This really kind of bites, as it's one of my top nine most visited sites and it's been a very good source of blog material. But better safe than sorry. After all, if I click on that site and see something worth writing about, and then I write about it, I could conceivably be fined a million dollars.
You read that right. The CBC has partnered with iCopyright and will now require bloggers to obtain licenses if they wish to use CBC material--which is (a) primarily news in the public interest and (b) paid for by the Canadian taxpayer. To obtain such a license, you must agree to
(a) post the entire article (no excerpting)
(b) pay by the month for the privilege--just $250.00!
(c) refrain from criticizing the CBC or the author of the article
I wonder how well this will hold up in court. I'm seriously tempted to find out for myself. Because I'm absolutely disgusted and infuriated. I strongly resent my government enlisting an American organization to force me to pay (through the ass) for the ability to quote an article that I, in part, paid for in the first place. And to refrain from criticism--that's so plainly against our Constitutional right to freedom of expression that I seriously question the intelligence of whoever thought this up.
I've largely stayed away from copyright issues because I'm conflicted: I believe creators have a right to remuneration for their creations, but I also believe that information should be shared. We are several huge paradigm shifts away from paying people on the basis of their reputations--something I believe will eventually come to pass--and in the meantime, it's a conundrum.
This isn't going to solve it. Putting up roadblocks to the sharing of news and information is ridiculous and pointless.
1 comment:
Do it, those commie bastards. Someone is going to test this fast.
Post a Comment