Bill C-11 Could be Used Against One Million Canadian Copyright Pirates
Have you ever considered yourself a pirate? The Canadian film industry believes that a significant portion of Canadians are, and they may actually be right.
Canipre, a Canadian forensic software company was hired to look into just how many Canadians pirate movies, and the number is astounding. Canipre believes that one in 30 Canadians are guilty of illegally downloading movies, and have enough information to back their claim.
Using Bill C-11, the recently passed Copyright Modernization Act, internet service providers can now be forced into releasing the names and details of their subscribers, connecting IP addresses with real identities. This may well be the starting of the end for online anonymity.
In an interview with Global News, Barry Logan, Canipre’s managing director stated, “The door is closing. People should think twice about downloading content they know isn’t proper.”
He isn’t lying. A recent court decision involving data collected by Canipre for a Burnaby-based film company, saw 50 IP addresses used to convict people who downloaded a movie called Recoil, by NGN Prima Productions, via torrent sites. Now that the precedent is set, we will most likely see many more cases like this one.
Don’t worry about the police breaking down your door just yet though. If you’ve downloaded content illegally, companies with your IP address must first inform your internet service provider, who in turn will send you a cease and desist order. Your problems start once you’ve received this email or letter and continue to download content illegally.
