cfs on the ball with education and copyright reform.

Continuing on the topic of Bill C-61 and Canadian copyright legislation reform, I've discovered a pretty good brief (pdf) written by the Canadian Federation of Students detailing the implications of certain types of copyright reform on students and the education sector. Here is part of the section on exemptions for educational institutions:

Asking for special institutional-based exemptions is the approach that was taken in the last round of copyright reform in 1997. It resulted in a complicated, and not very useful, set of narrow privileges for educational institutions. Unfortunately, this approach is still being pushed by groups representing a narrow band of university and college stakeholders: administrators. Seeking further special exemptions that are not available to the general public is a fundamentally flawed strategy. The better option is an expanded and open-ended definition in the Act of fair dealing that reflects the principles laid out in the CCH judgement.

As of today, it looks like only one of Canada's national student advocacy organizations has publicly raised concerns about the implications of Bill C-61 and copyright reform on students and the education sector.

The other national student advocacy organization that my Students' Union fees (and food court purchases?) go towards seems to have yet to say a peep...

(h/t Howard Knopf)