“The [copyright ] consultation appears to have been little more than theatre,” says Michael Geist. I wonder if we simply duped ourselves into thinking it would have been anything but. The Harper government simply made it appear as if Canadians voices were to be heard regarding alterations to copyright law. But, in typical Harper government fashion, those voices are simply ignored in favour of supine capitulation to US and other corporate interests. I wonder at what point people will stop believing in this farce we call democracy.
With mounting pressure from the U.S. – there have repeated meetings with senior U.S. officials in recent weeks – the PMO sided squarely with Moore’s vision of a U.S.-style copyright law. The detailed provisions will be negotiated over the coming weeks by the respective departments, but they now have their marching orders of completing a bill that will satisfy the U.S. that comes complete with tough anti-circumvention rules and no flexible fair dealing provision.
More at Geist’s blog.
This is a fantastic interview with Dr. Anthony Stewart of Dalhousie University’s Department of English in which he discusses the recent cross burning in Nova Scotia and issues of race in the academy.
Information on his book, You Must Be A Basketball Player, is available here.
Friends of friends:
The Night Shift is a guide for those of you who are lost: for the thinkers amongst you who are frustrated by a lack of progress in creating a just society and for the practical amongst you who are at a loss as to what you should actually be doing. The nature of our questions eliminates the possibility of any pre-defined destination, but we hope that you can find the direction you lack. This, then, is the heart of The Night Shift: movement with guidance, force with direction, ideas with action.
Cool, anachronistic blogging! George Orwell’s diaries from the late-1930s, in blog form.
A couple of months ago I posted about Žižek: The Lecture!, which took place at the University of Leeds. Video of both the lecture and an interview conducted by Diane Myers prior to the event are up at SubalternStudies.
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