Chances are, not too much. Unless you are into illegal downloading of copyrighted material from torrent sites that is, then you should be paying attention.

The Copyright Modernization Act took effect January 1 of this year and it requires Internet service providers, like Worldline, to send notifications to downloaders whose IP addresses have been identified by copyright holders for perceived violations. The legislation limits the amount a non-commercial downloader can be sued for to $5,000 per case, while damages for commercial infringements can be charged up to $20,000.

Now, that sounds pretty serious, and it is. However there are a number of caveats to the act that are preventing an outright panic in the torrenting crowd.

Here’s an excellent review of what it means from Canada’s e-law expert Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-Commerce Law at the University of Ottawa that was posted on the Huffington Post.

Torrenting is a problem – even if you don’t do it

While Worldline doesn’t ban torrenting, we do have a Fair Share Policy that strives to provide our customers with a better Internet experience for everyone. Torrenting is a major bandwidth sucker and if we allowed unrestricted torrenting during peak usage hours, other, non-torrenting customers would not have as good an Internet experience. That’s why between the hours of 4:30pm and 2:00am, we, when necessary manage our network to limit torrenting taking up too much of our bandwidth.

Due to this policy, non-torrenting customers will experience improved performance with ‘Real-Time’ Browser Applications, Email Applications, Instant Messaging (IM), Online Gaming, Internet Radio, Streaming Video from Youtube, Netflix etc., as well, ‘client-server’ download services like iTunes, Mac Software Updates and Microsoft Windows Updates to name a few.

Worldline is working hard to provide a better Internet experience for all Canadians. Fair Share dynamically modifies policies to balance available bandwidth and resources so valued customers get better Internet service – at all times.

And, if you insist on torrenting, between 2am and 4:30pm, knock yourself out. But be prepared to receive notifications letting you know that we, and others, know what you’ve been up to.