Hopefully copyright issues will become an election issue.

Michael Geist’s “C-61 in 61 Seconds” Youtube competition — in which netizens were encouraged to make 61-second videos explaining what was wrong with Canada’s proposed equivalent to the US DMCA — has just come to end. Judges that include BNL’s Stephen Page and Ontario Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian selected three entries as their winners.

The bill is dead — thanks to the election that was just called — but one thing we know about bad copyright legislation is that it’s tenacious.

C-61 in 61 Seconds – The Winners

You can do it! More information can be found here.

From Michael Geist:
“Tens of thousands of Canadians have spoken out against Bill C-61 over the past month. In addition to the letters, MP meetings, and town halls, many have created mashups, videos, comics, posters, photos, and other creative art to express their disappointment and concern with Industry Minister Jim Prentice’s plan for copyright in Canada. To build on this creativity, the Fair Copyright for Canada group is launching a new YouTube video competition. C-61 in 61 Seconds invites everyone to post a video – whether rant, mashup, or something new – on the copyright bill.”

Via Boing

In Canada, the Conservative federal government is “updating” the copyright laws and part of their insane plan is basically to make anyone under 50 a criminal. Here’s a summary of the backwards bill.

-There is a $500 statutory damage minimum for possession of a single file freed from crippling DRM. With some audiobooks each CD has 99 tracks. That’s $49,500 for one CD. WTF!?
-Any circumvention of DRM, even on files you’ve owned for decades, files you’ve purchased, been given as a gift, or inherited, will be deemed a violation and subject you to a $500 statutory damage minimum (per file). WTF!?
-It will be illegal to transfer DRM’d files to your own iPod or portable media player (you can’t strip-out the forced ads out of DVD that you own either). WTF!?

Here’s a Q&A session in parliament:

On Thursday June 12, Canada’s Digital Milliennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Bill C-61 was barfed out of generic politician Jim Prentice’s mouth. It was simultaneously vomit and the sputum of an industry that voraciously profited from inefficient music delivery systems to become the bloated, pussy mess it is today. Read more about it here