by John Sullivan
Operations Manager

The Canadian government has set up an online public consultation process to revise its copyright policy, running until September 13, 2009. If you live in Canada, now is your chance to take back your copyright law.

You can participate at http://copyright.econsultation.ca/.

The last 3 of the 5 questions listed on the submissions page invite people to focus on only the hypothetical benefits of copyright while disregarding the question of the harm done to the public.

Here are some articles that might help in questioning this framing of the debate, and in emphasizing the public's interest:

• Freedom or Copyright
• Misinterpreting Copyright
• The War on Sharing: Why the FSF cares about the RIAA lawusits

While these articles talk about US copyright law, the idea that copyright's purpose is to promote authorship and thus benefit the public is accepted in the legal tradition of the English-speaking world, not just in the US.

To coordinate with other activists on this effort, see the LibrePlanet wiki page.

If people don't speak up, we may be facing a Canadian version of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which would restrict the freedoms of programmers, authors, readers, and technology users. Please make your voice heard now!

More information can be found at: speakoutoncopyright.ca