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Canadian Downloaders To Start Getting Copyright Infringement Notices Jan. 1
- Thread starter NotTheGuyYouKill
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ElectricBlanketFire
Member
Cracking down on Canadians, eh?
TheAbsolution
Member
Well, sort of.
This really isn't going to do much of anything to stop piracy honestly.
This really isn't going to do much of anything to stop piracy honestly.
Mike Works
Member
So what happens after a client gets that email from their ISP? Is it up to the ISP whether or not to punish the client? Or is it more of a warning in the sense that "they know what you're doing so if you keep doing it they might sue you"?
Mechanized
Member
I was wondering just the other day if this was still a thing, where record and movie companies went after pirates. You don't hear much about it lately. This seems to be targeting the downloaders though, shouldn't they be going after the people sharing the file or the website hosting it? Telling Joe Schmoe he has to pay up like $150k he doesn't have for downloading a movie isn't really going to do much besides ruin his life, is it?
crazy monkey
Banned
people will just stream. youtube has all kind of copyrighted material. they need to go after websites not the user. no websites no users.
killer rin
Member
SimpsonsPiracy.gif
Seriously though, they should be going after uploaders and the sites allowing it. Joe Shmoe just sees a free movie, the person uploading knows exactly what they are doing. No people uploading == nothing for people to download
Seriously though, they should be going after uploaders and the sites allowing it. Joe Shmoe just sees a free movie, the person uploading knows exactly what they are doing. No people uploading == nothing for people to download
clem84
Gold Member
Is this already going on in the US?
No
CitizenVectron
Member
A few key facts for Americans to know:
- Damages are capped at $5,000 per person per infringement. So you can't be sued for hundreds of thousands like in the US. And that is the maximum, it's up to a judge to decide. Considering how Canadian courts do not regularly dole out large punishments for civil cases like the US, it would likely be much lower for individuals.
- Companies can't have single cases for multiple people. So if, say, Viacom discovers 10,000 Canadians have pirated a show, they would have to start 10,000 court cases to go after them. This effectively dissuades them from enforcing their copyrights against individuals as the legal costs would exceed any amounts gained.
- Companies are not allowed to find out who you are before making a legal action. So they can't send out thousands of letters asking for a 'make us go away' fee, like in the US.
It is unlikely these new measures will result in any new Canadians being taken to court over individual downloading/uploading. It may result in less infringement though, as the average person who receives a notice saying they have been found out could very well stop doing it out of fear.
- Damages are capped at $5,000 per person per infringement. So you can't be sued for hundreds of thousands like in the US. And that is the maximum, it's up to a judge to decide. Considering how Canadian courts do not regularly dole out large punishments for civil cases like the US, it would likely be much lower for individuals.
- Companies can't have single cases for multiple people. So if, say, Viacom discovers 10,000 Canadians have pirated a show, they would have to start 10,000 court cases to go after them. This effectively dissuades them from enforcing their copyrights against individuals as the legal costs would exceed any amounts gained.
- Companies are not allowed to find out who you are before making a legal action. So they can't send out thousands of letters asking for a 'make us go away' fee, like in the US.
It is unlikely these new measures will result in any new Canadians being taken to court over individual downloading/uploading. It may result in less infringement though, as the average person who receives a notice saying they have been found out could very well stop doing it out of fear.
D'ultimate
Member
Yes.
I'm somewhat surprised. It's 2014. Leave downloaders alone, for fuckssakes. Without dangerous copyright infringement, we wouldn't have radio. If TV and movie piracy had been effectively quashed when the uproar first went mainstream, we wouldn't have Netflix in its currenr form. Content creators have proven they can adapt in the last ten years; that's why we have iTunes, Steam, Amazon TV, Hulu Plus, Crunchy Roll, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, etc etc etc.
It's time to stop pandering to the corporate interests who are trying to stifle the social evolution that comes with technological advancement. And to be blunt, this isn't a moral issue for the general public. People feel like they're waving a wand and spawning a copy of a car they want. "Sucks to be Honda, but should we stop using magic?" They don't feel like they're walking into a showroom and driving away a brand new car without paying.
