The annual Glassen Ethics Competition, which is open to high school students in Manitoba, focused on file sharing this year. The winning entry argues society has benefited overall from file sharing.
Manitoba Ethics Essay Competition Winner Tackles File Sharing
February 16, 2010
Share this post
4 Comments

Law Bytes
Episode 271: Taking Stock of a Wild Week in Canadian Digital Policy With the Online Streaming Reversal, AI Strategy Release, and Lawful Access Review
byMichael Geist

May 25, 2026
Michael Geist
May 11, 2026
Michael Geist
May 4, 2026
Michael Geist
Search Results placeholder
Michael Geist on Substack
Recent Posts
Everything All At Once: Bill C-34 Combines Platform Duties, a Kids’ Social Media Ban, AI Chatbot Regulation, and a Powerful Digital Safety Commission Into a Risky “Trust Us” Bet
Yet Another Trade Battle Brewing: Why a Kids’ Social Media Ban Could Put Canada on a Collision Course With the U.S.
Everything You Wanted to Know About a Kids’ Social Media Ban (But Were Rightly Afraid to Ask): A FAQ on Age Verification and Mandated ID for Everyone
Bill C-22’s Clause-by-Clause Problem: The Government Includes Agencies Seeking Lawful Access Powers But Blocks the Privacy Commissioner’s Return
You Can’t Put the Toothpaste Back in the Tube: Why the Government’s Reported “Temporary” Plan for a Kids’ Social Media Ban Would Mean Mandated ID for Everyone

Well informed but
A great article, and obviously well researched by the high-school student. He/she is incorrect on one point, however:
“In Canada, downloading copyrighted material for personal use through sharing, aka peer-to-peer networks, is legal.”
Section 80 of the current Canadian law is specifically written about music. That is, it does not specifically allow for downloading TV, movies, etc.
(1) Subject to subsection (2), the act of reproducing all or any substantial part of
(a) a musical work embodied in a sound recording,
(b) a performer’s performance of a musical work embodied in a sound recording, or
(c) a sound recording in which a musical work, or a performer’s performance of a musical work, is embodied
onto an audio recording medium for the private use of the person who makes the copy does not constitute an infringement of the copyright in the musical work, the performer’s performance or the sound recording.
@Michael
Ummmm, if that’s true, why does Shaw, Bell, Telus, etc. all base their high speed internet campaigns on the speed of downloading movies on to your computer?
@Gregg
Just because the ISPs quote movie download speeds doesn’t mean they are referring to illegal downloads. There are legal download and streaming options in Canada.
Though if the ISPs don’t think for a second that their prospective customers think of illegal sources first when reading the marketing material, they are only kidding themselves.
That is the hypocrisy they profit from.
thanks
Incredible it seems like if you ask me ideal combined words and phrases. People added in it using your substantial endeavors as well as unbelievable strategies. We are along the way to master in relation to your own strategies useful for writing services that have accumulated reputation on the net. We would become happy to express a similar experience from my personal cardiovascular. It is pleasant getting together with you.