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The First Week of the Fight Against Bill C-61

By Michael Geist

It has now been one week since Industry Minister Jim Prentice unveiled Bill C-61.  While the bill yielded the predictable voices of immediate support from lobby groups anxious to import the DMCA to Canada, it did not take long for the government's communication strategy to go off-the-rails (a none-too-impressive performance by Prentice at the press conference did not help).  By virtually any standard, it has not been a good week for a minister who is often described in glowing terms as future leadership material.  The media coverage has nearly universally criticized the legislation. A sampling of masthead editorials include:

• Brantford Expositor
• Kingston Whig-Standard
• Nanaimo Daily News
• Ottawa Citizen
  
• Owen Sound Sun-Times
• Prince George Citizen
• Sudbury Star
• St. Catherines Standard
• Victoria Times-Colonist
• Welland Tribune
• Vancouver Sun

Further, the online anger has surely exceeded the Minister's expectations:

• over 8,000 people have used the Copyright for Canadians site to write letters to their MP and the Ministers
• the Fair Copyright for Canada Facebook group has grown to over 69,000 members - that's 29,000 new members in a week
• the local Fair Copyright for Canada chapters continue to grow at a remarkable rate.  Toronto and Vancouver each have over 1,000 members, while Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Ottawa all have over 400 members each.  Local events are breaking out everywhere (Calgary, Montreal, Edmonton) and Jim Prentice's Stampede breakfast on July 5th promises to be a must-attend event.  Moreover, new local groups are being added daily including Hamilton, Guelph, Kingston, Okanagan, and Northern Ontario.

The response from Industry Minister Jim Prentice?  Letters to the editor that repeat already-tired spin about the bill being a "made in Canada" solution or an appearance on the CBC's Search Engine where he dodges questions and hangs up on the interviewer.  Yet no one should rest on their laurels as powerful groups will fight to defend the Canadian DMCA.  Letters, meetings, local events, and raising awareness remains absolutely critical.  To that end, next week I'll be kicking off another series - 61 Flaws in Bill C-61.  Each weekday from June 23rd until September 15th (the day the House of Commons is currently scheduled to resume), I'll point to a reason why Canadians should reject the bill and demand better.

Full post as published by Michael Geist on June 19, 2008 (boomark / email).