Advocates of Bill C-61 say it will only target heavy traffickers of pirated content and not the average citizen who makes a few illegal copies for private use. Canadians caught downloading illegal material, such as an MP3 song or video, will be subjected to statutory damages of $500 per incident. However, if a defendant testifies they were unaware they infringed on copyright, the fine could be reduced to $200.
So who are these pirates? They're millennials - people born between 1980 and 1994. And they really don`t care about Bill C-61.
Over at teen social networking site Nexopia, they`re running a poll on whether members would stop downloading music if Bill C-61 made it illegal. 25,000 teens have responded and 88% said NO. Great sample size and proof enough that "millennials" are officially hardwired to consume vast amounts of media online and for free. No bill will change that.
Rob Lewis
Rob is the President of Techvibes Media Inc. and Editor-in-Chief of Techvibes.com.
His diverse background includes stints in International Trade Finance, Web Development, and Enterprise Software and he is a graduate of the University of British Columbia, British Columbia Institute of Technology, and Simon Fraser University.
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