O O Ø O O O O
Political Hit ’n’ Run
Kev had his ass-chappers, I have my political wish-list. But what fun are politics if you don’t share them?
Stephen Harper, M.P.
Leader of the Opposition
203-1600 90th Ave. S.W.
Calgary, AB
T2V 5A8
Dear Mr. Harper;
It seems to me that your party has a policy problem. To be quite pointed, you don’t seem to have many. Honestly, the last time I remember the party taking a stand on anything (and sticking to it) was in the old triple-E days. What ever happened to that battle, anyway?
But that’s not the point of my letter today. 2003 is upon us, and as the turning of the year is a good time to reflect on the last twelve months, I thought I would do just that. In my mental meanderings, my mind turned to politics, and the issues that have been bothering me lately. Since you’re my MP, I thought I would pass this information along. Here, I have included a list of 5 pieces of Canadian legislation that really need someone to take a stand on. I am hoping your party is the one to do it.
Caffeine
Canada is doomed to be a nation of sleepyheads. For some reason, our country takes a bizarre and hypocritical stand on the use of caffeine in food products.
Is it some kind of Karmic retribution for forcing Coca-Cola to take the cocaine out of their beverage?
First and foremost, it should be observed that caffeine use is pretty well entrenched in canadian society. If you have any doubt of this fact, count how many steps it would take you to get to the nearest Starbuck’s (or Tim Horton’s, if you’re in the East). I’ll bet you’d be hard pressed to get to 100.
No, caffeine is a regular part of our daily lives. Bizarrely, however, caffeine-containing products are only legal for resale in Canada if they are ’natural’ (and apparently, adding a metric ton of distilled ‘natural’ extract to a vat of sugar-water counts), or if they are ‘colas.’
Why this bizarre and arbitrary distinction? Is it some kind of Karmic retribution for forcing Coca-Cola to take the cocaine out of their beverage? “Forevermore, caffeine shall be alloweth in cola.” Is it some kind of weird rejection of the research available on the subject?
Does Canada consider caffeine a dangerous drug additive, or not? It’s time to cut the hypocrisy and decide.
Spam
What exactly is the hold-up in including Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE, or spam for short) in the existing telemarketing laws? Is there anybody out there who thinks that having an electronic mailbox inundated with crap every morning is a fun way to start the day?
The existing rules for telemarketers are fairly clear. Entirely unenforced, but clear.
(Incidently, is there any particular reason that junk faxes are tolerated? I don’t know about you, but I haven’t received a single junk fax in the last six months that conformed to the regulations.)
Spam has to go. And though it is rare for me to ask for this: we need a legislative solution, not a technical one.
Blank Media Levy
“Guilty until proven innocent.”
At least, that’s the assumption made by the Canada’s Blank Media Levy today. As I’m sure you’re aware, the Blank Media Levy is a tax on media that can be used to record audio works, under the assumption that these works will be a copyright violation.
Audio is now digital. This means any device capable of storing digital data can be used to store audio. In an increasingly digital world, placing a levy on any device capable of storing digital data simply because somebody might store something copyrighted there is anticompetitive and insane.
I can both cut down on the clutter in my car, and reduce the chance that some idiot will smash my window to steal my music collection
Furthermore, it’s an enormous slap in the face to those of us who actually use technology to do real work.
I burn hundreds of CDs a year. Know what’s on them?
Data.
Yes, data; I use them for backup. I also develop software and distribute the result on CD. I give photos to family and friends on CD. How often do I put music on a CD? Just about never. The music that I do burn happens to be mine. I own the CDs. By burning several CDs onto one big disc of MP3’s, however, I can both cut down on the clutter in my car, and reduce the chance that some idiot will smash my window to steal my music collection.
Now the government wants to tax not only my blank CD media, but also my laptop hard drives and the photo card in my digital camera, because they can be used to store music.
Enough. Unless the Alliance party agrees with the stance that all Canadians are criminals, this legislation has to go.
Satellite Issues
You have probably seen the ads: Theft is Theft.
This is an interesting argument. A satellite signal is being beamed into my back-yard. I cannot stop it. Furthermore, if I find the signal interesting, I cannot pay someone for it. You see, this signal is an American signal. The government has told me I am not allowed to pay the service provider to receive it. This is theft?
If so, why hasn’t the government cracked down on all those evil individuals living in Windsor, Ontario, who tune in to those evil Detroit television signals?
The hypocricy has to stop.
Media Ownership
CRTCis very concerned about canadian content in media. Why not diversity? The current buzzword in the media industry is convergence. Convergence means that the news stories I hear in the car on the way home will be exactly the same as the ones I get on the “local” new that night on TV. They will also be the same as the “national” news stories, and they will be repeated almost verbatim in the newspaper the next morning.
This is not progress. This is stagnation.
Why? Because these forms of media probably have the same owner. To save costs, they all use the same newsroom.
Furthermore, you can repeat this experiment in every city across the country. Haven’t you noticed that no matter where you are, the radio stations (CKUA excepted) are exactly the same? Only the call letters change.
This is not progress. This is stagnation.
So, Mr. Harper, that’s my list for the start of 2003. It is by no means exhaustive. If you’re interested in looking for more issues your party may wish to adopt, I recommend you read the archives at http://pintday.org/. Thank you for your time.
Yours Truly,
Tuesday, January 7, 2003
PD DLXXXI