Bill C-61

What is your reaction to the proposed Bill C-61? Do you agree or disagree? Why?

I strongly disagree with Bill C-61. I feel that it is more of an effort to appease powerful American interests than it is one to sort things out for Canadians. Many of the measures it tries to impose will be difficult, if not impossible to enforce, and in fact, many of the laws have been a joke for years.

What are the implications of C-61 to Canadians? What are some of the benefits and constraints of the proposed C-61 to consumers of media (you and me)?

The way I see it, it cuts back the freedom to manipulate digital freedom that we currently enjoy, whether legally or not. While the people trying to push this through have loudly proclaimed a $500 maximum penalty for violation of this bill, some digging reveals that in fact fines can range up to $20,000 for uploading copyrighted content to filesharing sites, or even places like YouTube. Critics of the bill such as Liberal MP Scott Brison have said that the bill could lead to a "police state". While this might be somewhat hyperbolous, it is certainly unsettling anytime our freedoms are taken from us within Canada.

Who ultimately benefits from the proposed Bill?

Media companies. To me, this is nothing more than an exercise in propoganda, aimed to scare Canadians out of copying or distributing new media. Some of the limitations it imposes are borderline ridiculous (no copies of a DVD, but making VHS copies is fine?) and will likely be just as impractical in five years as the current laws are now.