Backup copies are illegal in Canada

According to Michael Geist, who teaches Internet and technology law at the University of Ottawa. “In Canada even today, taping a television program is an act of infringement, making a backup copy of a DVD … that’s an act of infringement…”

It's illegal to backup your purchased DVD movie in Canada

Does this mean that, protecting my investment is stealing just like snatching the purse of a  poor old woman on a broad daylight ? You must be kidding me!  How about  music CDs,  software programs, video games or music purchased online? Does the same rule apply? After running a lot of searches on Google, I found out that in Canada, we can make backup copies of CDs only once. Making a second copy  would be illegal.  To  paint a real world scenario, making a backup on your rare favourite music CD collection is okay. If you decided to make another one for outdoor use, that’s considered illegal even it’s for personal use. Another scenario is, if you have seven mp3 players in the family and you want to install the same music on all, five copies would be considered  illegal . This only applies to medium that doesn’t have a TPM  ( Technological Protection Measure). For example, music purchased online and most of the CDs. For movies, video games or software on DVD or Blu-Ray, making a single backup copy is not allowed. The reason for this is, in order for you to make a copy, you have to defeat  the copy protection that is set in place. In other words, you have to hack it. This technique is commonly known as ripping or DVD rip. And the beauty is, you can download a software that has the capability to decode the encryption algorithm of DVDs for free. The bad news is, you are not allowed to use this in Canada to backup your treasured DVD collection. If you’re favourite DVD movie is damaged because it’s prone to scratch and oxidation, you have to buy a new one which will make the record companies very happy.

DVDShrink decrypts the encoded security in a DVD

And how about the blank CD levy. For every blank CD sold in Canada, 29¢  is collected  to help offset the alleged losses due to music copying. If you puchased a 100 blanck CDs in a spindle, you’ll be  paying $29 dollars more because of the levy. The question, what if you used these CDs for other purposes like backing up your own files. The beneficiary of the levy is the  Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC) and they had collected almost $242M between 1999 and 2007. There’s no levy on DVD blanks. That’s why you’ll find DVD blanks  a bit cheaper than blank CDs.

In contrast with audio blank CDs, blank DVDs are not levied

It’s apparent here that when it comes to consumer interest, the Canadian copyright law is not that reliable.  We hope that someday there will be a change particularly on making backups of purchased digital media. But when ? Should I backup my CD/DVD collection by breaking the law while waiting for an amendment ? Who will protect my investment ? Tell me.

Reference:

http://www.cipo.ic.gc.ca

http://www.michaelgeist.ca

http://www.digital-copyright.ca/

The Large Hadron Collider

There are three technology in the 21st century which I consider the most radical, revolutionary and amazing. These are the Internet, The Human Genome Project and The Large Hadron Collider. My favourite of them all is the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The LHC aims to unlock the secrets of the universe exactly how it began. It is the world’s largest and most expensive scientific instrument. The Large Hadron Collider is like a time machine that is going to take us further back in time towards the Big Bang. New types of matter we haven’t seen before will be generated. The LHC may also reveal more extraordinary phenomena you will only see in Star Trek such as anti-matter, mini black holes and even multiple dimensions.

The LHC is a 27 km long circular path located in Geneva, Switzerland. If you follow it underground, it is filled with tunnel and the tunnel is filled with extraordinary powerful magnets. The sort of magnets that you might find yourself inside if you’re getting a MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) at a hospital but even more powerful. They’re superconducting magnets, so they have to be kept at absolute zero temperature. The magnets are huge and needs to be precised in microns. What happen inside is, proton is going to be accelerated to very very high energy such that they are moving apart with in a million of the limiting velocity, the speed of light. The protons will be zipping around the circular path in about a millionth of a second. Two beams of subatomic particles called ‘hadrons’ – either protons or lead ions – will travel in opposite directions inside the circular accelerator. These particles will be brought together and collision will occur. In those collisions, it will reproduce the conditions occurred millionth of a second before the Big Bang. It’s very close to the origin of the Big Bang. From the very tiny hot fireballs that are created will emerged sprays of particles that will be moving very fast. Different particles and complicated patterns that encode information about what’s going on in a world at a very very short distances or at quantum level.

The LHC is a monument of curiosity as opposed to superstition. It was built by cooperation rather than command. It’s not just big for sake of vanity. It’s big because it has to be big and to do what it meant to do. And that is, unlocking the mystery of the universe.

The Five Verteces Of The Pentagon

Five persona ?  It sounds personal to me. Well, just to give you some hint.

Radical And Not Conventional

Breaking the rules can be educational and enlightening. Challenge conventional knowledge and ideas.

Silent But Deep

Grandma said “An empty can makes a lot of noise”.

Idealistic But Realistic

The world should be…. peaceful and unpolluted. But we need plastic.

Thinker Not A Follower

I like to think first before buying the idea.

Striving But Not Mediocre

I rather do it the hard way.

That’s already five, right?  Thanks for your comment.