Copy This

Before this class I had never heard of Bill C-61. I’ve heard of similar laws, but never this one in particular. I must admit that I’m not certain I agree with it. In the United States citizens have been pressured to limit their downloading and copying practices under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) for years. It is only logical that the “neighbors to the north” would eventually feel pressured to adopt a similar bill into law.

To limit the rights of what Canadians do with property they have legally obtained is unjust. Although there are laws prohibiting the use of personal property in causing harm (car accidents, handgun regulation, fire codes, etc.), who is really being harmed in this case? Production companies have the right to protect their material from being stolen, hence the DMCA and the proposed Bill C-61, but what about those supporters of said multi-media industries? People pay hard earned money to purchase CD’s, posters, artwork, and DVD’s. To regulate what can be done with their personal property seems to step on the toes of personal-freedom. My iPod is full of songs from the multitude of CD’s I own. My sister listens to her CD’s on her phone because she’s able to transfer them through her computer. To make these things illegal seems like an imposition. To bar a mother from making a copy of a disk bought for her child simply because the original would most likely get ruined seems ludicrous. Again, I understand that Bill C-61 is aimed more at those who redistribute copied material for their own personal gain, but in this modern information age outlawing most means of copying digital materials also seems to limit our right to information.

What really bothers me is how it is as if U.S. corporate interests, in some regards, influence Canadian political institutions. On a grand scale, political bonds have been formed between the U.S. and Canada that are completely indispensible in our mutual co-existence. Some too are corporate. But the idea of media industries in the States holding sway over decisions in Ottawa makes me uneasy. Who knows, if Bill C-61 passes, downloading and file-sharing practices may still flourish as they have I the States under the DMCA.

Though, to me, the claim that these laws are meant to protect the artist’s interest primarily is a cop out. Certainly they do protect the artist to a degree, but the primary beneficiaries of these laws are the companies that produce such media material on a grand scale. So many corporate interests are invested in the mass distribution of movies and music that, in the face of a new digital age, they can be found the world over, lobbying to maintain their relevance in an ever evolving digital culture.

Support of Bill C-61 seems like a voluntary cap on one’s personal freedoms. The use of private property purchased legally within the framework of law, when not used to harm another (physical, theft, defamation, etc.), should be up to the discretion of the consumer.