Free Culture is an interesting Creative Commons licensed, game by Molleindustria where you fight to keep information in the commons.  Occasionally the evil copyright pac-man like mechanical villain swoops around the outside and gobbles up information. They describe this game as “a game about the struggle between free culture and copyright. Create and defend the common knowledge from the vectorial class. Liberate the passive consumers from the domain of the market.”

According to some commenters on the Creative Commons blog, it is possible to win. I am not that patient.  I found the same play too repetitive, but maybe that’s the point.  It’s a long, repetitive slog to keep information freely accessible for everyone.

I like the statement describing who Molleindustria is:

Molleindustria is an italian team of artists, designers and programmers that aims at starting a serious discussion about social and political implications of videogames. This will involve media activists, net-artists, habitual players and critics and detractors of videogames. We chose to start with online gaming in order to sidestep mainstream distribution channels and to overcome our lack of means. Using simple but sharp games we hope to give a starting point for a new generation of critical game developers and, above all, to experiment with practices that can be easily emulated and virally diffused.

This game is safe for work, but some of their other games, are likely not appropriate to play at work.

Thanks Jen Crothers for the tip!

People often ask, “so…what kind of stuff does the information policy committee do?”  I still stumble through an answer.

Um…the IPC is a British Columbia Library Association committee that is concerned with all kinds of um…information policy issues, like copyright, access to information, open access scholarship, intellectual property, privacy, RFID, open source software, trade treaties, net neutrality and media democracy.

Many people have said that they feel intimidated to get involved because while they are interested in some of these issues, they feel like they don’t know a whole lot about any of these issues.  And we use a lot of acronyms.  If you are interested, please get in touch with Jeff Davis at jeffd@eln.bc.ca.  We would like you to get involved, speak up on the listserv, come to a meeting, a salon, or the upcoming conference.

And if someone’s throwing around acronyms you don’t understand, ask them to explain.  Chances are there are other folks who have no idea what the jargon means either.  I will try to curb my use of TLAs.

Click on the thumbnail for a larger image:

No rain, little wind, lots of traffic and good conversations characterized this year’s BCLA Info Policy & Intellectual Freedom table at Vancouver’s Word on the Street (WoTS) festival! We had a great location, the roulette wheel of information issues was again a big hit, and the buttons were a hot commodity.

Here are some pictures:

The wheel

The wheel in action!

All the cool kids (Karen X. Tulchinsky and Todd Wong) came by to discuss info policy issues with us!

And we got to promote the upcoming Info Policy conference, among other great initiatives

Thanks a million to all our willing and wonderful volunteers, from both committees!

If you missed us this year, be sure to stop by next year at this great free event!

Thanks to Raphael, Fair Copyright for Canada:

On September 7, 2008, An Act to Amend the Copyright Act - known to his friends as “Bill C-61″ - died prematurely during an election call. The Vancouver chapter of Fair Copyright for Canada will be holding a funeral on Sunday, October 5 to remember the life and times of Bill C-61.

At 12:00pm, a funeral procession bearing the coffin of Bill C-61 will make its way from Waterfront Station, heading south on Seymour Street. The body will be laid to rest in front of a tombstone at the south entrance of SFU Harbour Centre on West Hastings Street.

Canadians are reminded that although this bill is being laid to rest, the issue is far from dead: how we vote in the next election will determine what the next version of this bill is going to look like.

WHEN: Sunday, October 5, 2008 at 12:00pm

WHERE: SFU Harbour Centre, South Entrance, 515 West Hastings Street

WHO: Vancouver Chapter of Fair Copyright for Canada

WHAT: Funeral Procession: 12:00pm
Eulogies at SFU Harbour Centre Entrance: 12:05pm

From Project Censorship, the top 25 censored stories for 2009:

• #1. Over One Million Iraqi Deaths Caused by US Occupation
• # 2 Security and Prosperity Partnership: Militarized NAFTA
• # 3 InfraGard: The FBI Deputizes Business
• # 4 ILEA: Is the US Restarting Dirty Wars in Latin America?
• # 5 Seizing War Protesters’ Assets
• # 6 The Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act
• # 7 Guest Workers Inc.: Fraud and Human Trafficking
• # 8 Executive Orders Can Be Changed Secretly
• #9 Iraq and Afghanistan Vets Testify
• # 10 APA Complicit in CIA Torture
• # 11 El Salvador’s Water Privatization and the Global War on Terror
• # 12 Bush Profiteers Collect Billions From No Child Left Behind
• # 13 Tracking Billions of Dollars Lost in Iraq
• # 14 Mainstreaming Nuclear Waste
• # 15 Worldwide Slavery
• # 16 Annual Survey on Trade Union Rights
• # 17 UN’s Empty Declaration of Indigenous Rights
• # 18 Cruelty and Death in Juvenile Detention Centers
• # 19 Indigenous Herders and Small Farmers Fight Livestock Extinction
• # 20 Marijuana Arrests Set New Record
• # 21 NATO Considers “First Strike” Nuclear Option
• # 22 CARE Rejects US Food Aid
• # 23 FDA Complicit in Pushing Pharmaceutical Drugs
• # 24 Japan Questions 9/11 and the Global War on Terror
• # 25 Bush’s Real Problem with Eliot Spitzer

 Please go to the Project Censorship site for links to each story.

Photo by Ian Muttoo

 Dear VANOC,

This trademark stuff is getting completely redonculous.  First, there was the broad and unnecessary legislation protecting the Olympic brand and trademarked words like 2010, winter and Olympics.  I can’t believe that this was passed into law!

