[PeterT]

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/...108/story.html

OTTAWA —The Conservative government closed the door Tuesday to loosening the digital-lock rules in its copyright bill so consumers could make a backup copy of content they've already purchased.

The government's Copyright Modernization Act will now be sent to the House of Commons for a final vote after a special parliamentary committee adopted a handful of government amendments to the bill. Tory MPs, who outnumber the opposition side, voted down all opposition proposals.

The NDP and Liberals unsuccessfully pressed for an amendment to allow people to get around a digital lock for personal use, so they can view a DVD purchased overseas, to transfer a purchased e-book to read on another personal device, or to create a backup copy of a purchased online game. They wanted to link circumvention to copyright infringement, to distinguish between such lawful, non copyright-infringing activities and a person picking a lock on a DVD in order to burn and sell thousands of pirated copies.