It's time to stop pandering to the corporate interests who are trying to stifle the social evolution that comes with technological advancement. And to be blunt, this isn't a moral issue for the general public. People feel like they're waving a wand and spawning a copy of a car they want. "Sucks to be Honda, but should we stop using magic?" They don't feel like they're walking into a showroom and driving away a brand new car without paying.
crimzonflame
Member
I have a friend who pirates movies and tv shows. Will he be in trouble?
If I understand the OP, all that's happening is scare letters go out to people who are thought to be pirating. And even then, very few people will be affected.
If you download a movie from 1987 you probably won't get a letter. The same goes for downloading the newest episode of a TV show, but if you DL a film within the first year, you'll more than likely get on a shit list and get a letter.
AlexMeloche
Member
I remember my father receiving a letter 'cause my brother had downloaded Skyrim. Nothing happened.
I doubt anything will change.
I doubt anything will change.
Nah, if you download a show from a Viacom or Disney network, you'll already get one of these scare emails from certain ISPs like Telus.
Good summary. Didn't know about point 2.
badblue
Gold Member
Except us Canadians don't have as easy legal access to a few of those services. Hulu, Amazon, and Pandora streaming services are region locked here. And while yes, there are work arounds, why don't we have easy access? Opening up services to paying canadian subscribers would do a lot more to combat piracy, then an email we will probably just ignore.
(except me, cause my wife is a lawyer and it would look bad to get sued)
WrenchNinja
Member
Yes.
Because there are contracts that determine which publisher can actually publish those movies and shows within Canada. For instance, they wouldn't be able to earn much on the sales of a show to a TV channel if Netflix is already showing it.
It still amazes me that in 2014 we still have stuff that is region locked. I agree that content creators should 100% be paid for the content they make but also find it hard to be sympathetic when they complain about people download their stuff that they don't make available to everyone.
It's funny I bought a Roku box awhile back and was pretty blown away how useless the thing was for Canadians as 90% of everything on it is region blocked. Until they decide to drop these kind of things there will be people pirating.
We live in a connected world so these antique ideas just don't work anymore if someone wants something that isn't available to them they will find it so why not give it to them a sale should be a sale at this point it's better than someone downloading it illegally.
It's funny though with things like Netflix I could honestly say I don't know anyone who actually downloads movies or tv shows anymore and we just got Spotify here in Canada and everyone I know uses it and loves it.
The day that iTunes allows music from all regions to be purchased by anyone will be an amazing day. iTunes offers such good prices on albums I couldn't imagine not having it. These services clearly work.
We live in a connected world, but each country still has its own laws, companies, distribution channels, ... making it almost impossible to do it otherwise. It is improving, but there will always be problems. Like for instance, how does Canada handle the bilangual nature of Quebec? What does that mean for content distributors? Do you skip Quebec or do you let the rest of Canada wait a bit?
Skip Quebec. They can move to Ontario if they don't like it.
Well that is where the dilemma lies. Sure those things are important but ultimately waiting for things just does not work these days. People want content the second it's available and the majority of people won't wait so you get piracy.
As for the Quebec thing they could easily make the content available right away for those who want it and aren't concerned about that stuff while continuing to produce a version for those who want it properly. I mean people are gonna download it anyways you might as well get in out it from the start.
No reason why I shouldn't be able to open iTunes and buy stuff from the Japanese store or the Italian store or any other store. I can import a foreign CD so I should be able to buy it digitally. I mean it's not that easy there are laws and other things at play but it's ultimately just hurting the industry more than helping it.
I mean in this case if you don't download then you have nothing to worry about. At least the companies are gonna look after the customers. It's gonna be interesting in the next few years when more and more services become available it'll come down to who has the best value.
Okay, so Netflix needs to program in another region lock. How will Quebec costumers feel about paying more for less compared to other Canadians? How do you handle this for other countries where 90% of the userbase doesn't want English only stuff?
The majority of people don't want to wait so why would they wait until something actually arrives on Netflix? What you're essentially implying would be the end of all TV channels so television makers wouldn't have anyone to sell their product to.
Is that legal? I don't know about Quebec, but there are other bilingual countries with very strict laws on stuff like that.
