The federal government is on the verge of tabling new copyright legislation, but already sources in Ottawa say there is little chance the proposed changes will be passed under a minority government.
Industry Minister Jim Prentice told reporters yesterday that he will not table the legislation until he is satisfied it contains "the appropriate balance." Meanwhile, Ottawa insiders were told yesterday the legislation will not be tabled until next week.
With Parliament set to break soon for summer, however, two sources close to the matter indicated the legislation is expected to be left to die by the minority Conservative government, rather than attempting to implement any controversial rules or penalties for illegal downloading.
"It's not going to see the light of day," said one Ottawa lobbyist. "Copyright legislation is so contentious in its nature, that for any minority government it is extraordinarily difficult to find a balance that is actually going to have a chance of adoption."
The government has promised a number of organizations, including the Canadian Independent Record Production Association (CIRPA), that the new legislation would be tabled before the House of Commons breaks for the summer.
"We've been assured that something will emerge in this session," said Duncan McKie, president and chief executive of CIRPA. "But it's obvious that even if the bill were introduced now there's clearly little time before the summer break to deal with it, so I expect that we won't get to the serious business of discussing the specific issues until this fall."
The government is under pressure from foreign governments and a number of lobby groups to update the aging Copyright Act of Canada with legislation that would make it easier to track and punish consumers who infringe copyrights by burning CDs and ripping movies.
This isn't the first time the Conservative government has tried to update Canada's copyright legislation, which was last overhauled in 1997.
In December, 2006, new legislation was derailed and eventually scrapped after a grassroots Internet campaign protested against the new rules amid fears they too closely resembled the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which has been criticized as being unfairly stacked against consumers.
Reports suggest that the updated Canadian legislation, which Ottawa insiders say is likely to surface either Tuesday or Wednesday next week, could lead to consumers facing fines of as much as $500 for every illegal file they download from the Internet. It could also make it illegal to unlock cellphones, transfer music from CDs to digital music players such as iPods, or copy time shifted television programs.
Last week a leaked document revealed that the Conservatives are also negotiating with a number of other governments, including the U.S. and the European Union, to establish a new international copyright agreement, dubbed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).
The new agreement would allow border guards and other security officials to inspect devices such as laptops and iPods for music, videos and other media that violates copyright laws. Any devices found to contain copyright-infringing material could be confiscated, or even destroyed, leading to fines for their owners.
With a report from reporter Grant Robertson
