Blame Canada! For Piracy Problems
Everyone knows we’re secretly up here, huddled in our igloos, plotting to take over the world with sled dogs, maple syrup, and the most irascible of all our rodents…the beaver.
Apparently an alliance of American intellectual property defenders (including gaming’s very own ESA), wants Canada blacklisted for a seemingly apathetic stance on piracy. The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA…made up of US organizations, go figure), accuses Canada of lagging behind in copyright protection programs and claims that everything from movies to modchips makes its way through the Land of Eh, much like in Russia, China, Ukraine and Indonesia, through the watchful eye and greedy hand of organized crime.
Yes, biker gangs in Quebec, Ontario, and BC have a monopoly on the console mod-chip industry, and the government seems disinterested in the entire affair, not even drafting up-to-date legislation to cover the IIPA’s concerns. This isn’t exactly a new idea either. The feds have been put on IP notice before, and continuing apathy may lead to sanctions by the World Trade Organization, and nose-thumbing from the IIPA.
After decades of trust and relative freedom to interact with our southern neighbours with minimal hassle, air, land and sea travellers of Canadian citizenship must now have passports to travel into the United States. They’re also angry about our cows, our lumber, and the fact that most foreign nations actually like us. Now, they’re saying that third world countries have done more than Canada to prevent and police piracy, and that we should be blacklisted. The greatest threat to international security then, might be Canada, and not the current opponent, Iran. Just wait until they find out about our enriched uranium program…
Via |NextGen
