It's about information which makes it more central to our profession than drugs or alcohol prohibition.<br><br>In this thread people are saying that they will break the law because
it is an ass and turn a blind eye to students breaking stupid laws.
Fair enough. However, I feel we have a broader social problem which
requires political action when copyright laws exist which turn citizens
into criminals.<br>
<br>To look at the US experience:<br>
"According to the NY Times, 43 million Americans downloaded music in
May 2002. According to the RIAA, the behaviour of those 43 million
Americans is a felony. We thus have a set of rules that transform 20
percent of Americans into criminals ..." Lessig, Free Culture, 199<br><br>It's not going to go away. Copyright law is being strengthened in Australia as we speak.<br><br>How do teachers feel about the ethical dilemma of teaching copyright
law in our courses and encouraging or turning a blind eye to students
breaking that law when our employer has a clear expectation that we, as
teachers, will not indulge in criminal activity and we can be sacked
for doing so. Wouldn't happen you think? Check out some of the things that have been happening in the USA which is a bit further down the track on this issue than us. eg. a young student, Jesse Jordan, prosecuted for $15 million dollars damages for wilful violation of copyright law in 2002
<br>
<br>I've recently joined the pirate party of australia, which is ridiculously small at the moment, but, nevertheless, I feel obliged to become political on this issue, based on my understanding of the information wars, which have already started, and which will intensify in the future.
<br><br>The pirate party originated in Sweden and obtained 34,918 votes, or
0.63% of the popular vote. It's platform is reform of intellectual
property laws - copyright, patent and the closely related issue of
privacy<br><br>Information wars: commons v. proprietary, well, isn't it natural for teachers to support the maintenance or expansion of the commons (and not their restriction which is the way the Law is going), since our profession is based on the free and generous sharing of information?
<br><br>Nor would it be wise IMO to just assume that the side that supports the maintenance / expansion of the commons will just win because that is "sensible" and the other side is ridiculous and laughable. It is laughable but common sense does not always win.
<br><br>my blog post on the pirate party, as I said its ridiculously small in australia, but I feel that some action is better than none and hopefully this group or similar groups will grow<br><a href="http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2006/11/pirate-party-of-australia.html">
http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2006/11/pirate-party-of-australia.html</a><br><br>my blog post on information wars:<br><a href="http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2006/11/battle-for-freedom-of-information.html">http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2006/11/battle-for-freedom-of-information.html
</a><br><br>"happy birthday",<br>- Bill<br><br>-- <br>Bill Kerr<br><a href="http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/">http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/</a><br><a href="http://www.users.on.net/~billkerr/">http://www.users.on.net/~billkerr/
</a><br>skype: billkerr2006<br><br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 11/15/06, <b class="gmail_sendername">Stephen Digby</b> <<a href="mailto:digby.stephen.p@edumail.vic.gov.au">digby.stephen.p@edumail.vic.gov.au</a>
> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span>As Dicken's noted, the
law has always been an ass.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span>When you sit down to
Monopoly you sometimes renegotiate a rule or two by mutual agreement, but most
of the rules are set by the manufacturer.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span>Society is a bit like
that - we didn't get to make the vast complex web of rules that govern us, we
just get to tinker democratically with a few things at the edge while the
manufacturers continue to make most of the important decisions. Most
people just ignore the rules that they do not agree with and hope that they do
not get caught..... unfortunately, as with drug laws, if there is a
significant minority that does not agree with the law, these people begin to
collect to gether and separate from the mainstream in many other ways creating
what we often call a "subculture". Thus the drug subcultures, the peer to
peer subcultures etc. that danger for society is that many other
influences and opportunists also work within these subcultures and the outcomes
are often unpredictable and socially divisive and damaging(e.g. crime, lack of
compliance and trust of police etc, lack of regard for other laws
etc).</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span>Thus the need to work to
oppose laws that are flouted openly (and has socially accepted) OR to change the
social acceptance (as has been done in my generation with drink
driving).</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span>I think that the possibly
of changing the social acceptance of music sharing is very unlikely..... sounds
more like alcohol prohibition than drink driving.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2">
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2">======================================================================================<br>Stephen
Digby, Learning Technology Manager <br><a href="mailto:admin@cheltsec.vic.edu.au" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">mailto:admin@cheltsec.vic.edu.au</a>
<font face="Arial" size="2"><font face="Arial" size="2"></font></font><br>Cheltenham Secondary College <a href="http://www.cheltsec.vic.edu.au/" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">www.cheltsec.vic.edu.au
</a> Ph: 613 955
55 955 Fx: 9555
8617<br>======================================================================================</font></div></font></div><br><br>The
only way to have a friend is to be one.<br>Ralph Waldo Emerson</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font color="#0000ff" face="Arial" size="2"></font></span> </div><br>
<div dir="ltr" align="left" lang="en-us">
<hr>
<font face="Tahoma" size="2"><b>From:</b> <a href="mailto:ipm-bounces@edulists.com.au" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">ipm-bounces@edulists.com.au</a>
[mailto:<a href="mailto:ipm-bounces@edulists.com.au" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">ipm-bounces@edulists.com.au</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Roland
Gesthuizen<br><b>Sent:</b> 14 November 2006 11:23 PM<div><span class="e" id="q_10ee826680be33ad_1"><br><b>To:</b> Year 12
Information Technology Processing and Management Teachers'Mailing
List<br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [Year 12 IPM] music copyright<br></span></div></font><br></div><div><span class="e" id="q_10ee826680be33ad_3">
<div></div><a href="http://www.theage.com.au/news/phones--pdas/soon-recordings-will-be-a-crime/2006/11/14/1163266532880.html" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">An
Age newspaper report </a>has briefly discussed some of the changes to Australian
copyright legislation. Police would be able to go to a market, find people
selling pirated CDs and issue fines on the spot. Internet Industry
Association has stated that these changes have gone too far and activities that
could attract fines include playing a radio in the park or even recording a
group of students singing a song then sharing it online. It is an interesting
issue that can be discussed in the classroom.<br><br>You need written permission
from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Warner" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">Time Warner</a> to sing
Happy Birthday, the copyright will <a href="http://plakboek.livejournal.com/55478.html" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">expire in 2030</a> and if I am
correct, there will be no fair-use provisions in the legislation as it is
currently drafted. Singing Happy Birthday at a restaurant, a party or any
gathering is considered to be a public performance, even humming the tune
will become a criminal offense.<br><br>When you sing Happy Birthday, close all
the curtains and darken the room except perhaps for the light from a candle.
