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LA Times on Copyright

The LA Times features a must-read masthead editorial on the dangers associated with current "copyright" proposals before the U.S. Congress.

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July 11, 2006 Comments are Disabled News

Rethinking the Public in Public Broadcasting

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) assesses potential reform of the CBC.  Canadian stories are being told in record numbers, yet they are not found on the CBC.  The blossoming of citizen journalism, blogging, digital photo-sharing, and user-generated content is reshaping the way the public is informed and entertained. Millions of Canadians are no longer merely consumers of the news and entertainment. Instead, they are active participants – one expert recently labeled them as "the people formerly known as the audience" – who create, report, comment, and analyze their own content that vies for the attention of a global audience.

The CBC’s future may therefore lie in further blurring the difference between conventional broadcast and the Internet by establishing an integrated approach that brings more broadcast content to the Internet and more Internet content to broadcast. The CBC has developed an impressive online presence, yet the majority of the content is based on the traditional broadcast model that places a premium on control.  The next-generation CBC would do well to partner with the public by loosening restrictions and encouraging the dissemination of Canadian content from a broader range of sources.

Indeed, public broadcasters in other countries have already begun to reinvent themselves in this way.

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July 10, 2006 6 comments Columns

Musicians on File Sharing

Interesting piece from Canada.com on musicians' perspectives on file sharing with comments from many on both sides of the issue.

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July 5, 2006 3 comments News

CBA Speaks Out on ISP Snooping

The Canadian Bar Association has spoken out forcefully against lawful access and the growing concern that ISPs are monitoring or investigating their customers’ communications. In a public letter to the Justice Minister, the CBA notes that ISPs action "seems to be introducing a corporate or industry content monitoring scheme, without […]

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July 5, 2006 4 comments News

Artists Who Fear Copyright

The Globe and Mail turns its attention to copyright law this morning with a feature on the Appropriation Art coalition that has brought together hundreds of Canadian artists who have called on the government to reject anti-circumvention legislation and to expand the current fair dealing provision so that it covers […]

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July 5, 2006 4 comments News