A group of Edmonton residents are hosting a public copyright roundtable tomorrow (Thursday) at the University of Alberta. Details here.
Edmonton Citizens Copyright Round Table
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I wish them the best of luck in holding a helpful discussion!
Edmonton Citizen Round Table Discussion MP3
Download via bittorrent:
http://creativecommons.hexagon.cc/torrents/47730-Fair_Copyright_for_Canada_-_Edmonton_Round_Table_2009_09_03_mp3_64kbps
Encoder: FastTadpole
Name: Edmonton Citizens Copyright Round Table: Weren’t They Going To Ask Us?
Source: 128Kbps Audio (with audible background noise)
Release: 2009
Files: 60.6 MB (63,558,912 bytes) in 2 Files
Duration: 2:12:23
Type: MP3, 1 audio stream
Quality: 15 %, Audacity 1.2.6
Audio: 64 Kbps, 24000 Hz, 2 channels, 0x55=Mpeg-1 audio Layer 3 (MP3)
Country: Canada
Summary:
Event:
Edmonton Citizens Copyright Round Table – Weren’t They Going To Ask Us?
Humanities Centre Lecture Theatre University of Alberta
September 3rd, 2009 from 7:00PM to 9:00 PM MDT [GMT -7:00]
Attending:
Fair Copyright for Canada – Edmonton Chapter
Alberta Public Interest Research Group (APIRG)
Canadian Citizens
The federal government of Canada ran a copyright consultation process
to promote transparency and open debate from July 20th to September 13th,
2009. This was done in regards to the anticipation of introducing new
legislation to amend the Canadian copyright statutes. There had been
attempts in the recent past to amend Canada’s copyright laws. All
potential legislation to date has been met stiff resistance from Canadians
citizens thanks, in part, to the critical issues brought to light by
grassroots coalitions such as Fair Copyright for Canada. Among the laws
recently tabled were Bill C-60 and Bill C-61. Also of great concern is
the adoption and ratification of internationally introduced and
multilaterally binding Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) and
other secret World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties.
ACTA is now being negotiated behind closed doors far away from public
scrutiny and debate.
Unfortunately, there were only two events nation-wide in the meetings
organized by the federal government of Canada that were open to public
participation. One of which was identifiably stacked by industry and
corporate interests. In other events guests were admitted by invitation
only and were attended almost exclusively by special interests. The
attendees included international corporations such as Google, CRIA
(RIAA Canada) and Microsoft but were not open to the Canadian public.
The Edmonton chapter of Fair Copyright Canada and the Alberta Public
Interest Research Group (APIRG) collaborated to host an event to give
ordinary Canadian citizens the opportunity to voice their opinions on
copyright in a public forum. Community members Idris Fashan, Karl
Stevens and Colin Broughton discussed different aspects of copyright
in a discussion moderated by David Ballantyne.
Topics discussed and debated included, but were not limited to, the
following:
* The current definition of copyright in Canada
* The nature, purpose and effects of copyright
* The issues of crown copyright
* Fair dealing regarding the limitations and exceptions to copyright
* Digital Rights Management (DRM) and circumvention
* Copyright term and expiry
* Reverse engineering of software and technology
* The ratification of World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
treaties
The debate was then followed by participation from the attending audience
in the form of comments and questions directed to the panel addressing
their concerns.
We discussed the views and opinions of average Canadian citizens on the
subject of copyright. As such, any legislator would be remiss to draft
legislation without reviewing this record and instantiating these
understandings. This audio recording is now a permanent record by which
any future legislation can be judged on the basis of whether it conforms
to the interests of Canadian citizens.
More Information:
Fair Copyright for Canada – Edmonton Chapter
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6875186988
Fair Copyright for Canada
http://www.faircopyrightforcanada.ca/
Alberta Public Interest Research Group (APIRG)
http://www.apirg.org/