When the going gets tough........ hang up

CBC Radio's 'Search Engine' podcast broadcasts an interview with Jim Prentice, the Minister who introduced the new Copyright Bill for Canada. You only need listen to the first 11 minutes of the podcast. You'll see why when you listen.

The interview was constructed using questions from Search Engine Blog readers, about how this Bill would affect their lives in everyday scenarios. It is a telling interview. First, Mr. Prentice tries to paint a reality where there are few if any digital locks on music CDs - not true - much of Sony's catalogue is digitally locked. Then he tries to suggest that the damages suggested by the Bill are unlikely to be enforced by minor infractions by consumers - to which I would like to know - then why bother putting it in law? He states that the kind of random lawsuits filed by labels against consumers such as have been occurring in the US are made 'extremely difficult' by the Bill - but he doesn't say it can't happen, nor does he state with any guarantee that damages awarded will go to the artist. When asked if breaking the lock on a cell phone to use it in another country is considered illegal according to the Bill, he labels the question as 'arcane' and insists that if a digital lock is broken only to make something 'functional', it's perfectly alright.

By the way, arcane is defined as: known or understood by very few; mysterious; secret; obscure; esoteric. So he's suggesting that the scenarios are not typical - indicating his true lack of understanding of consumers' needs.

But when pressed about the conclusion that unlocking a cell phone is OK, he backtracks and says only if it's done in another country - you can't do it legally in Canada. Then he's asked how digital locks over-ride peoples' ability to legally time shift TV programming. He starts out by suggesting that market forces are more relevant to decide that sort of thing, then, seemingly realizing that he's in over his head, hurriedly makes an excuse to leave, then hangs up. His office later made it clear that any future discussion or questions won't be happening.

Nice huh?