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1. I actually try to adhere to copyright law as best as I am able. I don't download music at all anymore until this issue is resolved. I purchase CDs or DVDs exclusivly because I want to know what the law is going to be before I invest in digital purchasing. I also know that many online retailers do not sell to Canada. Zune Marketplace and Amazom music are just a couple of big players in the USA that don't sell here because of a combination of copyright confusion and CRTC interferance.

Copyright laws should be modified with 2 main goals in mind.
A) The rules should be easy to understand and follow. Bill C-61 was confusing and when faced with confusion, people will ignore the rules and do as they wish. CD and DVD copying should have similar guideliness. You should be able to copy these formats for any device you as the media own would like to play them on within your own home or vehicle. If someone leaves the home, then they should no longer be keeping copies of the media. That in a nutshell is easy to understand and follow.
B) The penalties for breaking the law certainly should not exceed the loss to a record company, and should be based on fines and have a reasonable maximum. We should also consider community service as the penalty rather than cash. It seems excessive that in the USA a single mother near or below the poverty level should be expected to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines. The offender should have to pay for or erase the stolen media and if they have shared that media further they should have to put in hours of community service during their spare time. This would enrich our communities with out impoverishing more people.

2. To stand the test of time we need to look at a media set as a household item. If you purchase a CD for instance, anyone within that household could play that CD on any player they have in the home. If they digitize the music or buy the music pre-digitized they should be allowed to play it or stream it on any device they have within the home or vehicles registers to that home address. Streaming outside of the home should not be allowed as this would open up grey areas in the law. When someone leaves the household, digital media should be erased if they are taking the CD/DVD or original digital file with them. Inversly, the person leaving the household should erase any copies of media for which they will not be taking the original CD, DVD or digital licence with them. These concepts are easy to understand and and to adhere to.

3. To foster innovation we have to make sure the artists are protected and have a market to sell their product, but just as importantly, we need to change record companies from going to war against their customers. When media companies alienate they patrons, many react by stealing more. Others, such as myself boycot the purchase of any media. I did this for several years. Another model that would make more paying costomers is subscription service. A model such asn the Zune Marketplace in the USA where users can pay $15.00 per month and download any and all music for as long as they are subscribed. This allows peolple to have massive music collections without breaking the budget and still paying the artists. I realize this isn't all about music, but 99 percent of what applies to the music end of things could apply to other media as well.

4. Any changes that allow users to access large databases of media from mulitple locations and formats on a fee based system would change the way we think about media. It isn't necessarily something to be owned and stored in collections in our basements, but rather information that can be accessed. This means new business oportunity but more importantly, it will allow more artists to have their music heard. How can that not foster competition and investment?

5. Enacting the kinds of laws that allow the public to feel they can get their media at reasonable prices is the first step. Encourage subscription services. Discourage corporations from intimidating the public and they may be more willing to follow the rules rather than act as basement rebels. Record companies currently seem to be enacting a type of digital prohibition on the users, and the users respond in kind. This spiral needs to be stopped. Laws need to be stern, but punishments in proportion and that's why I think community service or even unpaid internships in arts themselves could be helpful and innovative.