Write to your MP about C-61
I spent the afternoon doing a quick letter to my MP. It’s below the fold, for your convenience… I urge everyone else to do the same and stop Bill C-61. If you dont want to draft your own, you can use this too from Copyright for Canadians (via BoingBoing)
Michael Geist and Russel McOrmond have more comments at their respective sites.
I am a physician and a blogger who recently moved to Oakville, and am writing to you regarding the recently-introduced Conservative Copyright Bill. I have previously corresponded via e-mail regarding my concerns, which unfortunately have now been realized.
The above bill introduced by Mr. Prentice has superficial concessions to consumer rights, which are made irrelevant by the fine print; furthermore, its anti-circumvention provisions are inherently anti-competitive, anti-innovative, and abuse the privacy and property right of Canadians.
Prentice purports to legally protect the previously illegal (or grey area) acts of shifting music and movies from purchased CDs and DVDs to portable media players and recording broadcast television, but these provisions are rendered completely ineffective by the exclusions for circumventing technological measures (see for example Section 29.21c, 29.22c, 29.23b). In an increasingly digital world, where more and more CDs, all DVDs and Blu-Ray discs, and even broadcast programs are protected by these digital locks, Prentice’s ‘fair dealing’ provisions are meaningless. The Bill as it stands makes format and time-shifting from protected sources (which would rapidly be all of them) illegal. It would make it an offence to reproduce excerpts from copy-protected e-books for teaching purposes. It would also make it illegal to unlock a cell phone and install the software or use the provider of the owner’s choice. It would likely hinder the next RIM or Apple from creating devices to interoperate with the existing digital world.
The media attention is on file-sharing and piracy, but digital locks – although marketed as an anti-piracy measure – have nothing to do with piracy at all. In the US, where similar anti-circumvention laws have been on the books for 10 years now, there was no reduction in piracy and file sharing. There are however well documented instances where the anti-circumvention law has been used to prevent interoperability and market competition, to stifle innovation, and to limit security research.
Furthermore, Prentice has repeatedly failed to consult with a broad range of Canadians, such as consumers , educators, industry leaders and artists – all of whom have significant concerns about this type of legislation. It seems he has simply acquiesced to US lobby groups and their Canadian appendages such as the CRIA.
Other countries, such as New Zealand and Israel, have recently enacted much more balanced copyright laws. Please ensure that this bill is tailored for Canadian interests by allowing for broad consultation with all Canadian stakeholders, and at least amending the bill to make circumvention illegal only if the underlying purpose infringes copyright, and make circumvention tools legal (for the previous point to have any practical meaning).
I would be happy to discuss this matter further, and can be reached by telephone or e-mail.
Sincerely,
*DancingSamurai*
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