[LINK] Copyright Crusaders Hit [American] Schools

[Rick Welykochy]

http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,64543,00.html

Copyright Crusaders Hit Schools  (in America)

   For the third year in a row, software companies are supplying
   schools with materials that promote their antipiracy position
   on copyright law. But for the first time this year, the library
   association is presenting its own material, hoping to give kids
   a more balanced view of copyright law.

   The American Library Association will distribute its materials
   through high-school librarians this winter or spring. In September,
   the ALA will hold focus groups with teenagers to better understand
   how they use the Internet, what they think about the technology
   and what language they use. That information will contribute to
   ALA-created comic books that address various copyright issues
   relevant to students.

   The ALA sees a need for this because materials offered by groups
   like the Business Software Alliance and the Motion Picture Association
   of America are designed to influence kids with one-sided information,
   said Rick Weingarten, director of information technology policy
   for the ALA. Topics like "fair use" -- the right to use copyright
   material without the owner's permission, a key concept in American
   law that intellectual-property experts say leads to innovation --
   are not adequately addressed.

[SNIP]


Well, if we have to have the AUSFTA *barf barf* and "harmonise with the
American copyright regime" then we can at least enjoy the benefits of
"fair use" which currently does not exist in any legal form in Australia,
IIRC.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . off topic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

And on the topic of librarians spreading the good word (truth), here is
a little gem written recently by Kurt Vonnegut Jr, sent to me by a fellow
Linker: <http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/print/i_love_you_madame_librarian>

(Bug Me Not gives you a login name for the site
  http://www.bugmenot.com/view.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.inthesetimes.com)

A short quote, since the article is off topic, but still an excellent essay.

  "And still on the subject of books: Our daily sources of news, papers
   and TV, are now so craven, so unvigilant on behalf of the American
   people, so uninformative, that only in books can we find out what is
   really going on. I will cite an example: House of Bush, House of Saud
   by Craig Unger, published near the start of this humiliating, shameful
   blood-soaked year."

See <http://www.houseofbush.com/> for more on that reference.



cheers
rickw


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Rick Welykochy || Praxis Services

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