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Petition for Users' Rights

Petition for Users' Rights

Over 1800 Canadians rejected changes to copyright, even before bill was introduced.

Over 1800 Canadians rejected changes to copyright, even before bill was introduced.

OTTAWA, June 22 - On Monday, June 20 Parliament introduced Bill C-60, "An Act to amend the Copyright Act", which proposes many radical changes to copyright law. Before the introduction of this bill, approximately 1800 Canadians had already signed the Petition for Users' Rights. This petition calls on Parliament to reject the majority of what was later included in Bill C-60. Some signatures have been introduced in Parliament by NDP MP Peter Julian (Burnaby--New Westminster, BC) and Liberal MP David McGuinty (Ottawa-South, Ontario).

p2pnet: Don't change Canada's IP laws

Articles were posted on p2pnet.net before and after the tabling of a batch of petitions on Friday.

Will Canada's Liberal government go the way of its American neighbour, giving the corporate entertainment and communications cartels exclusive control of the way in which digital media are handled online, and having Canada's copyright laws re-written to suit them?

Not if Canadians can help it, and the latest indication of their determination to stop this from happening came yesterday when a Liberal back-bencher handed parliament another batch of signatures from concerned citizens.

Petition press release: Citizen input critical to understanding changes to Copyright Act!

Petition press release:


Citizen input critical to understanding changes to Copyright Act!

Ottawa, May 8, 2004 - The Canadian government has proposed radical
changes to our copyright act, including concepts from the highly
controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act in the United States. These
changes would regulate the creation and use of information technology such
as those that form the Internet, having a large impact on not only the
economy but the communications rights of citizens. These changes are being
pursued without adequate consultation, and without the government
demonstrating an understanding the negative implications of the proposals
on the rights of creators, users and other citizens.

285 petitions given to Carolyn Bennett by Julie Federman

Julie Federman posted a message to the Digital Copyright Forum to let us know that she gave the petitions she had collected so far to Carolyn Bennett.

I have just returned from handing my petition over to Carolyn Bennett M.P. She said the petitions will be tabled by another member of the government, because (I guess) she is a minister. My final tally is 285 signatures. I find it interesting to see the improvement in the legislation in comparison to the committee's initial report. This demonstrates the effectiveness and power of lobbying effort and publicity. I feel both happy and fortunate to have been able to contribute to this change. I will continue to work on this issue until it is resolved. Keep fighting the good fight!

TechNewsWorld: File-Sharers Fighting the Good Fight in Canada

This article by Jon Newton includes:

Canadians concerned about attempts to have Canada's Copyright Act re-written to suit the entertainment industry's desires are marshaling their efforts to make sure it doesn't happen.

Member of Parliament Peter Julian has introduced "Petition for Users Rights" signatures in Canada's Parliament. More than a thousand people have signed so far, and MPs will continue to hand in additional signatures by the batch.

Petition story has been mentioned on Slashdot..

A story called Anti-DMCA Petition in Canadian Parliament has been published on SlashDot. If you don't know why this is important, read about the SlashDot Effect

Chris Brand writes about why he launched the Petition for Users' Rights.

Chris Brand is the primary author of the Petition for Users' Rights. He wrote the following explaining his reasons for doing so in a letter to a local newspaper (Royal City Record). Also published on p2pnet.net.

By Chris Brand.

Thought you might like to know that this morning the first signatures this petition were tabled in the House of Commons.

Peter Julian introduces first batch of petition signatures in parliament.

On Thursday April 7, 2005 (approximately 10:15), Peter Julian introduced the first batch of approximately 187 signatures for the Petition for Users Rights in parliament. We have received over a thousand signatures, and will be having many members of parliament introducing them in batches.

The following is what he said in parliament.

P2PNet.net adds PSA pointing to Petition for USers' Rights....

P2PNet.net has added a link (right side under BlubsterP2P ad) to our Petition for Users' Rights.


"All Canadians are Rights Holders. Make sure it stays that way. Click here --"

Riding of Julie Federman, grade 10 student at the Etobicoke School of the Arts

The riding of St. Paul's is where Julie Federman lives. It may seem unusual for me to be blogging about a single person, but this person is responsible for over a quarter of the signatures received so far for our Petition for Users' Rights. Julie was also able to get a response from her MP, Hon. Carolyn Bennett, indicating that she would be willing to present these petitions to parliament.

Julie attended the Sound Bytes/Sound Rights conference and introduced herself to many influential people in this area of policy, including Sarmite Bulte, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Heritage.

Letters Julie wrote to our forum on December 18 and January 16 puts her story in her own words.

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