6 Opinion

October 12, 2005 + Over the Edge

On the Digital Front

CRIA Calls Canadian Students “Thieves”

ANDREW KURJATA

How would you feel if the RCMP could legally track you via your cell phone? Good thing we don't live in the US where the FBI is actually allowed to do that,

JEREMY JOHNSON STAFF WRITER

Cell phones are all the rage today. You can call anyone anywhere any- time. In today's world, cell phones have extra features such as customized ring-tones, text messaging, MP3 play- back, even trailers for the next greatest movies. The technology is an example at how far we have come in the digital and information age, however, there are extra little features manufacturers might not want you to know about.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (www.eef.org or EFF) has taken no- tice into something you may not have thought of before. Cell phones can be utilized by America government agen- cies such as the FBI to effectively turn your cell phone into a live tracking system whether you are using the cell phone or not.

Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston commented, “This is the first case considering when the government can track the movements of yout cell phone, and the answer couldnt be more important, allowing the govern- ment to turn anyones cell phone into a tracking device without probable

cause will enable a surveillance society that would make Big Brother jealous.’

Bear in mind this is currently an American thing, however, the FBI have been known to operate outside of the US jurisdiction. Also, Marc Emery, best known as “The Prince of Pot” has effectively been arrested by Americans in Canada. Also, many Canadians do travel to the United States where it is possible to be jailed

there. Finally, another thing to think,

about is that many finished goods are manufactured by Americah corpora- tions and exported to Canada, so it is possible for the FBI to keep tabs on you.

Another feature that certain people don't want you to know about is that there are cell phones that prohibit you from importing custom made ring- tones and MP3s. One such reported model was the Nokia 6680. It would only be possible in many cases for one to obtain these luxuries through the phones internet connection which can be very expensive to use. Just re- member to ask this question next time you shop for a cell phone if this is a

concern for you.

Also in the news, the CRIA (Can- adian Recording Industry Associa- tion) has published it's results on a “study” recently, It showed that “Can- adians between 12 and 24 years of age are responsible for 78 per cent of il- legal music downloading”

“Canadians between the ages of 18 and 29 are much more willing than other age groups to make illegal copies of software programs, cheat on exams or even shoplift... Nearly 27 per cent of younger people surveyed said they would consider cheating on a test or exam...six pet cent of younger Can- adians said they would leave a store without paying for a piece of cloth- ing?’

Graham Henderson, CRIA pres- ident, said, “Not only does music file-swapping harm artists, but it also points to an erosion of respect for intellectual property that threatens Canada's economy and values at the core of our society. The ‘if it's there, it's free’ thinking extends far beyond entertainment products and software to ideas themselves.”

What Is A Hat?

TABITHA-ANN LIONA LUNDHOLM STAFF WRITER

The mind, what is it? Is it your brain, your soul, or your heart? Or is it something else, something like a hat. A hat you can take off and place on your dresser. Can you walk into a store and see a new one with baubles and tassels, maybe rimmed with lace ot a designer label? Does Gucci sell minds?

Is a mind a bowler hat? A cowboy hat? Maybe it's a top hat. Do hats

“J may not agree with what you have to say, but! will defend to the death your right to say it.”

symbolize who we are? Does the clas- sic baseball cap say “easy-going, laid back”? Is the hat just a distraction from a horrific bad hair day? Maybe a hat is more like a helmet, some- thing to protect something. Trying to save your life. What about toques? Something stylish that says “sporty and fashionable.’ Top hats can be flat- tened down into a smooth discus and stored somewhere more convenient. Maybe it’s a wide-brimmed hat decor- ated with fake fruits and flowers. Its

sole purpose is to block out the sun. A fedora is fullof mystery and style, it keeps out the rain and the murderous stares and glares. Sailor hats are sim- ple, just a loose swatch of cloth with air holes on it. It keeps off the sun, it keeps you sane. Maybe the mind is more like a skullcap: a religious trad- ition; or a turban: a religious rule,

What is a mind? Is it a hat? What is a hat?

~ Voltaire

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Editorials

The Right to Strike

ANDREW KURJATA NEWS EDITOR

Ic’s interesting that in the same time period we run a story about the edu- cation program being sent down to Lakewood with inadequate facilities, the provincial government legislates BC teachers back to work without ne- gotiations. It makes you wonder how much importance our society places on teachers, both the ones we have now and the ones we are training for tomor- row. While the medical students had a brand new building made for them, complete with leather couches, the education students got shipped down to a shut down elementary school with temporary walls and no working computers. Not that I’m saying doc- tors don't deserve all the respect and good treatment they get (if anything they deserve more) but I do question the fact that we treat them so well and teachers so poorly, Especially when the Liberal government has broken United Nations conventions in order to make education an essential service.

