My Member of Parliament, David McGuinty, replied to my concerns about Bill C‑61. Here’s the good stuff:
In June, the Conservative Government introduced its copyright legislation, Bill C‑61. This is a highly technical bill that requires careful study to ensure it strikes the right balance between consumers and creators. As well, we are concerned with how this bill treats technological protection measures.
We are also concerned with the Government’s failure to properly consult Canadians to ensure that the final bill fosters innovation, fairly compensates creators and treats consumers with respect. We need wide consultation — with consumers, creators and the business community — to ensure that we properly understand all of the impacts of the legislation. Based on the results of these consultations, my Liberal colleagues and I are committed to amending the bill as required.
Even though it’s a form letter and makes it sound like the Liberals are the only ones against the bill, I did appreciate the acknowledgement of my message as well as his having the same basic opinion of C‑61.
Something doesn’t seem right about this, however. Oh, that’s it. I didn’t write my MP about Bill C‑61. How’s that for strange? Thinking back, I wrote him about the Liberal copyright bill, C‑60. I imagine he believes that correspondence means I’m interested in the Conservative bill as well. He’s correct, but his message certainly took me by surprise.
If you’re interested, the full text of his message appears below: