A year of near misses.

No introduction of the CDMCA this year. Has the bullet been dodged?

open my mouth, get in trouble

Heh. Maybe I spoke too soon. Hey, citizens, do what I can't do and make a fuss. I don't have the power. Three minutes and counting...

a little rabid over copyright

I've been thinking a lot about copyright issues the past couple of weeks -- this was a research and speaking topic of mine back in the States, but since I left the country I've tried not to think about it too much. No matter how much Canada feels like home and all to me, I don't know enough about the history of copyright and its applications here to really do anything. But two things have popped up to bring the issue back in focus for me.

1. The CDMCA, the introduction of which was delayed by the Tories after events like a burgeoning Facebook group and a showdown with the minister responsible in Calgary. Gotta admit, I was on the edge of my seat for a while with that one.

2. I'm due to give a talk here locally in January about the Creative Commons, public domain, and open access -- all three of which I feel comfortable about but not completely so. Particularly thorny for me -- Fair Dealing versus Fair Use.

Oh, and sorta-kinda related to 2: can anyone Canadian tell me any reason why I shouldn't completely hate the idea of Crown Copyright? I just think "full copyright on information produced by the government with our tax dollars" and I have to confess I see red. The US gets this one mostly right, and I never knew how much I'd miss it until after I left.