Okay: what would encourage American companies to import Japanese stuff if everyone can already buy it so easily from Japan? What does it mean for countries with weaker currencies, for instance India? Do you raise prices in India so no Indian can actually buy the stuff just so you can let international people buy from the Indian store? EA Origin got really critized for raising their Indian prices while other companies kept their prices low so Indians could actually buy games. Or would it be okay to pay your local price? You can already import now, but it is a more difficult process and you'll often have to pay import taxes.
Of course, the companies will get better at offering stuff internationally, but there are so many pitfalls.
I live in Quebec and I pay for Netflix. Some of the shows are in French but most of them are offered only in English.
-Not really as a tv package could still be a better offer all around. Giving optional services for those who want it is another way to go about this. Why can't we have an app from tv providers that lets us pick the channels we want and have full streaming access to those? I don't have cable now because it's so expensive here and full of garbage I don't want or hurdles and packages I'd have to buy to get the content I want.
-Well it can be whatever it wants we have the internet now so laws really need to adapt to reflect that.
-I would imagine set pricing that reflects your country. If it costs .99 for a song on iTunes there is no reason it shouldn't be available to all for the same price based on that countries currency. If it costs me a tiny bit more or less then that's fine the option is still there. Slap a disclaimer on it that you can agree you'll be paying their currency equivalent.
-Importing stuff is a pain in the ass and expensive. The last CD I imported cost me $47 which is $47 I could have spent on multiple albums and songs digitally supporting more artists.
I look forward to that day when there is very little hurdles.
Wyndstryker
Member
So it's mainly just email warnings? I don't much downloading myself but at least I can tell other people the details.
Good to know, the Canada situation is always a bit weird. (Wouldn't fly in my country though.)
Because that involves really complicated calculations. For instance, a cable provider that wants AMC also needs to pay for their other channels. So that makes it more difficult to put in a pick-your-own package. If you also put it online for streaming, what does that mean for advertisements which is their bread and butter? What do you in place of ads if you want to lose them?
The laws start reflecting that. They're starting to send out copyright infringements.
$1 is nothing for you, it is nothing for me. It is completely different for India where that would be a huge amount. You need to have a possibility where you can put it cheaper for them. But stuff like that, makes it harder for services like Netflix where you're paying a round amount.
Which is why companies are relatively okay with it compared to internet importing. It doesn't affect the bottomline that much.
Well a lot of the major providers have this feature for subscribers and still feature the ads. I'd be more than fine paying $2 for the channels I want and watching an ad before and after each episode. This would depend on the person though lol.
I agree and having a set currency for each country could have benefits. If here in Canada an mp3 cost $1 should it cost the same for us in all countries meaning no matter what country I buy from they get $1 of my money meaning somewhere like India would see gains.
Let's say an mp3 cost .25 in India and they choose to buy from the US store they would get it for .25. Which does become complicated but I mean it's still a sale in the end and it's still a hell of a lot cheaper than importing.
It's super complicated lol I just hope going forward it becomes more easy to handle this stuff.
I'm glad though we are getting more services here slowly I'm really happy we got spotify here it's so good.
CRTC
Not my point. I'm saying copyright infringement via file sharing has merely changed the entertainment industry. It hasn't destroyed it any more than radio did. Further legislation designed to punish downloaders (not that this particular law really does so) doesn't feel relevant in this day and age. Every threatened industry has not only survived, it's thrived, despite file sharing.
Aside from that, I share your frustration with regard to region restrictions, and compleyely agree that the best, most effective way to curb piracy is with the carrot rather than the stick.
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
B-b-but the levy fees I pay on CD-Rs!
They implicitly allowed media piracy when they started putting levy fees on recordable media like discs and even iPods at one point.
It really pissed me off when all I was doing was copying+reburning my Japanese Dreamcast or PS1 games so that they played on my local console/were in English. I mean sure, assume I'm a pirate if you want... but the money isn't even going to the right industry! Send Sega a cheque or something, fuckers.
They implicitly allowed media piracy when they started putting levy fees on recordable media like discs and even iPods at one point.
It really pissed me off when all I was doing was copying+reburning my Japanese Dreamcast or PS1 games so that they played on my local console/were in English. I mean sure, assume I'm a pirate if you want... but the money isn't even going to the right industry! Send Sega a cheque or something, fuckers.
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