4.6 - links for 2008-10-08

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 05:30:27 GMT

Make Internet TV

Great site with lots of tutorials on internet video.

(tags: video howto tutorial resource)

10.0 - 30 More Candidates Add Their Support For The Copyright Pledge

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 12:49:52 GMT

While the Conservative decision to include the re-introduction of C-61 in its platform makes it unlikely that many (or any) of its candidates will support the copyright pledge, interest from Liberal and New Democrat candidates continues to grow (the Green party already committed as a party). In addition to the previously announced commitments (here and here), the following additional candidates have indicated their support:

Glen Pearson, Liberal MP, London North Centre, ON
Joyce Murray, Liberal MP, Vancouver Quadra, BC
Dana L. Miller, Liberal candidate, Delta-Richmond East, BC
Richard Pesik, Liberal candidate, Nanaimo-Alberni, BC
Patricia Zipchen, Liberal candidate, Saskatoon-Wanuskewin, SK
Tim Jones, Liberal candidate, Newmarket-Aurora, ON
Denis Sabourin, Liberal candidate, Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry, ON

Judy Wasylycia-Leis, New Democrat MP, Winnipeg North, MB
Catherine Bell, New Democrat MP, Vancouver North, BC
Pat Martin, New Democrat MP, Winnipeg Centre, MB
Andy Bruziewicz, New Democrat candidate, Sarnia-Lambton, ON
Matt Turner, New Democrat candidate, Mississauga South, ON
Hijal De Sarker, New Democrat candidate, Ottawa South, ON
Ryan Dolby, New Democrat candidate, Elgin/Middlesex/London, ON
Rachel Heinrichs, New Democrat candidate, Winnipeg South Centre, MB
Peter Deslauriers, New Democrat candidate, NDG-Lachine, QC
Stuart Somerville, New Democrat candidate, Red Deer, AB
Chris Durrant, New Democrat candidate, Beausejour, QC
Alice Finnamore, New Democrat candidate, Tobique-Mactaquac, NB
Ray Martin, New Democrat candidate, Edmonton East, AB
Paul Arbour, New Democrat candidate, Carleton- Mississippi Mills, ON
Zoe Royer, New Democrat candidate, Port Moody - Westwood - Port Coquitlam, BC
Rob Moir, New Democrat candidate, Fundy Royal, NB
Brian Van Tilborg, New Democrat candidate, Brant, ON
Malcolm Allen, New Democrat candidate, Welland
Jennifer Burgis. New Democrat candidate, Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca, BC
Ross Martin, New Democrat candidate, Provencher, MB
Daniel Breton, New Democrat candidate, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC
Ann Chambers, New Democrat candidate, Vancouver South, BC
Linda Duncan, New Democrat candidate, Edmonton Strathcona, AB

I will continue to update and will publish a complete list closer to election day.

10.0 - Conservatives Promise to Re-Introduce Canadian DMCA

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:02:51 GMT

The Conservative Party has released its platform and it devotes a half-page to copyright that leaves little doubt that it plans to bring back Bill C-61 and continue to support ACTA. According to the platform:

A re-elected Conservative Government led by Stephen Harper will reintroduce federal copyright legislation that strikes the appropriate balance among the rights of musicians, artists, programmers and other creators and brings Canada's intellectual property protection in line with that of other industrialized countries, but also protects consumers who want to access copyright works for their personal use. We will also introduce tougher laws on counterfeiting and piracy and give our customs and law enforcement services the resources to enforce them. This will protect consumers from phoney and sometimes dangerous products that are passed off as reliable brand-name goods.

Of course, Bill C-61 did not strike the appropriate balance and tens of thousands of Canadians told Harper just that over the summer. Unlike the Liberals, NDP, and Greens, no Conservative has supported the copyright pledge, which now makes sense given this platform commitment.

10.0 - ISP Tax May Be The Next Big Culture Funding Fight

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:45:54 GMT

My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) places the spotlight on the next big cultural funding issue that promises to make the current dispute seem like a short preview as compared to the forthcoming main attraction. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission will hold hearings on new media regulation in early 2009 and barring a change of heart, the focal point will be the prospect of a mandated levy on Internet service providers to fund new media cultural production.

