Avast ye, Bill C-61!

This blog is, for all intents and purposes, electronic driftwood (and soon to be replaced by accounts of my eventual adventures abroad).

I will, however, briefly revive it to join the chorus of voices decrying the silliness that is Bill C-61- An Act to amend the Copyright Act, a piece of proposed legislation known more colloquially (a.k.a. pejoratively) as Canada's DMCA.

The government's introduction to and fact sheets about the bill claim that the legislation embodies

long-overdue and much-needed amendments to the Copyright Act that will bring it in line with advances in technology and current international standards.

While I agree that amendments to Canada's Copyright Act are in fact long overdue, the definition of "international standards" employed here puzzles me a bit; this bill is being widely decried as one that will result in Canada having one of the most restrictive copyright laws for the digital environment in the world. Hardly 'in line.'

Instead of presenting you with my specific grievances with the bill, here follows a list of all the horrible things that other people are saying about it; they cover all the highlights more eloquently than I could.

• Fair Copyright Canada details the adverse effects that C-61 could have on research and learning. This one most eloquently (and bluntly) sums up my sentiments.
• Michael Geist has been raising red flags about this piece of legislation since December, including the lack of consultation going into the bill and some of the more troubling aspects of the fine print.
• Howard Knopf has also been keeping tabs on this little gem for quite some time, keeping fairly extensive tabs on some of the nastier surprises in the wording around circumvention, digital locks and other issues. He also provides links to some of the media coverage that the bill is getting in parts of Ontario.
• Sam Trosow also weighs in on the "flawed" bill.
• Some coverage from The Global and Mail.
• Some coverage from the CBC.
• Some coverage from the Guardian (UK).
• Some coverage from the Vancouver Sun.
• You get the idea - a google search for news on Canada+Copyright yielded 457 articles.
• For some more extensive background, check out the FAQs provided by CIPPIC.
• Appropriation Art condemns the bill, mostly for the regressive impacts it stands to have on the Canadian cultural community. Their collection of news coverage is also rather extensive.
• A Boing-Boing how-to guide for fighting C-61
  
• CoprightWatch is keeping a close eye on all things C-61 (and copyright more generally), with some neat statistics and factoids
• Digital Copyright Canada has criticisms of the proposed amendment from a number of perspectives, including how the changes will hurt musicians, open-source innovators, the Liberal slam about the thing being half-baked, and most ubiquitously, the consumer outcry.
• The Canadian Federation of Students has provided a pretty good brief (pdf) on what's wrong with C-61 (and had it available in April).
• Jeremy de Beer answers your questions and explains why "fair and balanced" isn't the most honest description of this bill that the government could have come up with.
• From opposite ends of the Canadian blogosphere, daveberta and small dead animals have also weighed in.
• From the archives: one of the little scandals that helped bring this legislation down last time around.
• And here, a good summary of recent musings and happenings from p2pnetnews.
  

• ESAC applauds bill C-61. Good for them. So do all these lovely organizations. Bet they have consumers' rights in mind. I mean, the "Entertainment Software Association of Canada (ESAC) is dedicate exclusively to serving the business and public affairs needs of companies in Canada..."
  

That's comforting, right?

Things you can do if you're so inclined:

• Sign the petition to Kill Bill C-61.
• Check out Copyright for Canadians for other ways you can get involved as well as for an easy step-by-step process for writing to your MP (includes a sample letter).
• Write to the Prime Minister, the right Honourable Stephen Harper.
• Write to the Ministry of Industry, the Honourable Jim Prentice.
• Write to the Heritage Minister, the Honourable Josée Vernier.
• Write to James Rajotte, Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Industry Science and Technology.
• If you do facebook, join the Fair Copyright for Canada group.
• Write to Liberal Leader Stéphan Dion, Heritage etc. Critic Denis Coderre and Liberal Consumers Affairs etc. Critic Dan McTeague to encourage them to fight this bill and show up for the vote this time.
• Feel free to write the other parties as well (especially if your MP is a member of them).
  

This piece of legislation is ridiculous. Send the government back to the drawing board to do it properly.