[A2k] M. Geist: Policy response to user-Generated Content

[Manon Ress]

--
[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
Great column by Michael Geist re the policy response to user
generated content and how to really improve access (4 no-brainer
suggestions in the quote below).
Manon

QUOTE:
The federal government can also play an important role by improving
Canadians' access to the content it controls or helps fund.  There
are a surprising number of possibilities, each of which can be
implemented at minimal cost and without new legislation:

     * the elimination of crown copyright, the archaic rules that
grants government control over taxpayer-funded work
     * the introduction of open access requirements for federally-
funded research to help leverage the hundreds of millions of dollars
invested in federal granting institutions for health, science, and
social science research
     * the establishment of new incentives in book publishing and
television production funding programs to encourage open business
models, and
     * the repositioning of CBC content by adopting open licenses
that invite the public to remix the content to tell their own stories.
END OF QUOTE

<http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/168762>
Homepage version at
<http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/1599/159/>


The Policy Response to the User-Generated Content Boom

Monday January 08, 2007
Appeared in the Toronto Star on January 8, 2006 as Time's Choice
Could Prove Inspired

Time Magazine's selection late last month of "You" (a reference to
the people behind user-generated content on the Internet) as the
person of the year was mocked by critics as a poor choice that by-
passed several notable political leaders.  Yet the choice may
ultimately be viewed as the tipping point when the remarkable
outbreak of Internet participation that encompasses millions of
bloggers, music remixers, amateur video creators, citizen
journalists, wikipedians, and Flickr photographers broke into the
mainstream.

The choice may also cause government leaders and policy makers to
contemplate how they fit into the world of a participatory Internet
and user-generated content.  Their initial reaction might well be to
remain firmly on the sidelines as the speed of development and
enormous creative energy appear to be at odds with painfully slow
government policy processes.

While a strong regulatory response is indeed unnecessary and likely
harmful, it would be a mistake to completely ignore the issue.  In
the mid-1990s, the emergence of the Internet and e-commerce elicited
an engaged approach from government, which balanced the need for a
private sector-led, self-regulatory model with e-commerce and privacy
legislation that built consumer and business confidence in the new
medium.

Ten years later, the role of government will be to support the
enormous economic and cultural potential of user-generated content,
while avoiding steps that might impede its growth.  It can do so by
focusing on the three "C=92s" - connectivity, content, and copyright.

An obvious starting point for connectivity is the role that federal,
provincial, and municipal governments can play to ensure that all
Canadians have access to the high-speed networks that are the price
of admission to the participatory Internet.

Canada's global broadband ranking has slipped steadily in recent
years, as Asian and European countries leapt ahead with faster, more
widely distributed high-speed networks.  Moreover, last year's
Telecommunications Policy Review Panel concluded that reliance solely
on market forces would likely leave hundreds of thousands of
Canadians without high-speed Internet access.

In response, Prime Minister Stephen Harper would do well to take the
lead by implementing the broadband strategy that languished under the
previous Liberal government.  Moreover, network neutrality
legislation, which mandates that Internet service providers treat all
content and applications in an equal manner, is desperately needed to
ensure that user-generated content is not consigned to the slow lane
of a two-tier Internet envisioned by some ISPs.

Equal access to the network is also an issue for a provincial and
municipal governments.  Last week, Vermont Governor Jim Douglas
introduced plans to make his state the first to provide state-wide
broadband coverage within three years, commenting that "in my hand
there is wireless mobility, complete access and clear connections. In
my hand is fairness and equity for all of Vermont. In my hand is both
freedom and unity." Canadian provincial and municipal leaders should
be actively pursuing similar initiatives.

The federal government can also play an important role by improving
Canadians' access to the content it controls or helps fund.  There
are a surprising number of possibilities, each of which can be
implemented at minimal cost and without new legislation:

     * the elimination of crown copyright, the archaic rules that
grants government control over taxpayer-funded work
     * the introduction of open access requirements for federally-
funded research to help leverage the hundreds of millions of dollars
invested in federal granting institutions for health, science, and
social science research
     * the establishment of new incentives in book publishing and
television production funding programs to encourage open business
models, and
     * the repositioning of CBC content by adopting open licenses
that invite the public to remix the content to tell their own stories.

Copyright rules that balance appropriate protection with fair use are
the third "C".  The Supreme Court of Canada has already embraced the
balanced approach, warning in a prescient 2002 decision that
"excessive control by holders of copyrights and other forms of
intellectual property may unduly limit the ability of the public
domain to incorporate and embellish creative innovation in the long-
term interests of society as a whole, or create practical obstacles
to proper utilization."

Industry Minister Maxime Bernier and Canadian Heritage Minister Bev
Oda can heed the court=92s words by adding a "fair use" exception to
the Copyright Act.  Already supported by telecommunications giants
such as Telus and Rogers, as well as artist, education, and consumer
groups, fair use would reduce the legal uncertainty faced by many
Canadians as well as encourage new creativity and innovation.

Fair use will mean little, however, if content is locked behind the
digital walls that have generated a free speech chill in many
countries.  Canada can avoid a similar fate by rejecting legislation
that promotes the use of digital rights management technologies.

Time Magazine's decision to spotlight the participatory Internet
leaves little doubt that the issue has moved from edges of cyberspace
into the mainstream, forcing policy makers to confront their role in
this exciting new world.

Michael Geist holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-
commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law. He can
reached at mgeist@uottawa.ca or online at www.michaelgeist.ca.

************************************************************************
***
Manon Anne Ress
manon.ress@cptech.org,
www.cptech.org

Consumer Project on Technology
1621 Connecticut Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20009 USA
Tel.:  +1.202.332.2670, Ext 16 Fax: +1.202.332.2673

Consumer Project on Technology
1 Route des  Morillons, CP 2100, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 791 6727

Consumer Project on Technology
24 Highbury Crescent, London, N5 1RX, UK
Tel: +44(0)207 226 6663 ex 252 Fax: +44(0)207 354 0607