For example, businesses can rely on “implied consent” to contact existing customers for a full 18 months and even contact non-customers who merely make an inquiry for six months. In other words, simply inquiring about long distance plans or hotel room availability opens the door to six months of electronic messaging under the guise of implied consent.
Fourth, all other commercial messaging to consumers is permitted – there are no limits – so long as the business has obtained prior consent. There are some form requirements, but nothing that should be considered particularly onerous.
Notwithstanding the implementation of similar opt-in systems elsewhere, some Canadian businesses argue that obtaining prior consent is problematic. These groups would prefer an “opt-out” approach whereby they could continue to send electronic messages to consumers and force them to request that no further messages be sent.
Whenever such concerns are raised, politicians would do well to ask a simple question – is obtaining consumer consent really so unreasonable? It is unreasonable to obtain consent before sending a commercial message about a new service or product? Is it unreasonable to obtain consent before installing software on a personal computer? In most instances, the answer is no.
Canadians frustrated with the lobbying against the anti-spam bill can be forgiven for experiencing a sense of déjà vu since it bears a striking similarity to the efforts to water down Canada’s do-not-call list. When the bill establishing the do-not-call list was first introduced, it featured strict limitations on unwanted telemarketing.
However, after weeks of business lobbying, the bill was gutted with new exceptions for business relationships, charities, political parties, polling companies, and newspapers. The end-result is that the majority of telemarketing calls remain perfectly legal, despite the inclusion of millions of phone numbers on the Canadian do-not-call list.
History may repeat itself this week with the anti-spam bill. While this should be a non-partisan issue, reservations from some opposition MPs about the content of the bill suggest that Canada’s contribution to the fight against spam is still far from a done deal.
Michael Geist – Michael Geist’s Blog
[Geist is the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa. He can be reached by email at mgeist @ uottawa dot ca]
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First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
October, 2009
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