Copyright in Canada... time to wake up

If you've been following the bill Prentice has been trying to cram through the government, read it closely and evaluate how it actually meets your needs versus those of the entertainment industry. If you haven't heard of the american DMCA laws, it's essentially the US derivative of what is trying to be passed. And frankly, as both a computer scientist (of who the DMCA has jailed several, and left many other companies in the dust) and an indie musician (of whom the DMCA allows the RIAA to ignore and then freely sue music users who try to rightfully use the music they have purchased on the medium they want), this is a deep concern.

This bill is bad news. It looks worse than the american DMCA. Prentice is pretty much bending over for the American entertainment industry rather than thinking first about his constituents, the canadian industry and canadian artists. The DMCA has been seen as a massive failure whose main work has been to further line the pockets of a deeply troubled industry. We don't need this in Canada, and we've been fine without it.

Read up on your digital rights now, and send your MP a letter to protest this. Or don't look at me when you suddenly get fined ridiculous amounts of money for doing what you've luxuriously enjoyed for the past few years. Fines which will go straight to the big companies and leave all the indie canadian bands scratching for leftovers from a jaded consumer.

here's the link to the letter generator, It's already done for you, just click away and be proactive at Copyright for Canadians.