SOPA, PIPA and C-11
For most, copyright law does not sound like an interesting topic for a blog post. But, copyright law has been getting a lot of play lately in the media, blogosphere, social media networks and in real life too.
SOPA and PIPA are two controversial pieces of American legislation that seek to control how information is shared online. For a more in-depth description have a look at this article. After a recent 'internet strike', which prompted millions of Americans to sign petitions and phone their congressmen and women, the bill appears to be losing support.
In Canada, Bill C-11 currently in its second reading, dubbed the Copyright Modernization Act, seeks to amend current Canadian copyright law. Although it is generally agreed upon among tech experts and columnists that Bill C-11 is overall a better piece of legislation than SOPA and PIPA, it still has its issues.
According to a recent article in the National Post, this bill takes one step forward and two steps backwards. Under this new legislation, mashups will be legal for personal use, but making digital copies for personal use will become illegal.
For example, if you buy a copy of a DVD and then burn it onto your computer for personal use you are breaking the law. Or, if you buy an e-book for you iPad and then create a backup on your computer, that too is considered a criminal act. Seems to be a contradiction of the law of private property doesn't it?
Library Resources
- From radical extremism to balanced copyright law: Canadian copyright law and the digital agenda
- The politics of internet communication, Robert J. klotz
- The of future of ideas: the fate of the commons in the connected 1st world
Related Links
4 thoughts on “SOPA, PIPA and C-11”
Very informative article on a very complex and timelytopic — and from a Canadian perspective, too! Thank you, Tom.
Have you see this video “The Day The LOLcats Died – #SOPA #PIPA Protest Song”? It’s about the American legislation, but it’s still funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p-TV4jaCMk
It’s almost a week after Megavideo and Megaupload has been shutdown and more and more people protest on it.
Thanks for the comments.
Julian Finn, of http://www.didthey.com, has written as interesting blog post about Bill C-11.
Here’s the link: http://dearthey.com/2012/01/26/a-copyright-quickie-canada-is-about-to-pass-sopas-evil-little-brother-politely/