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Why Copyright? Canadian Voices on Copyright Law

maurizio — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 14:29:12 +0000

From MichaelGeist.ca: In June 2008, the Canadian government introduced Bill C-61, new copyright legislation that closely followed the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The public response to the bill was both immediate and angry - tens of thousands of Canadians wrote to the Minister and their local Members of Parliament, leading to town hall meetings, negative press coverage, and the growing realization that copyright was fast becoming a mainstream political and policy issue. This film, produced by Michael Geist and Daniel Albahary, asks Canadians from across the country and from a wide range of sectors the question - “why copyright?”.

Free and legal Internet TV and movies: Coming soon.

maurizio — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:34:06 +0000

I get my TV through an … err, alternative delivery mechanism. One that for me, makes more sense than channel surfing, remembering to program the PVR, or sitting myself down in front of our aging TV set at an appointed time and being subjected to idiotic commercials and the bombastic media hype of an industry in its death throes.

In the US, interesting developments in free online TV and movies have evolved over the last couple of years, from Joost to Hulu. Even YouTube is talking about streaming movies in the near future.

Unfortunately geo-blocking is preventing us from accessing much of this content in Canada, but the business model for content delivery will change here too, quickly.

Here’s an interesting podcast on why and how this will all come to pass.

Article link: Legal and Free: TV Shows and Movies on the Net

Podcast link: Listen

(via Bill St-Arnaud)

Speak Now

maurizio — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:26:46 +0000

Yeah, the iPhone changed everything. Now the new Google iPhone application with voice recognition changes the iPhone in a very fundamental and useful way. Google’s voice recognition not only works, it rocks.

Here’s the intro video from Google:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=y3z7Tw1K17A&fmt=18

Have you tried it? Drop a comment.

Hugh on Obama on Tech

maurizio — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 18:49:39 +0000

Sez friend Hugh McGuire:

I don’t know how Obama’s presidency is going to go, and I don’t hold my breath for any miracles. Any president of the USA has one hell of a challenge on his (or her) hands, and the O-man has inherited a bigger mess than anyone can clean up.

But, man if he wanted to make me happy, he could not have started in a place nearer to my heart than his Tech/Science platform, released today.

[read article] and listen to podcast

Lawrence Lessig on Sound Opinions

maurizio — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:45:27 +0000

With the digital music explosion, the issues of copyright, authorship and ownership have never been so important. Tune in to hear a re-broadcast of Jim and Greg’s interview with legal expert Lawrence Lessig. Listen

InternationalStreamingRadioPalooza

maurizio — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:31:30 +0000

http://www.england.fm/
http://www.italia.fm/
http://www.nederland.fm/
http://www.lafrance.fm/
http://www.deutschland.fm/
http://www.belgie.fm/
http://www.danmark.fm/
http://www.norge.fm/
http://www.polskafm.pl/

Copyright for Canadians

maurizio — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 18:36:51 +0000

Forward-thinking reform to copyright is possible: laws that recognise the growth and importance of the Internet, open source software, and new business models for creators. Canada could take the initiative, and lead the world.

Instead, new legislation proposed by this government will be a complete sell-out to the United States’ government and media’s demands. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act — a law that the U.S. passed in 1997 and has been widely seen as a damaging failure — will be imported wholesale. Instead of inviting a new era, Canada will repeat all the mistakes of the last decade.

This will not be a copyright law for Canadians. It will be a copyright law from entrenched U.S. lobbyists and politicians. Join us, and fight back!

www.copyrightforcanadians.ca

Explain RSS to your Mom

maurizio — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:14:46 +0000

Mike Kujawski posted a link on the Podcamp Ottawa Wiki to a very useful, and funny, video explaining RSS in a way anyone can understand. This is going to save me least a couple of hours a week.

Gmail surprises

maurizio — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 14:05:09 +0000

I use Gmail as a central inbox for all my email addresses of which — between NAC and personal accounts — I have about a dozen active accounts. This helps me manage my email in a central location and leverage Gmail’s excellent spam filtering.

I just noticed that, not only has Gmail bumped up my mailbox to 4.3 Gb (when did that happen?), they have also quietly launched IMAP functionality! This is huge for me, it means I can completely sync my Gmail account on my Treo and in OS X Mail.app. Gmail tags become IMAP folders. All one has to do is enable IMAP in the Gmail settings.

I’m positively giddy.

NACOcast interview at Polyphonic.org

maurizio — Mon, 21 May 2007 20:18:40 +0000

Ann Drinan interviewed Chris Millard and me a few weeks ago on the subject of the NACOcast and other the NAC Orchestra electronic outreach initiatives. The article now appears at Polyphonic.org, “the orchestra musician forum”, a great site for lovers as well as players of orchestral music:

Orchestras are constantly exploring new technologies that can enhance the audience’s appreciation of their concerts, from multi-media concert experiences and digital program notes to new web experiences. Since February 2006, the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Ottawa Canada has been producing bi-monthly 30-minute podcasts featuring their upcoming programs.

Full article