With Fall Elections Looming, C61 Is Heating Up For Canadian PM Harper

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Using everything from Facebook to YouTube to Wikipedia to blogs to get their message out, opponents of the proposed changes to critics of the Harper government's proposed changes to the Copyright Act have launched a cyber crusade to fight the controversial bill.

They're calling for the Harper government to either scrap or make serious amendments to Bill C-61 when the Canadian Parliament resumes next month.

Fronting the digital revolutionaries is Michael Geist, a professor at the University of Ottawa specializing in Internet and e-commerce law. In addition to his own blog, Geist runs a Facebook group called Fair Copyright for Canada that boasts 90,000 members.

The group, which was created in December, has spawned local chapters by the city and riding to better organize their efforts. Many of the local groups have also developed wikis - online encyclopedic web pages - to keep members informed.

With increasing signs of a fall election, the timing is right on for pressuring the Harper government. As the group spreads the message, more Canadians are getting involved because they recognize how the proposed reforms could affect their daily lives.

Fair Copyright for Canada's position is that there is more than just copyright laws at stake, that the very makeup of the digital environment is in the process of being redefined, and that redefinition represents a threat to the vibrancy of the online environment.

Industry Minister Jim Prentice introduced the bill in June, calling it a "made-in-Canada" solution to online piracy. But critics responded that the bill was a carbon copy of the American Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

If passed, Bill C-61 would make it illegal to circumvent "digital locks" on CDs and DVDs and impose a $500 fine on anyone caught downloading illegal copies of music or movies.

Geist also launched a video contest on YouTube inviting Canadians to give their thoughts on Bill C-61 in 61 seconds. A panel of five judges, including Ontario Privacy Commissioner Anne Cavoukian, will announce the winner on Sept. 15 - the day MPs return to the House of Commons.

An Industry Canada spokeswoman said Prentice is interested to see the number of Canadians involved in the online discussions, but it's up to Parliament to study the issue further.

However, the online activity indicates that a broad range of Canadians, with varying interests and vantage points, are concerned about this issue.

The cyber revolution popped up in Calgary last month when Kempton Lam, a business consultant in that city, used his blog and Facebook to organize a rally outside a breakfast hosted by Prentice last month.

Members of the online movement are also trying to make their voices heard through letter-writing campaigns and one-on-one meetings with local MPs.

Liberal MP Sukh Dhaliwal held a town hall meeting last month to discuss the controversial legislation after his office was flooded with letters from concerned constituents.

It's not the first time this digital community has flexed the muscle.The Conservative government was slated to introduce the reforms in December but delayed the bill after heavy criticism flooded the blogospher This time,there are tens of thousands of organised and motivated Canadians focusing on this issue. This amounts to a big hill o'risk There's a huge risk for anyone ignoring these cyber warriors. We're looking at you, Stevie Harper