Kati was recently given a copy of the book “Shantaram” by one of her friends who had enjoyed it and wanted to share the experience with her. To most of us, the ability to share a good book with friends and family is taken for granted. But could this kind of activity be outlawed in the near future?
Considering the growing popularity of digital technology, this is not so far-fetched. In the United States, it is illegal to break digital locks. That means that if you purchase an electronic book (e-book) that is protected by a digital lock, you cannot copy that book to your friend's e-book reader without breaking the law.
Geoffrey Glass is worried that Canada is about to screw up its copyright laws in pretty much the same way the United States did. Glass is a PhD student in the communications program at Simon Fraser University and the co-founder of Vancouver Fair Copyright, which is part of a larger movement to see the copyright reform process achieve a balance between the rights of content creators, distributors, and consumers.
I recently sat down with Glass at his home in Burnaby, BC to discuss how copyright laws have the potential to affect the lives of ordinary Canadians and to find out what he'd like to see come out of the government's copyright reform process. Here is what he had to say…
The Canadian government recently introduced legislation that would expand its powers to monitor Canadians Internet activity. Even though the legislation has not yet been passed into law, we already know that governments around the world are monitoring Internet communications. Luckily, there is an abundance of ways to help protect your privacy in cyberspace. The main obstacle to many of these technologies becoming commonplace is a lack of users. For example, it is possible to send encrypted e-mails, but unless the other people within your social network are using the technology, no one will be able to read your messages. If enough people are concerned about protecting their privacy, we may see the critical mass of people necessary to seamlessly integrate some of these technologies into our daily computing experience. Detailed below are some of the ways to protect yourself on the Internet.
In the spring, the Government of Canada introduced two pieces of legislation that would greatly expand the power of the state to monitor its citizens online activity. The legislation, known as the Investigative Powers for the 21st Century (IP21C) Act, would force Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to install costly surveillance systems on their networks and give police wide ranging new powers that do away with judicial oversight.
According to University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist, the legislation would create additional requirements for ISPs and expand police powers. These ISP requirements can be broken down into two components. First, ISPs will be required to install costly surveillance equipment on their networks. Part of the cost will fall to taxpayers while the remainder will be carried by the companies themselves. Some smaller ISPs will be exempt from this requirement for a period of three years, creating an unfair burden on the larger, more successful companies.
James Min emigrated to Canada from South Korea 13 years ago. Like many Korean immigrants, he found it hard to find employment when he arrived. He spent three years working menial jobs before finally opening his own business.
Now, Min is the owner of the Robson Relax Centre, a massage studio located in the food court of the Robson Public Market in downtown Vancouver.
Min sits at a table talking to the owners of a nearby Korean restaurant. In this mid-sized food court, only two tables are occupied. At one table sits a paying customer, at the other is Min and his fellow business owners.
Calgary, AB – Over 200 information technology professionals and open source enthusiasts are set to descend on the Coast Plaza Hotel in Calgary.
The Calgary Open Source Systems Festival (COSSFEST) is a two-day trade show featuring multiple speaking tracks and workshops demonstrating the use of open source software solutions.
This year’s event is the culmination of two years of planning. Similar events were held in 2006 and 2007, but this year’s show promises to be bigger and will be spread out over two days. The first day will focus on helping businesses leverage open source solutions to help them compete in a tough economic environment, while the second day will be oriented toward hobbyists.
Open source is a method of developing computer software, whereby an application’s source code is made freely available and software is developed collaboratively by programmers from around the world. Popular applications developed using this method include the Firefox web browser and the Linux operating system.
Immigration officials at Vancouver
International Airport gave Robert Dziekanski's mother the runaround
and told her she “might as well go home” while she waited all day
for her son who was lost in customs and later died after being
tasered by police.
Family friend Richard Hutchinson
testified at a public inquiry this morning that he drove Dziekanski's
mother, Zofia Cisowski, to the airport on October 13, 2007 to pick up
her son because “she needed help to communicate at the airport
because her English wasn't 100 percent.” Airport staff and
immigration officials showed a lack of interest in them and told them
to “go home.”
“Disregarded, not important, that's
the attitude I was getting from the people at the airport,” said
Hutchinson.
Most
Canadians, these days, have access to a computer, either at home or
at work. And it would seem as though the lifespan of these machines
is getting shorter and shorter. So where do they all go when people
are done with them? Many people are taking their machines to be
recycled, but two Vancouver-based electronics recyclers were recently
singled-out for unsavory practices. So what should consumers do when
they’re done with their computers? Can old hardware be put to good
use? Joining us to talk about this is Ifny Lachance, coordinator of
Free Geek Vancouver.
Kati was recently given a copy of the book “Shantaram” by one of her friends who had enjoyed it and wanted to share the experience with her. To most of us, the ability to share a good book with friends and family is taken for granted. But could this kind of activity be outlawed in the near future?
Immigration officials at Vancouver
International Airport gave Robert Dziekanski's mother the runaround
and told her she “might as well go home” while she waited all day
for her son who was lost in customs and later died after being
tasered by police.
