File sharing legal in Canada

[mikezel]

from the look of this article, it seems that the Canadian justice system is quite a bit more lenient on file sharers than its American counterpart. The recording industry was denied a request for major isp's to reveal the identities of certain file sharers. The judge didnt interpret sharing files online as quite being copyright infringement:

I cannot see a real difference between a library that places a photocopy machine in a room full of copyrighted material and a computer user that places a personal copy on a shared directory linked to a P2P service.''

"They merely placed personal copies onto shared directories on their computers which were accessible by other computer users via an online download service."

As a result, using an online download service for personal use does not amount to copyright infringement in Canada

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...hub=TopStories

[arubahounds]

I think the RIAA has already lost the war on file sharing services. But sharing copyrighted material is still illegal even if the services themselves are permitted to operate. Another analogy would be people who commit mail fraud - just because some criminals use the postal system to commit crimes doesn't mean the system itself should be outlawed.

I'm hoping that someone will be able to convice the gov't that copyright law has been abused by the RIAA and is punitive way beyond what was intended by those that crafted it. If downloading a song is equal to theft, then the RIAA should be reimbursed the value of the song (which is less than $1) and not be able to threaten people with ridiculously exhorbitant fines.