There’s been a lot of discussion in the papers about the newly-tabled Bill on Canadian Copyright; suffice to say there are lots of issues with it and it needs to be sent back and turned into something that meets the needs of the citizens and residents of this country. If you’re living in Canada, I’d recommend you read some of Michael Geist’s blog, particularly the summary of last week, and then email your MP about the issues that concern you the most. For me, it’s the potential that playing DVDs from a region other than Canada could violate the law. If I’ve bought the DVDs legally, or had them given to me, why should playing them violate the law? Why should getting a cell phone unlocked violate the law? Why should backing up my CDs violate the law? This is one of the few issues I can remember where it seems that every newspaper has the same tone to the editorial – and it isn’t complimentary to the government.
Mind you, my local MP isn’t exactly known for listening to his constituents (there’s still a lot of local anger at his crossing the floor after being elected), so who knows how much good my email (a heavily edited version of the one at that used to be found at http://www.copyrightforcanadians.ca/action/firstlook) will do.
Update: it looks like the Minister supposedly in charge, isn’t – Canadian Industry Minister lies about his Canadian DMCA on national radio, then hangs up – Boing Boing.
