Earlier this month Bell and a group of Canadian telecommunications and media companies submitted a proposal that asks the Canadian government to identify websites engaged in content piracy and compel internet service providers to block access to those sites.

Specifically, the proposal asks the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to set up an “Internet Piracy Review Agency.” The agency would be responsible for identifying websites that are “blatantly, overwhelmingly or structurally” involved in piracy. After the sites are identified, internet service providers would be notified and required to block access to those sites.

Today, a coalition of over 25 organisations—led by digital rights NGO OpenMedia—launched a campaign asking Canadians to voice their opposition to Bell’s plan. Says OpenMedia: “This radical proposal will lead to legitimate content and speech being censored, violating our right to free expression and the principles of Net Neutrality, which the federal government has consistently pledged support for.”

Michael Geist, the Canadian law professor, has been writing extensively (11 blog posts and counting) about the potential harms of the proposal. He described Bell’s plan as having a similar negative effects as the SOPA/PIPA legislation floated in the U.S. a few years ago. Geist says, “the CRTC should not hesitate to firmly reject the website blocking plan as a disproportionate, unconstitutional proposal sorely lacking in due process that is inconsistent with the current communications law framework.” We agree.

Why is this the wrong approach?

• Canada already has strong rules against copyright infringement, and an existing mechanism for copyright holders to go to court and get a takedown order.
• The Bell proposal seems to make up its own definition of piracy because it doesn’t reference any current Canadian legislation.
• It’s up for debate whether the CRTC actually has the expertise to conduct this sort of piracy review. CIPPIC observes that the proposal “calls upon the Commission to undertake a new role under which it will be obligated to make legal determinations under the Copyright Act, a role far removed from the Commission’s area of expertise and one with which the Commission has not had significant historical experience.”
• There could be overblocking of sites that have significant non-infringing uses, such as torrent sites that track and share open source software, openly licensed creative works, and works in the public domain.
• There’s little evidence that piracy in Canada is as bad as suggested by BellI. As OpenMedia notes, “the most effective way to stop piracy is to provide affordable, user-friendly services that give people access to the content they want, when and where they want it.”

What you can do

OpenMedia is aiming to submit 50,000 comments into the CRTC by the end of the day of action—February 28. Here’s what you can do:

1. Submit a comment to the CRTC now using OpenMedia’s easy tool, now or, go to the CRTC’s website and file your comment directly.
2. Then, ask your friends to speak out, share this link, act.openmedia.org/StopCanadaCensorship, and/or take to Facebook and Twitter.
3. Share this site, change your profile pictures and write status updates asking your friends to stand up to Bell’s censorship scheme.
4. Use this tool to tweet the companies directly that have signed on to this dangerous proposal.

 

The post Tell the Canadian government to ignore Bell’s terrible idea to block websites appeared first on Creative Commons.

Act now and support the #OneMoreVote campaign to trigger Senate review of the FCC repeal

In December 2017, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted along party lines to repeal the 2015 Open Internet Order that ensured net neutrality in the United States. Without net neutrality, broadband providers like Comcast and Verizon will have free reign to block or discriminate against content or applications that are carried over their networks.

Last week the official notice of the repeal was published in the Federal Register, meaning that now the clock is ticking. If Congress or the courts do not intervene before 23 April 2018 (60 days after the notice), net neutrality will be a thing of the past.

Today we’re joining the massive online campaign that will flood the Senate with calls and emails. The goal of the action is to secure the final vote needed to pass the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution restoring net neutrality. If 50 votes are secured in the Senate, then the fight will shift to the House of Representatives.

Go to battleforthenet.com and contact Congress to stop the FCC’s dismantling of important net neutrality protections.

Creative Commons has always supported network neutrality. We joined thousands of organisations calling on everyone to make their voice heard to the FCC and Congress. A free and open internet is an essential utility of everyday life –  Creative Commons licensing is only one factor in a healthy open internet ecosystem. A strong digital commons requires universal access to basic digital infrastructure, and enforceable rules that promote fair competition and freedom of information.

The FCC repeal of net neutrality is clearly antithetical to the wishes of the public. We stand in solidarity with countless internet users, creators, teachers, startups, and information-seekers who can only thrive with strong net neutrality protections. We’ll continue the fight for the open internet for all.

The post Time is running out for net neutrality appeared first on Creative Commons.

Today we are publicly opening the doors to our renewed Creative Commons Global Network. It’s been a two-year process that was initiated, driven, and designed by CC’s international communities. We’re very proud of our work together, and we’re looking forward to inviting a broader community to join us in new ways, from international groups for collaboration on topics like open education and copyright reform, to our upcoming Summit, to governance and leadership.

The CC network was originally focused on legal support and translation of the Creative Commons licenses. The network of over 85 CC affiliates around the world was an enormous success that made Creative Commons a global initiative with enormous impact. We provided a legal infrastructure for the open web and helped Creative Commons to reach millions of new users and creators with free legal tools to be used in their own context and local languages.

Over time, the broader community grew and expanded into new spaces, including creators, activists, scholars, librarians, academics and a wide range of users. Community interests grew to include free culture, the public domain, open content, open education, copyright reform and other policies, open data, and more. In 2013, we launched the 4.0 version of the CC license suite, which eliminated the local country versions in favour of one international license. At that time, the only way to be part of the network was to be an official affiliate.

