CS and the City

Google announced today the roll out of the enterprise version of their Google Apps package: Google Apps Premier Edition. Download Squad and SaaS Blog have pretty good round-ups on the reaction across the net, and the reaction has been wide spread.

Google’s not the first to tackle this problem. ThinkFree and Zoho already have mature offerings. Hell, even Microsoft has their Office Live Premium ($39.95/month). Features vary (Zoho has presentations, MS handles mail and web only). There is obvious demand and interest for such a product. So why is has Google’s entry got enterprises lined up do hand over their data?
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Puretracks – Canadian Online Music Retailer goes DRM-less on indie offerings
Moosehead tackles last Canadian holdout: Saskatchewan
How to get iTunes to sort your albums (almost) exactly how you want it
Ariel Atom coming to Canada for a test drive
Dynamic languages hitting home on the desktop

The IIPA, a powerful group representing Software, Movie, and Music companies in the states wants Canada black-listed alongside Russia, China, and Belize for not *modernizing* our copyright policy.

I believe that Canada’s copyright policy is acceptable and properly protects fair-use rights. My fellow Canadians should be damn happy the CRIA can’t just sue the pants off anyone who owns an iPod like the RIAA does in the states.

I can’t sum up how ridiculous this is enough to do it justice, so I’ll let poster “rumblin’rabbit” on the slashdot article do it instead:

“So they want Bush to blacklist Canada, their biggest trading partner (last I heard), their NATO ally, whose troops are now fighting in Afghanistan against the Taliban, possessor of the second largest petroleum reserves in the world, and whose government is one of the very few who are not overtly hostile to the Bush administration?

Over video games?

Cool.”

Let your MP know that you do not respect a Government that bows to every US whim. While you’re at it, ask them to can Bev Oda, before the media companies buy her soul.

And would someone please put Michael Geist in charge of copyright legislation?