Copyright bill hurts education and research
[2008 06 17]Bill C-61, the proposed amendment to the _Copyright Act of Canada_, is similar in many ways to US copyright legislation, which enables owners of intellectual property to sue anyone caught copying or distributing it without permission.
CAUT is particularly concerned that the draft legislation will make it more difficult for university and college teachers and students to have access to learning materials.
The bill prohibits the circumvention of digital encryption—any device or technology that prevents copying. This means material that can be copied now if in a paper format, cannot be copied for any reason, including educational or research purposes, if it is in electronic format and digitally encrypted.
“In prohibiting all circumvention, the proposed legislation will lock down a vast amount of digital material, preventing its use for research, education and innovation,” said Turk.
The Canadian Federation of Students has also denounced the legislation as being “impossibly restrictive.”
The state of the law surrounding downloading of information from the Internet had been murky until now. The bill makes it clear that downloading without permission is clearly illegal, and opens the door to lawsuits that begin at $500 and range upward to $20,000.