Vlog: Bill C-11 Explained (Section 4 and User Generated Content)

In this fifth instalment of the vlog, I go over the text of the legislation and explain how Section 4 impacts user generated content.

Welcome to the 5th instalment of my vlog. Today, I wanted to offer as clear and concise of an explanation I could come up with with respect to Bill C-11. specifically, I am going straight into the heart of the problem and explaining Section 4 of the bill which is where a huge number of problems live.

To check this video out, you can view it directly on YouTube or in the embed below:

One thing I have noticed is that others basically offer ideas of what the legislation does, something I have no problem with. However, I wanted to get my hands dirty and go straight into the actual text of the bill and explain precisely where some of these fears come from and the ultimate source of a lot of anxiety.

I should point out that this isn’t where all of the problems come from, but fewer sections contain more problems than this section which is why I chose it.

Now, as mentioned in the video, I have a much more thorough teardown of the legislation. While there were minor changes since, a vast majority of the analysis still applies. You can read it here (yes, dated clear back to February) link

Another aspect of this video is to apply how things work in practice when it comes to user generated content and how it interacts with the service and why this section applies so very thoroughly to that content.

For those wondering about my references to Vivek Krishnamurthy, you can read my summary of what was said during that hearing here: link (the link also links directly to the video in question if you want to hear him talking about it)

I hope that this clears up a lot of questions surrounding this Section and why the legislation does, in fact, apply to user generated content. I also hope I was able to break the legalese down sufficiently to be reasonably understandable.

Disclaimer: The above video only reflects the personal opinion of myself. It does not constitute legal advice of any kind. So, please, for the love of all things good, do not sue me over something as minor as a single YouTube video. It’s ridiculous I even have to put these disclaimers up in the first place, but I guess that’s the ridiculous world we live in today. Thank you.

Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.