Big (Canadian) Brother is watching
Kerri Breen
Issue date: 9/2/08 Section: Opinion
The Muse (Memorial University of Newfoundland)
ST. JOHN'S (CUP) - CBC's George Stroumboulopoulos may have had the best intentions when he cried, "The government has no business in the iPods of the nation," but he was kind of off the mark.
Yes, the new Bill C-61, if passed and enforced, will mean ludicrous penalties for those who download and upload copyrighted material. People caught downloading music or video files face fines up to $500. Uploading to a peer-to-peer network could result in lawsuits of $20,000 per file.
But unlike Stroumboulopoulos suggested, it won't be the government snooping in your iPod at all, at least at first. Instead, your Internet service provider will be obligated to inform the government about your pirated Gwar discography and the time you uploaded part of an episode of Antiques Roadshow to YouTube.
This is very scary territory for Canada to be entering. In a healthy democracy, the private sector would not be responsible for surveilling and policing the public, yet this appears to be how the new law will work.
Obviously, critics have described the Bill as anti-consumerist and pro-industry, for this and many other reasons. In fact, an astounding number of consumer advocacy groups, from Online Rights Canada to the Public Interest Advocacy Centre have vehemently opposed the Bill.
And, if you need another reason to dislike it, C-61 won't just limit the leisure activities of students; it might also impact us in the classroom.
Under the new legislation students and educators may only make one copy of digital course materials, and borrowing a CD from the library and copying it could mean a $500 fine.
Sharing materials is a reasonable, benign approach students have taken to curb their spending in the face of debt, high costs of living, and seemingly inexplicable textbook prices.
Student lobby groups are already speaking out against the Bill, suggesting that it punishes this strategy.
"These amendments could severely affect the ability of students and post-secondary institutions to access and share educational materials," said Zach Churchill, National Director of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, in a press release. "Teachers and students alike will feel the affects of the restrictions on Internet and digital materials."
Further, educators would be responsible for enforcing copyright rules in classrooms.
"Schools would have to ensure that Internet access to a lesson is restricted to teachers and students in the course and that the lesson could not be copied or distributed by students," reads the Bill.
But whatever your concern is, be it the pursuit of movies or school books, the utter pervasiveness of illegal downloading, even with Internet service providers acting as Big Brother, should ensure that most of us can get away with what this generation has come to perceive as its right; Access to an infinite supply of free knowledge and entertainment.
So relax and fill up your iPod, George. Just be prepared to be a little sneakier about it next year.
ST. JOHN'S (CUP) - CBC's George Stroumboulopoulos may have had the best intentions when he cried, "The government has no business in the iPods of the nation," but he was kind of off the mark.
Yes, the new Bill C-61, if passed and enforced, will mean ludicrous penalties for those who download and upload copyrighted material. People caught downloading music or video files face fines up to $500. Uploading to a peer-to-peer network could result in lawsuits of $20,000 per file.
But unlike Stroumboulopoulos suggested, it won't be the government snooping in your iPod at all, at least at first. Instead, your Internet service provider will be obligated to inform the government about your pirated Gwar discography and the time you uploaded part of an episode of Antiques Roadshow to YouTube.
This is very scary territory for Canada to be entering. In a healthy democracy, the private sector would not be responsible for surveilling and policing the public, yet this appears to be how the new law will work.
Obviously, critics have described the Bill as anti-consumerist and pro-industry, for this and many other reasons. In fact, an astounding number of consumer advocacy groups, from Online Rights Canada to the Public Interest Advocacy Centre have vehemently opposed the Bill.
And, if you need another reason to dislike it, C-61 won't just limit the leisure activities of students; it might also impact us in the classroom.
Under the new legislation students and educators may only make one copy of digital course materials, and borrowing a CD from the library and copying it could mean a $500 fine.
Sharing materials is a reasonable, benign approach students have taken to curb their spending in the face of debt, high costs of living, and seemingly inexplicable textbook prices.
Student lobby groups are already speaking out against the Bill, suggesting that it punishes this strategy.
"These amendments could severely affect the ability of students and post-secondary institutions to access and share educational materials," said Zach Churchill, National Director of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, in a press release. "Teachers and students alike will feel the affects of the restrictions on Internet and digital materials."
Further, educators would be responsible for enforcing copyright rules in classrooms.
"Schools would have to ensure that Internet access to a lesson is restricted to teachers and students in the course and that the lesson could not be copied or distributed by students," reads the Bill.
But whatever your concern is, be it the pursuit of movies or school books, the utter pervasiveness of illegal downloading, even with Internet service providers acting as Big Brother, should ensure that most of us can get away with what this generation has come to perceive as its right; Access to an infinite supply of free knowledge and entertainment.
So relax and fill up your iPod, George. Just be prepared to be a little sneakier about it next year.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
YoungSpot
YoungSpot
posted 9/04/08 @ 2:39 PM EST
The Bill C-61 is likely to die. I mean, it BETTER die yes? The passing of the Bill would not only mean the loss of privacy but our cost-wise decisions. (Continued…)
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