Have you been following the copyright debate?
If you haven’t, you should – the ways you create, swap and manage your media, from ripping CDs onto your iPod to PVRing your favourite TV shows, could be in jeopardy.
Last month, the Minister of Industry unveiled new amendments to Canada’s intellectual property law, the Copyright Act.
Critics have pointed out that the proposed changes to the Act could make activities like saving a season’s worth of American Idol on your PVR or ripping your Transformers DVD to your video iPod illegal.
The privacy commissioners of Canada, Ontario and British Columbia have also said they have privacy concerns over digital rights management – the “digital locks” media companies use to monitor and control access to copyrighted material. In the past, many of these tools also included spyware, to track how people used their media. Think listening to a new CD on repeat while doing homework is just between you and your computer? Think again.
The bill won’t be examined again until the fall now that Parliament has adjourned, but constituents – like you – can make themselves heard over the summer. Check these links for more information on the debate, and how you can make your voice heard.