This Magazine

Progressive politics, ideas & culture

Menu

Copyright/left

Here's what will happen to 5 bills that died when the election was called

This Magazine Staff

We profile five legislative initiatives that died on the docket—and find out which of them will be re-attempted after the election Compiled by Dylan C. Robertson & Victoria Salvas This election means death. Not only have Ottawa scrums, filibusters, and drawn-out committees been killed, pieces of legislation making their way through parliament have all met […] More »

Friday FTW: Canadians speak up about copyright

luke champion

Back in July of 2009, the Canadian government launched an eight week public consultation on copyright reform.  Members of the public were invited to let their will be known surrounding issues such as fair use, copyright terms, ISP neutrality and a host of other issues. With over 8,300 respondents in total an astounding 6183 people […] More »

Legalization Week continues with rockstars, pirates, lots of lawyers

Graham F. Scott

For day two of what we’ve dubbed “Legalization Week” here, Jordan Heath Rawlings writes about a plan from the Songwriters Association of Canada that would throw open the file-sharing doors to every Canadian and find new ways to help musicians make a living from their creativity. It’s just one of many proposals that have been […] More »

The Commons

This Magazine Staff

For your Friday viewing pleasure, a meditation on the nature of knowledge and ownership. Enjoy. More »

Elect a Tory, kiss net neutrality goodbye

This Magazine Staff

In a statement published on international peer-to-peer news site p2pnet.net, the NDP’s Charlie Angus has brought the net neutrality issue into the federal election campaign. He begins by outlining what he calls the ruling Conservatives’ ignorance toward digital innovation and the recent axing of the New Media Fund. The Harper government falls into line with […] More »

the self-correcting internet touches down in Iceland

This Magazine Staff

(photo courtesy Rebekka) This one’s got everything I love — a copyright fight, great photography, Iceland, some folks behaving badly and genuine contrition. Maybe there is something to this internet thing after all. Most everyone has by now heard of the talented Rebekka Gudleifsdottir, a Flickr photography star of the highest order. Rebekka’s stunning Icelandic […] More »

corporate copyright complications complete complexity coefficient

This Magazine Staff

(image courtesy Urban Counterfeiters blog) Okay, let’s see if I can follow the thread here: Boing Boing, famous for championing the copyleft reaction to corporate cultural lockdowns such as the well-documented Disney protectionism over the Mickey Mouse image (draw Mickey without pants; enjoy expensive philosophical discussions with Disney lawyers), has recently taken up the cause […] More »

Download for our troops! (?)

This Magazine Staff

image courtesy wikipedia There’s a fantastic event coming up in Toronto at the end of the month. CopyCamp, billed as an unconference for artists about the Internet and the challenge to copyright, looks to bring together working artists and creators from both sides of the current copyright/copyleft debate for open discussions and maybe a bit […] More »

Designer duds: now with fewer duds

This Magazine Staff

CBC News reports that the fashion industry is not just setting the latest fashion trends but also the latest sensation in anti-counterfeit technology. Your latest Louis Vuitton luxury over-night bag may now come embedded with authenticating synthetic DNA interwoven into it’s fine Italian silk inner lining. The technology makes any Canal Street forgery lacking the […] More »

Captain Copyright! — where is the love?

This Magazine Staff

Access Copyright, the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency has recently launched a superhero — Captain Copyright — as a tool for teaching basic concepts of copyright to a generation that maybe is not getting a lot of “fun” information on the concept. The character is silly, dumb, over-the-top and even, dare I say, derivative (in the […] More »