Then there was the Denman St. Olympia Pizza debacle, where you bullied a pizza shop that had had the same name and signage for the last 15 years, long before Vancouver even had an Olympic twinkle in its eye.

Now, you have trademarked part of the national anthem of Canada.  I read today that you trademarked “With glowing hearts” from the English version and “Des plus brillants exploits”from the French, before announcing that these would be slogans that you will use to brand keychains, ads, and who knows what else.

It’s thoughtful and kinda sweet that you will allow Canadians to sing our anthem on the medal podium, in schools and at special events without suing us for infringing on your trademark.

Thanks,

Tara

“Right to Know Week” is an international event which aims to raise awareness of individuals’ right to access government information and to promote access to information as a fundamental human right; it is Sunday Sept. 28th to Oct. 3rd 2008.  Canada’s info and privacy commissioners - both at the federal and provincial levels - are organizing public events.  There are a number of events throughout B.C. Here’s the information about the Vancouver event organized through BC’s Information and Privacy Commissioner’’s office and BC FIPA:

“Government Secrecy in BC and Canada: are we winning the struggle?”
Documents recording the decisions of government - past and present are essential in the quest for transparent government. Neither the public nor elected officials can ever hope to hold the government to account if they don’t have sufficient information about government activity. Nor can the government adequately demonstrate it has used public resources responsibly if the records are not preserved or easily made available for scrutiny.

Hear two global experts Alasdair Roberts and Professor Emeritus Terry Eastwood discuss the current threat in B.C. to the preservation of vital government records and the opportunity Canada has to take a leadership role in strengthening open government nationally and around the world.

Wed. Oct. 1st, 2008   7:00 - 10:00 pm
1400-1410 Segal Centre, SFU Harbourfront
515 West Hastings St.

Free. No registration required.

For more information on this event, other events around the province - in Victoria, Parksville, Campbell River, Kamloops, Surrey, 100 Mile House - or Right to Know Week  — www.oipc.bc.ca/RIGHT_TO_KNOW-2008.htm

THE FUTURE OF NEWS
How Much Control Does the Public Have?

With the proliferation of free news on the internet, is the public in the driver’s seat when deciding what is news?  The days when editorial gatekeepers decided which stories we would see or read are gone.
In this brave new world of widespread access, there are some serious questions for people who value the quality and honesty of news sources: if we only go online for free news, then who will pay the journalists … and can we trust free online news services to provide the information we need?
To explore these issues and the changing landscape of news in Canada, the Canadian Media Research Consortium (CMRC) is holding free public forums across the country, beginning in Vancouver on Monday, September 22nd.
The Vancouver forum will be moderated by CBC TV journalist Ian Hanomansing, with guest speakers from both sides of the new media spectrum: Vivienne Sosnowski, who worked in Canadian newspapers including the Vancouver Sun, National Post and The Province, is now VP and editorial director of the Baltimore Examiner, the San Francisco Examiner and the Washington Examiner and the papers’ associated websites. And Leonard Brody, co-founder and CEO of NowPublic.com, is one of the pioneers in citizen-generated news, which is rapidly becoming one of the largest news agencies in the world, with over 130,000 contributing reporters in 140 countries. The Guardian ranks NowPublic.com as one of top five news sites in the world.
The public and journalists are invited to ask questions and join in the national dialogue on the future of news. To frame the discussion, Donna Logan, president of the CMRC and founding director of the UBC School of Journalism, will present new national research that discovered only a third of Canadians think the news they receive is ‘fair and balanced’ and nearly one in three who check online news at least daily has stopped using a media source because of loss of trust. Only 10 percent of news consumers in the 18-24 age group consider newspapers, television or radio news as important sources of information.
The Vancouver public forum is sponsored by the Canadian Media Research Consortium, the Network for Journalism Excellence, the British Columbia Press Council, and the UBC Graduate School of Journalism.

THE FUTURE OF NEWS
How Much Control Does the Public Have?
Monday, September 22, 7:00-9:30 pm
UBC at Robson Square Theatre, 800 Robson Street (at Howe)
Admission is free but seating is limited

Update September 25 - as of today, 52 candidates have taken the pledge!  29 green, 21 NDP, 1 liberal!

Canadians - do you believe in open government?  If so, please go to ibelieveinopen.ca and take the pledge today!

ibelieveinopen is a movement to push politicians to make 5 commitments:

1. Support reforms that increase government transparency and accountability.

2. Make campaign promises specific and measurable, and report progress on promises and their metrics at least semi-annually.

3. Publish the content of his or her daily schedule, including meetings with lobbyists and special interest groups.

4. Support reforms allowing free access to scientific and survey data gathered by government institutions.

5. Support reforms that make it easier for Canadians to obtain government information they have a right to know.

Thanks to Jennifer Bell of civicaccess.ca

The Canadian Library Association has just released the CLA Federal Election Kit with 9 issues to bring up with candidates.  There are several policy issues on the list!  The most recent issue (#9 on the list) is Net Neutrality - many thanks to CLA’s Danielle Dennie and BCLA’s Devon Greyson for their work in this area.

The 9 issues:

1. Copyright - a major advocacy area - see Unlocking the Public Interest on the CLA copyright site www.cla.ca/copyright

2. Library Book Rate

3. Removal of the GST on Reading Materials

4. Library services for Canadians with print disabilities

5. The Community Access Program

6. Public Library Infrastructure

7. Support for libraries through Library and Archives Canada

8. National Literacy Initiatives

9. Net Neutrality

The Election Kit includes brief information about all of these advocacy areas, and strategy tips.  Thanks, CLA!