Unfortunately, this fair balance does not permeate through to Bill C-32's legal protection of digital locks. Here, the bill caters to U.S. demands rather than the views of Canadians. The bill allows distributors to restrict access to content, skirting around the balance that is struck by fair dealing provisions. Reporters won't be able to fairly use locked content in news stories, filmmakers won't be able to insert protected clips in documentaries, and whistleblowers seeking justice will not be able to release encrypted documents.

To call this a "public" consultation would be stretching it: the document was only passed around a limited number of stakeholders, and the government initially refused to allow it to be posted online. Its existence was not published in the Canada Gazette as is normally the case, and interested parties were only given until September 27 to make their comments. Within it, the departments hint that law enforcement should have access to personal information without a court order or other judicial checks.

The good news is that Public Safety Canada has now had an apparent change of heart - about the consultation, at least. The document has now been placed online, and the deadline for public comment extended by three weeks to October 12.

If you would like to make your voice heard, just follow the instructions provided by Public Safety, and let them know exactly how you feel.

We wondered why should people have to pay for uncopyrighted -- even *uncopyrightable* -- data about who belongs in which electoral riding. That information has enormous value to the public, which could use tools built by non-governmental organizations to easily contact their MPs about important issues.

Apparently, Quebec blogger danieljohn felt the same way, and he has posted the whole database online. We hope that Stats Canada will take his cue and post their own copy of the data for everyone to use.