Dear Ministers,
As you already know, Bill C-32 was unveiled today, with an intent to update copyright law to current technological standards.
While the Bill does grant more common sense rights to us consumers, there is a major flaw about which you will no doubt hear a lot of discussion. The flaw in question is about the Digital Lock provisions.
Bill C-32 gives rights to consumers to transfer media between devices for personal consumption, and to create remixes for non-commercial purposes. I applaud the government for granting us these rights in the law. They ensure that us consumers get our fair share when we buy media with our hard earned money. They also encourage creativity amongst Canadians by giving us more freedom and more content to experiment with.
These new rights are unfortunately trumped by the growing use of Digital Locks. Such locks are placed on increasing forms of digital media, such as online purchased music, DVDs, Blu-Ray discs, e-books, and presumably any new format of digital media to come in the future. In effect, this renders all us consumers' new found rights useless. It's like offering us candy and then taking it back.
The circumvention of digital locks in itself should not be a criminal act. If the legitimate act of transferring a movie from a Blu-ray disc to a mobile player for personal use involves circumvention of a digital lock, then logically speaking, it is not the digital lock that should be decide the case, but the consumer's rights. Transferring a movie from Blu-ray to mobile player is the same as transferring music from CD to mobile player, and yet one is illegal and the other isn't. I'm sure legislators can achieve a better compromise than that.
I hope that Bill C-32 gets revised, and that the revision will protect the rights of Canadian consumers rather than make Canada bend over for the United States and the European Union. I hope that the Digital Lock provisions in particular will be reviewed and edited to achieve a better compromise for us consumers. After all, we are the people who drive the economy.
Sincerely,
Alain Trinh