Now, let's look beyond the fact that it's pretty bad when our elected govern- ment is receiving condemnation from the United Nations, Let's assume for a second that education is an “essential service,’ on par with hospital workers and police officers. Wouldn't logic hold that if a service is “essential” (meaning the wheels of society would fall off if this service was removed in order to do something like hold a strike) that you would WANT people to provide this service? Wouldn't you want to do everything you can in order to make these people happy? If they're the only thing standing between you and an- archy, you probably want to do things like, say, pay them well or listen when they say there's a problem.

Not the BC Liberals. Gordon Camp- bell and friends seem to think “essential service’ means “people without any rights.’ This includes the right to ne- gotiate and the right to strike. On Oc- tober 3, Labour Minister Michael de Jong introduced legislation that would

extend the current teacher contract until June 30, 2006. In other words, even though the contract was supposed to expire and be renegotiated this year, the Liberals decided they didn’t feel like it and made a new law. That law said that the teachers need to keep working under current job conditions, and if they don't like it, tough. And if they try to do anything about it, they're break- ing the law.

And they certainly bring up the law a lot. Education Minister Shirley Bond, commenting on the possibility of job action, said she hopes that the teachers respect the law, Ridiculous. The gov- ernment makes up new laws in order to get what it wants, and then gets mad at others for not following these laws. Here's a tip, When a ruler makes up laws to suit his/her needs, this is not rule of law, It's rule by decree. And a lot of people spent a lot of time trying to get rid of rule by decree. Maybe you've heard of the Canadian Constitution? The French Revolution? The Declara- tion of Independence? The main point of all these events was to make it so that people would be able to-live in a society where rulers had to abide by the same laws as the people they ruled, And part of this is that rulers can't just intro- duce new laws like “you have to work” and then threaten legal action if people break these laws.

Though the demands of the teachers such as smaller class sizes are import- ant, this issue goes beyond them. This is about whether or not we as a soci- ety are willing to tolerate a government that walks over people's rights, one that creates laws to suit its needs and threat- ens legal action when people try to do something about it. It’s about whether or not we value personal freedoms and the right to quality of life. And it's about whether we value education.

Note: I am aware that this piece lacks a central theme, but I’m minutes from deadline. I do believe that present and future teachers and doctors are good, and we need to support them as much as we can.

Music Pirates A-Hoy!

EARSON GIBSON ARTS EDITOR

You wouldnt steal a car. You wouldn't rob a bank. Then why is it OK to down- load pirated music? Because the music industry is getting its due for decades of greedy business practices: that's why.

Black markets can't create themselves. There have to be forces at work disrupt- ing the production cost to retail price ratio: things like taxation, prohibition, or price fixing. In the case of the music industry, it has been price fixing,

I trace the whole problem back to the transition from tape cassettes to CDs in the early 90s. Do you remember when we paid 15 dollars for tape cassettes? It seemed like a lot, but it was worth it to have portable music. Then, someone invented a light-weight, higher-quality medium that was cheaper to produce: the compact disc.

Now, free market capitalism can be pretty wild, but it is not without funda- mental laws. For example, if you figure out a cheaper way to produce some- thing, youd better damn well sell it for less. In that way, technology is suppos- ed to make our lives better, instead of

worse. However, that was not the case with the music industry. They found a cheaper way to produce their merchan- dise and started selling it for more, not only committing a cardinal sin (insert ominous thunder clap), but breaking a fundamental law of free market capital- ism, The bottom fell out of their barrel and now they are blaming file sharers.

It's a classic tale of how it doesnt pay to be greedy, Imagine if the industry had sold CDs for a reasonable price all along? There would be no need for a black market and the industry wouldn't be losing billions of dollars, as they will probably continue to do forever.

The only shame is that musicians lose a bit of money from CD sales, but, seeing as the average artists receives about a buck fifty from a twenty five dollar CD, this is no great loss on their , behalf. Musicians have always made more money performing for live audi- ences, and file sharing is free advertis- ing. Besides, what musician would go into the business for the money? Well let's see: Hillary Duff, Spears, Ashley Simpson... I think I’ve made my point.