Bill C-61, and Why You Should Be Worried

Matthew Trevithick
Ok - REALLY?

If, like me, you download music off the Internet - you might want to pay attention now. The following article is about the introduced bill called 'Bill C-61', and while most of you reading this probably have no idea what Bill C-61 is - you should.

When it was introduced back in June of this year, Bill C-61 was the Conservatives answer to updating Canada's copyright laws - though you wouldn't know it if you looked at it. The bill says that - if you are found to be illegally downloading copyrighted material, you could be fined $500 - but the fees don't stop there. You could be further charged up to $20,000 if you are a) found to be bypassing Digital Locks or DRM (Digital Rights Managment) which is commonly found on music and video downloads such as from iTunes or Amazon.com; b) found to be uploading copyrighted audio or video to Peer-to-Peer networks like torrents or even uploading them to YouTube without permission; or c) "Making available" of copyrighted material (regardless if it was actually uploaded). [1] [2]

According to the bill "In the case of commercial circumvention of DRM, Clause 32 of the Bill specifies penalties of $1,000,000 and/or five years imprisonment on conviction on indictment, or $25,000 and/or six months imprisonment on summary conviction." [Sc. Scroll down to Clause 32]

As you can see, this is probably one of the biggest mistakes the Tory's have ever made - in regards to 'swaying teenage voters to their party.'

Unfortunately, Harper has since stated that if re-elected, the Conservative party will re-introduce a bill including the contents of Bill C-61 [3] - so in other words, if re-elected, this bill will be passed (of course, who can guarantee that there will be no public backlash.)

Luckily there is a solution to this problem, if - like the other 45% of the population who hasn't been brainwashed by Harper - you don't want to get stifled for 20 grand; Vote NDP. Layton and the party, is opposed to the bill in question, and has since asked "MPs from other parties to listen to their constituents and join us in the growing chorus against it"[4]

So please - if you have a fully functioning brain, and are somewhat sane - to ask your parents to vote NDP tomorrow. Please - for the nation.


Futher Info.------------------
Michael Geist
Fair Copyright for Canada
CBC News