Digital Copyright Canada

I will be posting further thoughts later, but wanted people to know that this book is now available online.

In keeping with our policy on copyright, and in consideration of readers in remote areas, the entire text is also available for free download here.

The Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights (JUST) held meetings today (details of October 5'th meeting) on the possible repeal of section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act. (Study homepage)

I support this repeal, not only because this section of the law has been abused (largely by Richard Warman), but because it is a bad idea. What is or is not "hate speech" is largely political and subjective. Laws which can be abused by people who are made uncomfortable by political speech should not be part of Canadian law. I hope the rumours that the repeal is receiving all party support is correct, and we can quickly remove this bad section of the law.

This Wednesday, October 7'th, there will be a book launch from 4:30 - 6:30 P.M. at the Parliament Pub, 101 SPARKS ST. (CASH BAR)

Brewster Kneen studied economics and theology, and is (or has been) a farmer, producer, author (Chapters search, Ram's Horn), and director for the Forum on Privatization and the Public Domain.

According to a BBC article, "Tom Watson MP, minister for digital engagement, said open source software would be on a level playing field with proprietary software such as Windows.

Minister for Digital engagement? The closest we seem to have is Charlie Angus which is the digital issues critic for the NDP -- nobody in the government or official opposition in Canada seems to be closely following or trying to understand these issues.

From Michael Geist's BLOG:

Earlier today, I received the Les Fowlie Intellectual Freedom Award from the Ontario Library Association at their annual SuperConference in Toronto.
...
Third - and most importantly - I am sometimes asked whether those arguing for fair copyright are not really only in free access. This award recognizes that it is not about free. It is about freedom.

An article by Kathryn May of The Ottawa Citizen exposes the "Secure Channel" boondoggle. This is the same project that was mentioned in the 2003 Auditor Generals' report (Chapter 1—Information Technology: Government On-Line, The Secure Channel project ), but this chapter was overshadowed by the problems in the sponsorship program.

One of the frustrating things is that this program requires that citizens give up security on their own computers in order to (only theoretically) grant the Government more security.

Read the rest of this entry »

While looking for new Audio books on eMusic, I came across The Future of the Internet: And How to Stop It by Jonathan Zittrain. Seems the book has a website and a blog.

A recent article announcing Herdict had this to say:

For the Internet we know and love is under attack. The openness that allowed users to write any software they wanted, run that software on any machine, and share that software with anyone who wanted it created a lot of great code: Google, Facebook, etc. But that same openness also encouraged a lot of bad code: malware, badware, bots, and so forth. In an effort to protect themselves from this bad code, users are moving from open, “generative” technologies (PC’s) to closed, “tethered” ones (TiVo’s). These tethered appliances give users security but at the price of innovation.

Wow -- sounds like the issue I've been dedicating quite a bit of time to as well! Interestingly the Herdict for PC Health only runs on Microsoft Windows. It's not like they had the option to have it run on some of the most sick platforms, like the iPhone or a TiVO.

I glanced at CPAC earlier this week, and noticed Bill Buxton giving a talk. I looked things up, and found out this was at the 77'th annual Couchiching conference and that CPAC's Video on Demand had this full talk (and even longer Q&A session), as well as a few others from the conference that I also plan to watch later (watch then soon, as CPAC only keeps the videos available for a limited amount of time).

While there are some things that Mr. Buxton believes that I don't agree with, I find that there is more I agree with than disagree. While the whole conference titled "The Power of Knowledge: the New Global Currency" appears to have themes which tie in directly with anyone who reads my blog,. I want to recommend you start with Mr. Buxton's talk.

Read the rest of this entry on IT World Canada's blog »

Tuesday evening and Wednesday all day was the second CopyCamp. The first CopyCamp was held in September 2006, and I actively participated in both. The first good news is that all the language coming out of the organizing committee is that they already have a desire for there to be a third, so this may become a yearly event.

Read full article on IT World Camada's BLOG.

For Immediate Release

Toronto, April 3rd 2008… COPYCAMP 2008, an “unconference” for artists about the Internet and the challenges to copyright is now open for registration at www.copycamp.ca.

Organized by the Creators' Rights Alliance and held in Toronto at OISE (The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education), CopyCamp will bring 100 artists, geeks, lawmakers, and copyright activists together to explore issues surrounding new models for making art and making a living on the Internet. It continues the discussion initiated at the first CopyCamp held in September 2006.