Canadians--help kill bill C60 the proposed copyright law that follows the DMCA in the US.
Here are two notes about the use of trade secrets to hide information.
On July 13, 2005, Canadians were ordered not to read books that were sold to them "by mistake" . Read that article, then don't buy any Harry Potter books. Everyone who participated in requesting, issuing, enforcing, or trying to excuse this injunction is the enemy of human rights in Canada, and they all deserve to pay for their part in it. Not buying these books will at least punish the publisher and author.
Unlike Ms Rowling, who demanded that people not read these books, I only call on people not to buy them. If you wish to read them, wait, and you will meet someone who has a copy. Borrow that copy—don't buy one. Or read it in the public library. Even better, read something else—there are plenty of other books just as good, or (dare one suggest) even better.
Making Canada respect human rights will be hard, but a good first step is to identify the officials and legislators who do not support them. The article quotes a lawyer as saying, "There is no human right to read." Any official, judge, or legislator who is not outraged by this position does not deserve to be in office.
On what conditions should we end this boycott? Forgiveness is called for when someone recognizes what he did wrong and acts accordingly. I think we should forgive Rowling (or her publisher) when she (it)
When I say "the publisher" I mean the principal publisher, the one that licenses out the rights for other countries such a Canada. It clearly is in a position to control what the others do, so the responsibility falls there.
On July 15, 2005, I posted some plot information that I received anonymously. It's no longer news today, so this paragraph is for historical interest. I am not a Harry Potter fan, and it is of little importance to me to know the plot of this book--either then, or today, or ever. However, when governments spit on human rights, posting what they wish to suppress is one way humans can protest.
The whole plot is now summarized in a Wikipedia page. If you feel you simply have to know what happens in the book, you can read that, instead of buying the book.
For more info on this, see this page.
Parodies of Harry Potter books have been suppressed in many countries with copyright lawsuits.
This is one more reason not to buy Harry Potter books. Meanwhile, it appears that JK Rowling is not content with her riches, but remains greedy for every last possible additional penny.
One reader said that the above article gave him the impression that the Tania Grotter books were simply copies of Harry Potter books, with a few names changed. If so, the article was misleading. The person who told me about the Tania Grotter books says they are quite different from the Harry Potter books. They started as parody, which can be seen in the article, and then went off in an independent direction involving Russian folklore.
A law professor argues that these take-offs should be regarded as lawful.
Rowling and her publisher got another injunction to stop someone else from publishing a reference work about Harry Potter's world.
Now the case has gone to trial. There was one good thing one could say about Ms Rowling: she did not allow Hollywood to butcher the stories; instead, she took the pains to make sure they were transferred properly to the screen. However, the link above shows she has decided to let a theme park exploit them crassly.
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Richard Stallman
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