Digital Copyright Canada

Thank you very much for your email on this important issue and I apologize for the delay in responding to you. As I am sure you can appreciate I am receiving over 100 phone calls and emails each day and I am doing my best to respond to everyone before election day.

On copyright in general, we believe that copyright legislation must create opportunities for Canadian creators to enjoy the fruits of their labour to the greatest possible extent; ensure that the rights of Canadian creators are adequately protected by law; that these rights are balanced with the opportunity for the public to use copyrighted works for teaching, researching and lifelong learning; to continue to allow an individual to make copies of sound recordings of musical works for that person's personal and individual use; and that enforcement is applied fairly and in accordance with international standards.

I'm not sure if this addresses your specific concern or not but hopefully it will be helpful. Thanks again for emailing.

This Hill Times article by Kate Malloy and F. Abbas Rana includes:

Liberal Leader Paul Martin should be taken out of his "bubble," he should be attending rallies to energize party members across the country and many Liberals are angry that the party still doesn't have a policy platform book out yet with six weeks into the campaign and only two weeks to go, say some Liberals.

My letter to the editor:

I live in Ottawa South, and the Liberal party is making it very hard for me if I wanted to vote for incumbent David McGuinty. While the Liberals don't have policy documents, the party has answered critical technology law questions that The Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) asked. http://www.cippic.ca/en/projects-cases/election-2006/

The Liberals started by insulted us on their answer to the first question, entirely dismissing the concerns of many Canadians including computer and security experts.

The following ridings are considered to be of special interest to our community.

Parkdale--High Park

Close race between Peggy Nash and Sarmite Sam Bulte. Ms. Bulte is a close friend of the incumbent foreign intermediaries, and possibility to become the next Heritage Minister if the Liberals form the government. She is seen by our community as one of the greatest threats to Canadian creativity, especially independents and creators using alternative methods of production, distribution and funding. Anyone with ties to this riding should do what they can to support Ms. Nash and ensure that Ms. Bulte does not win her seat.

The following was sent to Allan Cutler (Conservative Party of Canada), John Ford (Green Party of Canada), David McGuinty (Liberal Party of Canada), Henri Sader (New Democratic Party), and Brad Thomson (Progressive Canadian Party)

I am an Ottawa South constituent, self-employed Internet consultant, independent software author, and someone who considers technology law issues to be the most important issue in determining who I will vote for.

While CIPPIC has asked the parties a few specific questions, my experience has been that there are greater differences between individual people on these issues than between the parties. Each of the parties has individuals that understand the issues well, and some who do not understand to the point of being dangerous to Canadian creativity and innovation.