Ottawa will take a third swing at copyright reform this summer, putting forth a bill with strict prohibitions like those of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in the U.S., according to activist and university professor Michael Geist.

Citing unnamed sources, Geist reported on his blog this week that the new bill, due by June, will favor the rights of copyright holders over those of consumers; in particular that it will prohibit breaking digital locks on hardware and software and not support ‘flexible fair dealing,’ a provision that allows copyright exceptions for groups such as schools and the media. (What do you think? Email us!)

The University of Ottawa professor and consumer rights activist leaked the details of a similar bill in 2007, sparking protests. A second attempt at copyright reform, Bill C-61, died when Prime Minister Stephen Harper prorouged Parliament late last year.

If the bill arrives as described, it will line up with a wish list released by a coalition of creative organizations including ACTRA, the Writers Guild of Canada and the Canadian League of Composers.

The Creators Copyright Coalition earlier this week urged the federal government to update its copyright laws, calling for, among other things, no expansion of fair dealing and for Canada to ratify the WIPO Internet treaties.

‘We all agree that these points must be reflected in the new copyright bill if the government is serious about taking a balanced approach that respects content creators,’ said Bill Freeman, chairman of the CCC, in a statement.

Geist, meanwhile, is already calling for the same sort of protests that helped scuttle the 2007 bill, describing it as a ‘stunning reversal’ of Ottawa’s more recent, moderate direction on copyright and possibly ‘the most anti-consumer copyright bill in Canadian history.’