Canadians Against Bill C-61

Bill C-61 was created in the second Parliament session of 2008 by Industry Minister Jim Prentice. After Parliament went on vacation at the end of 2008, he said it would be revisited in the fall 2009 session. It will allow you to record TV shows for later viewing, and make one copy of previously purchased materials such as music or books for copy onto other devices.

However, it would be illegal to circumvent digital locks which DVDs, CDs, and other devices have, making these rights essentially useless. This bill limits the ability of universities to teach and research, as material that could be legally copied in paper format is not legally copiable when digitally encrypted.

Common actions such as copying movies for multi region DVD players, purchasing songs as a gift to be downloaded on the recipient’s device, backing up a computer with copyrighted material will also be illegal.

It would also not allow unlocking of cell phones, forcing consumers to acquire a new cell phone each time they switch a carrier. The bill makes it difficult for software developers to conduct innovative research. While it appears to give users rights by allowing a single copy of legally purchased materials, all those rights are negated by digital locks that producers of content can and do use. If material is illegally downloaded, this can mean a 500$ fine, and hacking digital locks can lead to a 20000$ fine.