We are living in a digital age and that's a fact. With our Ipods, wireless high speed internet access and 80 gigs of mp3s(it's actually porn) we reach no boundary. It couldn't be any clearer: the world has become our oyster. The communication of information has gotten so facilitated to the point where the quality and genuineness is threatened. Over information can lead to disinformation. But I digress.
Let me switch to the next track on my Ipod.
And so I wonder: What sort of issues can be born out of this creamy rich digital lifestyle?
Some of you have probably heard about our Canadian government's recent proposed copyright legislation. If you haven't, I encourage you to check out Fair Copyright For Canada
or the facebook group that initiated the commotion.
The problem here is that the government wants to introduce a Canadian version of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). This might mean that You and I may no longer be able to (legally) upload the favourite music we purchased to our dear Ipods. You and I may no longer legally be able to burn copies, even as a backup, of our dvds for personal use. Or perhaps recording a television show. The bottom line: They are proposing a type of copyright reform that will infringe on making personal copies.
However uniquely enough, the man behind the growing social outcry Michael Geist has dictated in an interview, when asked why he chose facebook as his medium saying "we live in a digital world of blogging and posting", and not surprisingly it had played a key role in bringing it all together. In the light of social activism, this situation might have been a lot different in the past. For example if you wanted to speak out, you might sign a petition or tell a few friends. Today such options like a facebook group might be the best method to galvanize and rally thousands across the country.The problem here is that the government wants to introduce a Canadian version of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). This might mean that You and I may no longer be able to (legally) upload the favourite music we purchased to our dear Ipods. You and I may no longer legally be able to burn copies, even as a backup, of our dvds for personal use. Or perhaps recording a television show. The bottom line: They are proposing a type of copyright reform that will infringe on making personal copies.
My only curiousity is why is the news media isn't all over this. Or perhaps I'm just not seeing it?
1 comment:
it's nice to see you've started blogging for the course! i think you raise some interesting questions about the role copyright law might play in the future, but i wonder about what you have to say about fair use and how it still gives room for practitioners to make use of disparate mediatory forms in their cultural production(s). maybe this is something you might want to pursue for your term paper?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJn_jC4FNDo
keep writing,
i.
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