My letter to my MP

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Dear Lloyd St. Amand,

I am deeply concerned about what I've heard is an attempt to have US style DMCA laws put into place in our federal system. The music and movie industry have gone after absolutely everyone, even those who have downloaded less than 10 songs and have ruined their lives financially as a result. This is something that simply does not benefit our society in any way. I believe strongly that copyrights should be upheld but punishing a single mother of 3 because her son downloaded the latest album will send the wrong message. The government should do everything in its power to address the major contributors to copyright infringement; the bootleggers, the original producers of illegal content, but not those who are merely consuming what is already out there. I've voted for you in the past 2 elections, even though I feel the Green Party matches my views more so than the Liberal party, because I've felt you were the strongest candidate for this riding. I can tell you with very strong conviction that if you were to poll Brantford you would realize absolutely no one would want such legislation passed in Parliament. Besides the fear many of them would have that downloading a few songs could cost them their house (as it has in the states) there is also the obvious realization that the RCMP simply is incapable of going after all these people. The amount of resources required to try to take down piracy over the Internet would be astronomical and ultimately it would only benefit the music and movie corporations and wreak havoc on the people who more often than not still contribute heavily to their industries.

Internet piracy is a serious issue and one that should be addressed. Allowing corporations to sue not the people who create the content but simply those who take what is already there is, in my opinion, the wrong message. I hope you read the many articles on the Internet regarding this very heated debate, including: http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/1826/125/ . When one of the people leading the war on piracy admits the US needs a new approach, you must concur that we shouldn't follow suit.

I'll be paying attention to the outcome of this, should it happen now or in June. I hope you do what the Brant Riding would expect of you and vote no to this law.

Sincerely,

Robert S