A recent[ly read] post reminded me about a mailing I received from Wayne Marston last week. The newsletter contained the following article on Bill C-61.

Follow up:

Recently the Conservatives introduced Bill C-61, which makes changes to the Copyright Act. The NDP strongly opposes this bill. C-61 has serious consequences for all Canadians. It strongly resembles the United States' Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Bill C-61 will pave the way for the criminalization of perfectly reasonable behaviour. Consumer rights Canadians exercise every day, like format shifting of legally purchased content will be lost when the distributor uses a digital lock. For example, all of the CDs and DVDs you purchase have digital locks placed on them by the companies that produce and sell them. Ripping or copying a CD or DVD that you have purchased to a computer or iPod, or even making a back-up disk would be a breach of the Act. Educators, students and librarians will face greatly restricted access to educational and research materials. This bill could also make it illegal to purchase any device that could bypass an imposed digital lock, like a multi-region DVD player, for example. This means our rights would be in the hands of these corporations.

Over the past two years the NDP has urged the government to consult with stakeholders and develop legislation that would protect artists, innovators and consumers in the 21st century. Unfortunately, the government has completely ignored calls to bring forward reasonable copyright legislation.

My NDP colleagues and I will continue to oppose Bill C-61 and advocate for fair legislation that will ensure consumers are protected.

I haven't yet settled on supporting either the NDP or the Greens (the Conservatives, Liberals and Bloc will not get my vote). To be certain though, Wayne's continuing support for balanced copyright reform is having an effect on me.