Rejecting Bill C-61 in its current form - The online discussion

Normally, when I know I have things to do (e.g. academic stuff), I have my content time-stamped, making sure that if it relates to current events, it is published in a timely manner. However, given my recent coverage of Bill C-61 and Andy’s recent tweet linking to the Canadian Coalition of Electronic Rights, this is a timely post that needs to be bumped up in the priority list.

What is the Canadian Coalition of Electronic Rights? From their website:

How can a balance be attained between protecting the rights of creators and their entitlement to compensation for their works and the rights of Canadians who seek to access and use these works? Although there may be no definitive answer to this question there are several factors that need to exist in an amended Copyright Act to ensure a reasonable level of mutual protection for stakeholders and users. The Canadian Coalition for Electronic Rights (CCER) is an advocate for the preservation of user rights throughout the copyright reform process in Canada.
[CCER website]

I had covered the Bill C-61 discussions in a recent post, but it seemed to stir NO DISCUSSION whatsoever (with the exception of Gillian’s very good commentary). This morning I woke up to a Tweet by Andy and I figured I had to write a post about it, and try to bring more attention to it. The reality of it is, this Bill WILL affect a lot of Canadians, residents, even short-term visitors! I don’t think that people are informed enough about this issue. Thus I hope this can be a wake-up call to action. This is a relevant topic that has direct relevance to what Joe Solomon spoke about yesterday - mobilizing people to effect social change.

If you feel compelled to do so, I would urge you to read more about the CCER and the Bill C-61, and to send this letter. And as usual, the disclaimer - I am in no way associated with CCER, but I do think that the discussion should be balanced. Furthermore, I like the research and thinking of Dr. Michael Geist, who has strongly criticized the bill in its current form.

[Hat tips to Andy for his tweet, and hoping this post will attract some attention!]