Being a Canadian, it kills me to say this but ... we are such a country of idiots! I can't really comment on this rationally right now because I'm just too angry, but ...
Only a Canadian could come up with the idea of charging a fee for something that's free. And only a Canadian could come up with a neat little twist like ... but let's only charge students and educators!
How can this possibly be an issue? If something is posted on the Internet, not password protected, it's free. If you're stupid enough to create something you want payment for and post it on the Internet, you have only yourself to blame if people use it. What's it on the Internet for if not to be used?
A question is posed by the director-general of the Department of Canadian Heritage copyright policy branch, Bruce Stockfish (good grief - the title alone is an example of how deranged this country gets): "The real problem is, how do you define free?"
This is a problem? If something isn't free, don't post it on the Internet! At the very least, protect it with a password. This debate is like saying people should be charged for invasion of privacy if they look at someone walking down the street butt-naked. You don't want people to look? Don't walk down the street butt-naked!
Arrgggghhhh!!!!
Thanks to Donna at Copyfight for pointing this out in her blog.
(I think this is my first rant in this blog. Don't worry. I don't plan to make it a habit.)
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