(CelebrityAccess) — Canada has implemented changes to its copyright strike system to now block copyright notices from demanding cash payments from alleged infringers.
According to the CBC, the Canadian Copyright Act, which first went into effect in 2015, allowed copyright holders or their representatives to send warning emails to people who are suspected of illegally sharing copyrighted content such as movies, or music.
However, the system, which is often automated, offers few safeguards for consumers and some complained that copyright notices threatening legal action if the recipient did not provide a cash settlement were tantamount to extortion.
Worse, the copyright strikes were targeted at IP addresses, the numerical addresses that underlie much of the internet, but which often only have tenuous links to an actual human being, leading to people being wrongly accused of copyright infringement with little recourse.
Under the newly revised copyright system, piracy notices can’t ask for personal information or a payment including a settlement fee.
