Like many other interested Canadians, I've been waiting all morning to see if proposed copyright legislation would be tabled before the House (similar to US congress) and the answer is no-not yet. This controversial legislation would have made such activities as the time-shifting of television shows, file-sharing of music and video, and copying files to CDs or MP3 players illegal.
If you're an American, you're probably saying "so what?, that's basically the law we have." But that's the point. Canadians want our own laws, not something our government imposes upon us just because that's what the U.S. says we should do.
It may still go before the House, but that can't possibly happen now until the end of January when Parliament reconvenes. And in the next few weeks, we are hoping the government gets it right and thinks not just about the record label companies but also about the rights of consumers.
The most amazing part of this whole story is that it is quite possible that an Ottawa lawyer, Michael Geist may have been the one responsible for putting the brakes on the legislation when he started a Facebook group to protest it. Over 20,000 joined in just over a week and the momentum has brought the issue from the dark corridors and back rooms of Parliament Hill to the forefront of Canadian media.
This is very hard evidence of the power of a social network in action for the second time within a month in Canada. The first was the refusal of the public to accept the brutal death of a confused Polish immigrant, Robert Dziekanski who spoke no English, at the hands of 4 RCMP bullies with a taser at Vancouver International airport. Not that it will bring him back but his mother has received apologies from heads of various governments and there are no less than 6 inquiries being conducted.
Hey, maybe we Canadians aren't just the polite, accepting, laid back folks that Americans think we are.
