Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. - Photo courtesy Facebook, Illustration by DigitalJournal.com image:36355:0::0

The digital protest over the Canadian federal government’s proposed changes to the copyright law is growing by leaps and bounds. Internet and email campaigns are springing up in opposition to the changes that are being put forward by Canada’s Conservative government.

One Facebook group that was started by Michael Geist, a University of Ottawa internet law professor saw its membership rise to 48,000 when over 7,000 people joined within 24 hours of the legislation’s introduction.

Messages on Friday by group members indicate that they were taking political action in an effort to prevent the controversial legislation from becoming law.

"I just phoned the Liberal Party of Canada and said I would vote Liberal for the first time in my life if they brought down the government over this bill," Ray Klassen wrote.

"I've requested an in person meeting with Dawn Black, MP for Coquitlam/New Westminster. I live only 1 minute from her office up on Austin," wrote Brian B of Vancouver.

Bill C-61 was introduced on Thursday by Industry Minister Jim Prentice and Heritage Minister Josée Verner, is designed to update Canada's copyright rules and bring it in line with the country's obligations under the World Intellectual Property Organization treaty signed more than a decade ago.

The bill spells out Canadians' rights with respect to digital copying of content, granting permissions to make copies of books, photographs, music and other media.

The bill does have supporters as there are a number of entertainment industry groups, including the Entertainment Software Association of Canada and the Canadian Recording Industry Association, who praised it for proposing methods of stopping illegal piracy of copyrighted works.

The main concern about this bill and what is behind the protests is the bill's anti-circumvention clause, which would allow copyright holders to place digital locks on content and thus prevent copies from being made. Those who oppose the legislation say the clause invalidates all of the other rights granted, thus heavily skewing the bill in favour of copyright holders.

Regional sub groups of the original Facebook site are also active and each has hundreds of members.

Copyright For Canadians is a website run by the Ottawa-based Canadian Internet Policy & Public Interest Clinic, and the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation and many of the Facebook groups refer members to this site which has an automated system that allows visitors to send protest e-mails to their respective MPs. As of Friday afternoon, more than 3,200 messages had been sent.

"What we've seen over the past 24 hours has been nothing short of remarkable," Geist said. "Literally tens of thousands of Canadians are speaking out with an element of shock that the government would introduce this legislation in the manner that it has."

"Besides voting, I've never taken action politically, but I've now got a face-to-face meeting set up with Guy Lauzon, our MP for [Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry] on the 24th," the reader wrote. "He'll know first-hand that this bill, if passed, will cause him to lose votes."

"Whether it does or does not pass, the fact remains that the party and whatever candidate happens to be in my riding will receive one less vote come the next election,” Robert Phillips says he has campaigned on behalf of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and was a former executive of the Brock University Conservative Club, wrote.

Rallies are being called for with the Ontario riding of Guelph, where a by-election must be called by September. Brenda Chamberlain, a Liberal, currently holds the riding but the Conservatives have targeted her seat.

"You're going to see the concern and protests build over the summer rather than go away," Geist said.

Parliament will soon take a summer break so the bill is not going to proceed until it resumes, the bill will receive its second reading and then be sent off to a committee for closer scrutiny. There is speculation that the Conservatives could make it a confidence bill, meaning that if opposition parties voted it down, they would force an election.

"Wouldn't it be funny if an election was fought over iPods?" wrote Charles Troster of Vancouver.