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Edmonton Citizens Copyright Round Table

A group of Edmonton residents are hosting a public copyright roundtable tomorrow (Thursday) at the University of Alberta.  Details here.

2 Comments

  1. Dwight Williams says:

    I wish them the best of luck in holding a helpful discussion!

  2. Jason Prescott says:

    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/