New copyright legislation being tabled in Ottawa could have many Canadians paying hefty fines for illegally downloading movies and music -- but only if they can be caught.
While the main aim of the Federal legislation appears to be to discourage illegal downloading and sharing, it is unknown how a movie or music company could catch offenders.
Internet provider Telus does not track each every download its subscribers use, but it does know how much bandwidth is used, according to Telus spokesperson Shawn Hall.
"Typically, the kind of information we would have is very limited," he said.
"We would only provide (bandwidth usage) to law enforcement when they came to us with a proper court warrant."
But don't think you can get off scot-free just yet.
Forensics expert Dave Toddington -- who works as a tracker for RCMP and anti-piracy groups -- says every place you go on the Internet is traceable.
Although, he says the amount of manpower needed to police the new act will be difficult to attain.
He says there are many questions that need to be answered and carefully considered, first and foremost, for the new act to be properly enforced.
"Is it the job of law enforcement to enforce a new Copyright Act? Will it become the job of the private industry?" he asks. "What restrictions will there be on the private industry?"
The battle between privacy rights and the rights of copyright holders seem to be in conflict. But for now, it seems privacy rights have the upper hand.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Peter Grainger
