Bill C-61. Ugh.

I saw Pookzilla’s post about C-61, and that reminded me that I hadn’t blogged about this yet. I too think that C-61 is an epic fail, and for the first time ever, I felt sufficiently strongly about it that I wrote my MP. Here’s what I wrote:

Sir,

I am writing to express my strongest possible displeasure with the new bill C-61. This bill is a sledgehammer, where deftness is required. In a misguided attempt to prevent a small number of illegal activities, it will introduce new, significant constraints on the legitimate activities of all Canadians. As one small example, imagine a world where, as a parent, you could no longer load one of your children’s MP3 players with songs you had legitimately downloaded — that is a very real, likely outcome of this bill. The impact will be far reaching, and serious.

Please research the situation as thoroughly as possible, with particular reference to those who do *not* have a vested interest in profit over the rights of Canadians, and vote appropriately.

For context, I am a 48 year old member of your constituency who is:
– a software architect (see http://www.eclipse.org/eclipse/team-leaders.php)
– a published author (http://safari.awprofessional.com/0321256638)
– an electronic musician (http://mikew.ca/wp/?p=336)
– and a member of an orchestra (http://www.divertimento.ca)

Despite being an obvious potential beneficiary of some of the provisions of the current bill, I feel that it should be strongly apposed. This is the first (and may in be the only) time you hear from me. Please do net let this effort be wasted.

With complete sincerity,
Mike Wilson