Wear masks and hats to protect your identity, perhaps helium to disguise your
voice. Making humorous additions and satirical modifications to the lyrics may
provide further legal protection from prosecution. Of course it is best to not
take the risk and enforce the singing public domain folk tunes and birthday
melodies such as <a href="http://ingeb.org/" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">German volksleiders, hymns or
gospel</a> in your classrooms. <br><br>Perhaps it would be best if we all agree
kept our mouths firmly shut? <br><br>Regards Roland<br><br>PS: My saxophone
playing isnt great so perhaps nobody would recognise the tune .. <br><br><br>
<div><span class="gmail_quote">On 05/11/06, <b class="gmail_sendername">Jeffrey
Lynn</b> <<a href="mailto:jslynn@optusnet.com.au" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">jslynn@optusnet.com.au</a>>
wrote:</span>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">The
copyright issue is legally quite clear: you can make one copy of a<br>computer
program disk (CD or DVD) for backup purposes but it is illegal to<br>copy
music CDs or DVDs for any purpose. Technically, the copies of CDs I <br>have
in my car so I don't damage or lose my originals are quite illegal. As<br>I
have discussed with my students (and as Mark says), there is no logic
to<br>this, just law. However, the chances of my being prosecuted for having
such <br>copies are fairly remote - as the copies are not for resale,
redistribution,<br>or profit, the law is not too interested in wasting time
and money<br>prosecuting. The real villains they are after are pirates
churning out <br>illegal copies for sale and profit. That does not alter the
fact that my<br>copies ARE illegal!<br><br>Note too that the copyright laws
are in the process of being changed and are<br>expected to be enacted in
2007.<br><br>Jeff Lynn,<br>Yeshivah/Beth Rivkah
Colleges<br><br><br>-----Original Message-----<br>From: <a href="mailto:ipm-bounces@edulists.com.au" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">ipm-bounces@edulists.com.au</a>
[mailto:<a href="mailto:ipm-bounces@edulists.com.au" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
ipm-bounces@edulists.com.au</a>] On<br>Behalf Of Mark Kelly<br>Sent: Sunday, 5
November 2006 17:45<br>To: Year 12 Information Technology Processing and
Management<br>Teachers'Mailing List<br>Subject: Re: [Year 12 IPM] music
copyright <br><br>Nick Axaris wrote:<br>> I was always under the
understanding that you can make a copy of a music<br>CD for backup purposes
and not to share or sell it.<br>> There should be no issue copying a song
for the purpose of a presentation <br>as the student is not profiting or
sharing that song with anyone else.<br>> When the presentation is over then
the network manager can delete it from<br>the network.<br>> Whilst on the
network just ensure that it is only accesible by the <br>student.<br><br>What
is legal and what is logical is - as usual - mutually
exclusive.<br><br>--<br>Mark Kelly<br>McKinnon Secondary
College<br><br>_______________________________________________<br><a href="http://www.edulists.com.au" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://www.edulists.com.au</a> - FAQ,
resources, subscribe, unsubscribe<br>IPM Mailing List kindly supported
by<br><a href="http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au</a> -
Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority <br>and<br><a href="http://www.vitta.org.au" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://www.vitta.org.au</a> - VITTA
Victorian Information Technology Teachers<br>Association
Inc<br><br><br>_______________________________________________<br><a href="http://www.edulists.com.au" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://www.edulists.com.au</a> - FAQ,
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Victorian Information Technology Teachers Association
Inc<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Roland Gesthuizen - ICT
Coordinator - Westall Secondary College <br><a href="http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au</a><br><br>"Never
doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world;
indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead
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Information Technology Teachers Association Inc<p></p></span></div><p><span class="q"><b>Important - </b>This email and any attachments may be confidential. If received in error, please contact us and delete all copies. Before opening or using attachments check them for viruses and defects. Regardless of any loss, damage or consequence, whether caused by the negligence of the sender or not, resulting directly or indirectly from the use of any attached files our liability is limited to resupplying any affected attachments. Any representations or opinions expressed are those of the individual sender, and not necessarily those of the Department of Education & Training._______________________________________________
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