Bill C-11 has passed the House of Commons, and soon will pass in the Senate (also a Conservative majority).

What this means to you is that now it is legal to copy media you own (eg, a DVD you bought) to any format you desire (eg. an AVI file on your computer).  However, it is illegal to circumvent any DRM that protects that media (eg. CSS protection on a DVD).  So, although you can legally enjoy your content in different formats, you break the law if you try to do so.

Bought a CD and want to put the songs on your iPod/Phone?  It's legal for you to have more than one copy in more than one format, but by ripping those songs into MP3s you're breaking the law.

Now you're probably thinking, "Well then, I'll just download copies of stuff I bought."  Sorry.  Nope.  ISPs are required to monitor and keep track of your online activity and take action if you're accessing copy-protected content, or even visiting known sites that primarily deal with such information (such as well-known torrent sites).

Even though Canadians are among the top purchasers of content online (mp3's, movies, books, etc) globally, we still somehow top the US Piracy Watch List, and somehow need laws like this to prevent you from listening to your Kindle read aloud an ebook.

Sources: http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6544/125/, http://news.slashdot.org/story.....music-download-sales, http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/06/15/1916245/mpaas-dodd-secretly-lobbied-for-a-canadian-dmca, http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2.....da-politics#s=382248, http://www.votecanada.ca/stop-bill-c-11-copyright.html

Mass lawsuits come to Ontario:  http://business.financialpost......ding-copyright-case/

I pity the folks who downloaded The Hurt Locker.  1) Being sued for downloading it, 2) Wasting time and bandwidth downloading that movie, 3) They should've watched The Green Zone instead.

So, just to remind my friends, the ONLY legal way to download videos is from the source (eg. Louis C.K.'s self-released video), from an authorized distributor (eg. NetFlix, or a network TV web site), or if the content is copyright free.  Yes, you can be (and people have been) sued for watching YouTube videos that infringed on copyright.  Basically, use you're best judgement.  If the producers can't make money off the method you want to watch, then it opens you up to being sued.