No More Illegal Downloading!

The conservative government has been trying to implement a method to put an end to illegal downloading. The Conservatives unveiled new changes to the copyright act where if anyone is caught infringing the law, they can be fined $500 to $20,000 depending on the severity of the act. What this means is that a consumer could copy the music that they purchased onto their mp3 players, but they are not allowed to copy music that they have rented and/or borrowed. Now will this change in the copyright act actually help control the outbreak of illegal downloading? Will people still illegally download? Should downloading be legal?

I believe that although illegal downloading is easier for us and has less cost than actually going to a store and buying a $20 CD, it is still considered to be theft. No one actually believes that but in a way it is. You may not be going into a store and taking the CD, but you are taking music off the web that well you are not paying for and is not yours. Music industries do make money off people that buy their music but if people are not buying their music anymore then they will be losing money. But don't get me wrong, I am not for buying $20 CDs, but there are alternatives now to that. Itunes and other websites are actually suggesting that you can buy music off their sites for 99 cents. Now I believe that since the new copyright act has been implemented these alternatives are definitely better than buying a $20 CD.

Please feel free to state your thoughts!

http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/442126

Problem Gamblers Hit Ontario!

A $3.5 billion lawsuit has been launched on behalf of addicted gamblers who supposedly said that they asked to not be allowed into Ontario's casinos, and were still allowed in. This lawsuit is filed against the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) in Toronto. They claimed that the corporation did not do enough for those that signed up for the "self-exclusion" program, which allows people people to ban themselves from casinos so that they can stop their own gambling habits.

Those who have signed up for this program have been photographed, are registered and their information is stored in binders at every provincial casino. And if they are caught trying to enter any of these casinos then they can be arrested for trespassing. However a lot of the gamblers who are in this program spoke with CBC News and said that this program does not work. One woman who said that she was registered for the program thinking that this program would help her with her gambling addiction, was actually disappointed when this program let her down and her gambling addiction did lead her back to a casino soon after.

Lawyers say the OLG should be using high-tech systems to catch self-banned gamblers. In the Netherlands, gamblers present photo identification at casinos, and their identification is checked against a computer database, lawyers say. Ontario has settled nine individual lawsuits pertaining to self-exclusion, but has never been hit with a large class-action suit. The OLG has argued in the past that it is ultimately up to the gamblers themselves to stay away from casinos, although the corporation has expressed interest in obtaining facial recognition technology to improve its screening process.

Personally I think that the OLG should implement the facial recognition technology so that problem gamblers do not enter. Also I think that they should implement something where if at casinos they seen people spending an excessive amount of money then they could either polietly escort the person out of the casino or something similiar to that

Feel free to state your opinions. What do you propose we do about these problem gamblers? Does this program have a legit reason to file a lawsuit against the OLG? Do you think this "self exlcusion" program can actually help problem gamblers?

http://www.cbc.ca/mobile/story/national/2008/06/11/gambling-lawsuit?dynamicMenu=consumer

GAS PRICES - Are you serious?

Gas prices are skyrocketing; I see the gas go up every day! I don’t have a car in Waterloo so it doesn’t affect me much here, but I do have a car in Toronto, and travelling has become expensive! I’ve been trying to figure out ways to save money on gas, because being a full time student with a part time job, spending money on gas is depressing! The bulk of my pay check goes towards gas, so I researched some different ways of saving money that I thought you all might find interesting!

Visit this website:

http://www.torontogasprices.com/

This website tells you where you can get cheap gas in Toronto and it tells you a bunch of other things!

Courtesy of this website, here is a list of 10 things you can do to save gas:

1 Avoid High Speeds As your speed increases, your aerodynamic drag increases in an exponential fashion. Driving 62 mph (100 km/h) vs 75 mph (120 km/h) will reduce fuel consumption by about 15%.

2 Do Not Accelerate or Brake Hard By anticipating the traffic and applying slow steady acceleration and braking, fuel economy may increase by as much as 20%.

3 Keep Tires Properly Inflated Keep tire air pressure at the level recommended by your vehicle manufacturer. A single tire under inflated by 2 PSI, increases fuel consumption by 1%.

4 Use A/C Sparingly When the air conditioner is on it puts extra load on the engine forcing more fuel to be used (by about 20%). The defrost position on most vehicles also uses the air conditioner.

5 Keep Windows Closed Windows open, especially at highway speeds, increase drag and result in decreased fuel economy of up to 10%.

6 Service Vehicle Regularly Proper maintenance avoids poor fuel economy related to dirty air filters, old spark plugs or low fluid levels.

7 Use Cruise Control Maintaining a constant speed over long distances often saves gas.

8 Avoid Heavy Loads Remove the sand bags from your trunk in the spring and pack lightly for long trips.

9 Avoid Long Idles If you anticipate being stopped for more than 1 minute, shut off the car. Restarting the car uses less fuel than letting it idle for this time.

10 Purchase a Fuel Efficient Vehicle When buying a new vehicle examine the vehicle's rated fuel efficiency. Usually choosing a small vehicle with a manual transmission will provide you with great fuel economy.

If you have any comments or any other tips, please feel free to post them here!

GAS SCAM?

The Tories are trying to figure out methods to expose Dion’s attempt for a “massive tax grab”. They are thinking of making a cartoon play every time someone goes to fill up gas at the gas station. Tories brand is “Dion's tax on everything -- will you be tricked into paying more?" They believe that this is Dion’s big tax scam and will not be benefited. They have t-shirts and other marketing tools to get the attention of voters.

Dion’s reasons for “carbon tax” whenever he releases could appeal to voters that are concerned about global warming. Although there are ads against Dion’s idea there is not much that the Tories have done to explain their reasons or state what they propose they do about this concern.

Personally I think that carbon tax can be good for the future, it will be able to save the environment and motivate people to potentially even buy hybrid cars. If you stay within the limits of your carbon credits then there will no need for you to pay more than usual. This may cause people to become more cautious but really there are so many people out there that are so careless about environment that maybe this can make people have more control over how much carbon they use. The people that may have a problem are those that buy big houses and drive expensive and large cars.

Feel free to state your opinions. Do you think that implementing carbon tax will be beneficial for our future? Do the Tories have a legit reason to argue? Should the Tories find a better solution?

http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Goldstein_Lorrie/2008/06/08/5810696-sun.php

Welcome!

Hello All,

Since this is my very first blog ever I'm going to try different things to make this blog look good and of course have good discussion topics. If anyone has any suggestions on how I can make this blog better please feel free to post a comment and let me know your thoughts!!!

Thanks and enjoy!