First, the DMCA did not say that "manufacturing the “tools” to infringe copyright was also against the law". What it did say was that the creation of tools used to circumvent access or copy controls was a violation of the law. That is a surprisingly huge difference.

Under the DMCA, a photocopier is not illegal. Neither is a program that simply lets you copy files so long as it doesn't circumvent a protection scheme. I'm no fan of these regulations but they are not nearly as broad as you seem to imply. If this were a U.S. case, the DMCA would not apply here at all.

Second, also in the DMCA, hosts in the U.S. have similar protection to those in Canada. The only large difference is that, in the U.S. hosts have to remove works once they receive proper notice of infringement. Canada is currently working on similar legislation and the EU has already passed a much more strict version of the law (one that removes all formalities from notification).

In short, Canada is somewhat different, but perhaps not as great as many feel. Especially if current legislation passes.

Overall though, I don't see this lawsuit going anywhere. It wouldn't here in the U.S. as there is already very established legal precedent there and I think this is a desperation ploy myself.

It'll be the butt of jokes and then, most likely, disappear into the ether of a legal beatdown. Like most of these cases.

But yes, personal responsibility is dead.