Opponents will deride the plan as a new tax, but that has not stopped cultural groups from lining up in support of such a scheme. Earlier this year, several groups, including the Canadian Film and Television Production Association, the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), the Directors Guild of Canada, and Writers Guild of Canada, proposed a mandatory ISP contribution of 2.5 percent of broadband revenue to help fund Canadian new media content creation. In support, the groups released the results of a public opinion survey which they said found that "69 percent of Canadians believe that ISPs should be required to help fund the production of Canadian digital media content in the same way that cable and satellite TV providers are required to contribute a small percentage of their revenues to the production of Canadian television programs."

More recently, the CRTC commissioned Eli Noam, a Columbia University finance professor, to conduct an independent study on the issue. Noam's report, TV or Not TV, canvassed the regulatory options as the Commission grapples with a broadcast environment that has shifted from one of scarcity to seemingly unlimited abundance. Noam concluded that there should be regulatory harmonization between online and offline broadcast that could include public funding for the production of Canadian content. Noam's preferred funding model is "a combination of public funds; an excise tax on ISPs and carriers that would be harmonized with the existing levy on cable and satellite TV providers; and the use of spectrum sales revenues into a special trust fund."

The current discussion on cultural funding may take on greater urgency once the ISP levy takes centre stage. There is little doubt that such a levy - which Canadians would see each month on their ISP bill – would generate strong opposition from consumers. The various political parties may be battling to demonstrate their support for the cultural community today, yet an unpopular ISP levy would surely put those positions to the test.

The ISP levy proposal will also force regulators to show their cards on whether they believe that new Internet regulation is needed. The Commission concluded in 1999 that the Broadcasting Act gave it the power to regulate "new media undertakings," but that given the paucity of Internet video such regulation was unnecessary. Nearly ten years later, streaming and real-time video have become a staple of Internet use with millions of Canadians turning to their computers rather than their televisions for video news and entertainment. While the differences between the two mediums will be obvious to a generation that lives online, some regulators may be tempted to equate television and the Internet, arguing that a harmonized regulatory approach necessitates the imposition of Canadian content requirements and cultural funding programs.

10.0 - Vancouver school is the Apple of Steve Jobs's lawyer's eye

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 11:16:35 GMT

Furthering its relationship with the highly-sought-after education market, Apple Computer is applying legal pressure to a Vancouver Island post-secondary school it claims has ripped off its logo. "Your business logo…reproduces, without authority, our client's Apple design logo which it widely uses. By doing so, you are infringing Apple's rights, and further, falsely suggesting that Apple has authorized your activities," Apple's lawyer Stephanie Vaccari wrote in a letter to the Victoria School of Business and Technology dated Aug. 26 and later posted on the school's Web site. Of course, Apple has been well "schooled" in copyright issues, ever since the Beatles first started crying foul over founder Steve Jobs' use of what it considered a trademark of its record company (and then again, when it launched iTunes). Thank goodness this was cleared up, though, because it's easy to see how the Victoria School of Business and Technology and Apple HQ could be confused. Both are on the West Coast, both are filled with young keeners carrying iPods and iPhones, and both could come up with nothing better than a fruit to symbolize their core competency. Let's hope Apple's trademark sharks keep their eye on similar infractions. You wouldn't want to give Steve Jobs a heart attack!

5.0 - links for 2008-10-06

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:30:17 GMT

Design Comics :: Characters and Scenes for Storyboarding & Design

Free comic characters and scenes you can use to develop great product designs. Via remarkk.com

(tags: web presentations tools templates storyboards)
About VoteForEnvironment.ca | Vote For Environment / Voter Pour l'Environnement

VoteForEnvironment.ca was designed by Canadians who believe what the vast majority of the world’s scientists have told us. That we are out of time and we must start to reduce our fossil fuel pollution now to save the planet from dangerous climate change.
We believe that the Harper Government’s collusion with the Bush White House to obstruct progress on climate change at recent international summits does not reflect how Canadians want their leaders to behave on the world stage. The Harper and the Conservative Party are simply not in step with what scientists say is needed, with Canadians' concerns, and with economic benefits of dealing with climate change.

All the other major Parties have programs that seriously address our critical climate concerns and are talking about them in this election.

If those of us who care about the environment don’t work together across party lines, the pro-environment vote will be split as it was in the last election and Harper will be re-elected.

(tags: election canada environment)