A Canadian DMCA

The Conservative government cleverly tabled Bill C-61 shortly after a massive and public apology to First Nations people over the horrific school system that  attempted to forcibly assimilate generations of First Nations people.  The press focused on the First Nations apology, as it should have.  Canada’s history on matters of race is not pretty, and this was one of the darker episodes in it.  (Of course, little was said about groups of First Nations people forcibly resettled, which remains an issue today as part of Canada’s bizarre “Arctic sovereignty” strategy.)

But C-61 is starting to get coverage of its own now, which is good.  This bill will be an unmitigated disaster for universities, libraries and end users.  It is essentially a copy of the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act, except even more draconian.  It will make it many day to day forms of file-copying (such as time-shifting television) potentially illegal, since it will now be illegal to circumvent any digital lock put on any content or device.  Effectively, this takes copyright out of the public domain and makes it a contractual matter between content-provider and consumer.  And if the major content provision industries all agree on strict locking procedures, there is no consumer choice in the manner, except to opt out entirely and not use the internet, digital audio or video of any kind.  Which for most people isn’t really a choice.

<a href=”http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/blogsection/0/125/” target=”_blank”>Michael Geist has much more thorough coverage and explanations that I, so I refer you to his site.</a>  

But the thing that really gets me is how committed Canadians (and the Canadian government) are to the idea of public broadcasting, socialized medicine, and other public goods, and yet here is a bill clearly written by private industry with no regard for the public good whatsoever (beyond PR-like window dressing).  Its own parliamentary spokespeople clearly don’t understand it.  And there is a good deal of suspicion that the U.S. content industry had a role to play in this supposedly “made in Canada” legislation.  Canadians: <a href=”http://www.quadrantcrossing.org/blog/C1078271594/E20080612175843/index.html” target=”_blank”>get in touch with your MPs and parties.</a>  The NDP, especially, ought to be taking a leadership role in opposing this bill.

Analog vs. Digital (Part MCM)

The other night, <a href=”http://www.quadrantcrossing.org/blog/” target=”_blank”>Tobias</a> treated me to a demonstration of <a href=”http://www.native-instruments.com/index.php?id=traktorscratch” target=”_blank”>Traktor Scratch</a>, a digital DJ setup.  Basically, it involves the usual two turntables and a mixer, plus a digital interface and a laptop.  The DJ uses special records striped with timecode, special needles and a digital interface reads the timecode off the records and uses it to control digital music files playing off a laptop’s hard drive (which could be as simple as an iTunes library).  

The setup has a few main advantages: the DJ no longer has to cart around boxes of records and can presumably have more access to music (by carting around a laptop with a full hard drive and the relatively small interface instead).  The setup also allows for the use of all sort of digital effects, again giving the DJ much greater flexibility.  And, for the first time, the DJ’s collection can be “backed up” so even if the laptop were to disappear before or after a show, the person could have another copy of his or her collection.  Finally, because it uses traditional DJ technology (two turntables and a mixer), the DJ can still use his or her skills — manually beat matching, scratching, starting and stopping music.

But that’s where there are some interesting differences.  On a regular analog record, the DJ can see the breaks and can learn to see where, exactly to drop the needle.  Because the timecode records are in timecode, the DJ now has to make an extra step of intellection: “the break I want is at 3:53” and then drop the needle onto the corresponding part of the timecode record.  There is, of course, also the matter of the additional visual interface of the laptop screen, which is somewhat more involved than simply thumbing through a stack of records.  Spontaneity in song selection works quite differently.  The timecode records “like” a certain kind of needle, and though this needle can play records, it’s not necessarily the needle a given DJ would want if analog records were also to be played.

And then, of course, there’s the sound.

We did a few unscientific tests.  Most notably, the high end coming off the laptop and off an analog version of the same track was different.  There could be lots of reasons for this that have nothing to do with “digital” and “analog” — the traktor-scratch needle, the D/A conversion of the laptop, an EQ setting we missed, etc.  The mids and lows were basically indistinguishable.  But the place where the difference really came through was when it got down to things that DJs do: stopping records, slowing them down, playing them backwards, scratching, etc.  Drag the needle backwards over the timecode record and the digital file sounds very different from the analog record.  Slow it down and the bass takes on a different character. I won’t say that digital sounded worse, because I don’t think it did.  But as we “abused” the file like a DJ would “abuse” a record (and by that I mean simply “not playing it like you’re supposed to” even though at this point records more or less <em>are</em> “supposed to” be manipulated by DJs), it broke down in a completely different way.

The differences between .wav and high bandwidth .mp3 versions (at least I <em>think</em> it was 256k though I never checked) of the same song were much more subtle.  They also “broke down” slightly differently, but the difference was had to perceive.  Tobias pointed out that with 20,000 watts behind it, the difference may be more noticeable, but we didn’t have an opportunity to do <em>that</em> test. Whether it would affect people’s enjoyment at a show is also questionable.

What does all this mean for the arguments about analog vs. digital?  Not a whole lot.  I’ve never claimed the two storage modes sound exactly the same, only that the ontological arguments for digital’s inferiority are based on faulty premises and misreadings of the sampling theorem.  That said, it’s interesting to hear the different modes of decomposition: the different formats and storage media <em>reveal</em> themselves differently when under duress.  You can sort of hear the sampling theorem breaking down as the record slows to a stop–the apparatus is revealed.  And that difference, unlike the difference between a 320kmp3 and a .wav file, is plain for anyone to hear.

Economic Stimulus Package

Americans who filed federal taxes got a $600 rebate this year.  <a href=”http://www.slate.com/id/2192361/” target=”_blank”>As this article in Slate explains</a>, it is a spectacularly stupid idea; as most tax rebates are, it’s basically a form of bribery-by-borrowing.  We filed in the U.S.  but did not pay any taxes (Americans living abroad are required to file even if they owe nothing; I don’t intend to pay any American income  taxes anytime soon), so we got our $600 check. Now, I can’t think of many people who deserve $600 from the U.S. government LESS than we do.  It’s extra stupid if the money’s going to someone like me who makes a decent living instead of, say, paying down the national debt or perhaps redistributing some wealth or something.  

So, what to do with our $600?  $300 to Obama, $300 to Al Franken (who is running for senate in Minnesota to unseat that slimebag Norm Coleman).  I figure if the government’s going to give me and over 130 million others free-yet-not-actually-free money we shouldn’t have, I might as well use my cut to try and elect people who aren’t going to be stupid enough to send me more money like that.

Well

that was an intense two weeks. A week of ICA stuff, then all the chair stuff I didn’t do during ICA. Now off to Minneapolis. See you sometime in June. As an extra special treat, I am going off email entirely while in Minneapolis.