After sending out letters to MPs pointing them to the C-32 FAQ, I received the following form letter from the Office of the Leader of the (official) Opposition.

Dear Sir/Madame:

On behalf of Michael Ignatieff, I would like to acknowledge receipt of your recent email regarding Bill C-32, the Copyright Modernization Act.

There is no question that Canada’s Copyright regime needs to be modernized. The Liberal Party believes that Canada needs to implement fair and balanced copyright rules. We must modernize our copyright laws to protect the works of our local artists, writers, poets, film-makers and musicians, and reach a balance between this protection and the needs of consumers.

There are plenty of international examples of copyright modernization that have reached these goals. These tried and tested models can serve as examples for Canada. We also had extensive consultations over the last months in Canada and these provided us with all the information needed to adopt a balanced bill that will address the pitfalls of the previous Bill C-61.

The Harper Conservatives have taken four and a half years to table this legislation, so as a responsible opposition we will take some time to review it. However, we believe that Canadian consumers who have legitimately purchased a CD or a DVD or other product should also have the ability to transfer their purchase onto their iPod or make a personal backup copy on their computer, so long as they are not doing so for the purposes of sale or transfer to others.

Thank you for taking the time to write to the Leader of the Opposition.

Yours sincerely,

C. McKone

Office of the Leader of the Opposition