Dollars and Sense: American vs. Canadian Prices

Interesting article by Don MacPherson about the weak American dollar versus Canada’s. Periodicals will often have both US and Canadian prices printed on them, but publishers rarely adjust the prices according to inflation. A “$2.99 US” book printed today should also read “$2.99 Canadian”, but since they don’t, retailers have to spend extra money on the books from their wholesalers, and thus have to overcharge their customers.

In Canada, the New Rush Is for Diamonds

In Canada, the New Rush Is for Diamonds

Article about the new diamond mines in Canada that are supplying a much more ethical diamond trade than Africa can provide. If you’re buying a diamond now, until artificial ones are more available, buy Canadian.

File Sharing in Canada

As the RIAA wages war on its own customers in the US, it seems that Canadians have little to worry about. Tech Central Station reports that the Canadian Copyright Act specifically allows “private copying” of music. Their solution to the problem of music theft was to institute a federally mandated tax on blank media. In the five years since the act went into effect, the music industry has collected 70 million Canadian Dollars ($51 million US) through the 77 cent CAD (56 USD) tax on blank CDs and 29 cents CAD (21 USD) per blank tape. According to the article:

While the Digital Millennium Copyright Act may make it illegal to share copyright material in America, the Canadian Copyright Act expressly allows exactly the sort of copying which is at the base of the P2P revolution.

In fact, you could not have designed a law which more perfectly captures the peer to peer process. “Private copying” is a term of art in the Act. In Canada, if I own a CD and you borrow it and make a copy of it that is legal private copying; however, if I make you a copy of that same CD and give it to you that would be infringement. Odd, but ideal for protecting file sharers.

Every song on my hard drive comes from a CD in my collection or from a CD in someone else’s collection which I have found on a P2P network. In either case I will have made the copy and will claim safe harbor under the “private copying” provision. If you find that song in my shared folder and make a copy this will also be “private copying.” I have not made you a copy, rather you have downloaded the song yourself.

Update 12/12/03: A decision today underlines that Peer-to-Peer downloading is legal in Canada, but may levy a music player tax. C|Net has the story.

Score 1 for Our Neighbors to the North...

I heard on the radio driving home tonight that Canada’s supreme court ruled against common law marriages today. Now, I don’t care much about Canada or their stupid laws, but this makes me happy. Apparently some couple broke up and tried to make the courts settle their stuff as if they had been married, and Canada’s supreme court decided that you only get to be treated like you’re married is you’re actually married. Aside from the unfortunate fact that society isn’t ready to allow gay marriages, I just think that common law marriages are retarded as shit. If you’re with someone and you want to live together and all that, just go to the court and get a marriage liscence. All a legal marriage means is that you’re asking the government to endorce your relationship and you get tax breaks and can sue the person for divorce and shit. It doesn’t have to be official or big if you don’t want it to be. I understand that some people are anti-title or anti-religion and don’t think that they need an institution to tell them blah blah hippie blah blah. I’m just glad that Canada’s courts were like, hey listen, if you don’t want to spend one afternoon at the court filing a marriage liscense then don’t expect the government to stick up for you later. I hate it when people think that they can have it both ways.