Fight for Copyright

Of interest to fellow Canadians at least:

All three opposition parties shot down the Conservative government's proposal to make copying CDs, games, DVDs, music, or whatever else for personal use illegal.

The federal government's proposal to make consumers liable for legal damages of up to $5,000 if they break digital locks to copy movies, video games and electronic books for their own personal use appears dead on arrival — with all three opposition parties on Tuesday speaking out against this key provision of the Conservative's copyright bill.

The controversial legislation to modernize Canada's copyright law is expected to clear a key parliamentary hurdle as early as this week when MPs vote to send it to a House of Commons committee for closer scrutiny. Critics for the Liberals, the Bloc Quebecois and the New Democrats all stood up in the House of Commons Tuesday to support updating the law, but said they will be proposing amendments to the digital encryption provisions before a final vote.

Unless the Conservatives win over at least one opposition party, the bill cannot pass the House of Commons.

Citing "concerns" over the bill's technological protection measures, Liberal industry critic Marc Garneau said any copyright law "must allow Canadians who have legitimately purchased a CD or a DVD or other product, the ability to transfer their purchase onto personal devices such as an iPod, or make a personal backup copy on their computer, so long as they are not doing so for the purposes of sale or transfer to others. We do not believe (the bill) achieves this principle," Garneau told the House of Commons.