All of the momentum and activity created a tension between the formal network of affiliates and the broader expanding community who wanted to get involved, but had no structure or support for collaboration and collective action. We wanted to respond the needs of a vibrant and diverse community of contributors, and at the same time still provide the stewardship for the copyright licenses that are key for the open web. In 2015, Creative Commons approved our new organizational strategy, focused on building a vibrant, usable commons, powered by collaboration and gratitude, which includes strengthening ties with the global community and a promise to enhance our voice at a global scale.

In 2015 the existing network began drafting a new strategy. Creative Commons conducted open consultations and potential new participants and commissioned original research to understand how we could grow and be more inclusive. We worked together with affiliates from around the world to draft a new Global Network Strategy, which was finalized at the 2017 Global Summit in Toronto.

There’s no single recipe for success to have impact on a global scale. Our research showed that a strong CC network needs to make clear paths for engagement, create opportunities for new people to join and contribute, and offer opportunities to influence priorities and decisions. This new Strategy creates clear pathways in for new contributors, establishes a new way of working together, supports the work of contributors around the world, and helps us to collectively focus on priority areas.

Starting today, we are offering new ways of getting more involved with Creative Commons and its community.

1. The Network Platforms. Platforms are the way we work together. They are working groups that will create and communicate strategic collaboration to have a worldwide impact. The platforms are open to anyone willing to contribute and develop usable, vibrant and collaborative global Commons.

2. The Global Summit. The Global Summit is now an annual event. The Summit provides leaders, stakeholders, and the broader open web community an opportunity to drive the open movement forward, cross-pollinate ideas and expertise, and expand our impact. This year’s event will focus on empowering new contributors to get involved and have impact. You’re invited to participate and join us in Toronto this April.

3. Network Membership. We have created a membership model for those interested in formally participating in the decision-making and governance of the network. Membership is not required for participation in CC projects, and it is open to anyone with a track record as an active contributor to the CC movement that supports the Network Charter. Members are organized nationally into chapters (e.g., CC New Zealand, CC El Salvador, CC Canada). Individuals can apply here.

During the upcoming weeks, teams will start to establish their Creative Commons Chapters and organize locally for community actions at local and national scale. By the middle of 2018, we will host the first meeting of the Global Network Council, made up of delegates from each chapter, the main body for international network governance.

The new Global Network is the product of our community, and we are excited to join with you in increased participation and enhancement of the Commons.

Questions? Ask on Slack, IRC, or ping us on social media.

The post Creative Commons’ Global Network: How we’re Growing appeared first on Creative Commons.

I’m excited to announce three new members of the Creative Commons team: Jennryn Wetzler, Assistant Director of Open Education; Sophine Clachar, Data Engineer; and Jay Walsh, Chief of Staff.

Jennryn joins us following her work at the U.S. Department of State, where she piloted open educational resources (OER) use for public diplomacy. There, she helped lead the development and implementation of open policies to ensure publicly funded resources are openly licensed. She also co-developed the Federal Open Licensing Playbook to help government officers understand and properly implement open licensing requirements. Prior to that, Jennryn worked in Thailand and Niger, and learned how essential access to education is for international development. Jennryn has a Masters in Ethics, Peace, and Global Affairs from American University’s School for International Service. At CC Jennryn will seek new ways to build and support the global open education movement, and will be our lead for the Creative Commons Certificate program. Jennryn lives in Mt Rainier, Maryland. Her work at CC kicks off March 5.

Sophine will be ramping up CC’s ongoing product work to build a more vibrant, usable commons, with a major focus on CC Search. She is a data engineer with over 10 years of experience. Before CC she worked on research projects relating to aviation safety and large-scale and complex aviation data repositories at the University of North Dakota. Sophine was a recipient of the Airport Cooperative Research Program Graduate Research Award which fostered the development of machine learning algorithms that identify anomalies in aircraft data. Sophine holds a PhD in Scientific Computing from the University of North Dakota. She resides in New York City.

Jay previously led communications at the Wikimedia Foundation in San Francisco, and recently headed up the global communications team at Riot Games in Los Angeles. His 16 years of communications and strategic planning experience span open source and free culture projects, gaming, public broadcasting, academia and the public sector. At the Wikimedia Foundation Jay spearheaded the organization’s debut efforts to increase global awareness of Wikipedia’s vast community of editors, and made strides in transforming the mainstream conversation about Wikipedia’s reliability and sustainability. As Chief of Staff, Jay will be working across CC’s staff to help focus and accelerate our projects and initiatives, build up our product development strategy and pipeline, and enhance our long term sustainability and operational planning. Jay studied Creative Writing at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. He currently resides in Sonoma County, California.

I am incredibly pleased to welcome these three new staff members to Creative Commons. We are poised for an impactful and exceptional 2018 with our small, global team. Welcome, Jennryn, Sophine, and Jay!

The post Creative Commons announces three new staff members appeared first on Creative Commons.

Creative Commons is accepting applications for two new opportunities to continue the legacy and impact of Syrian Palestinian Open internet activist Bassel Khartabil.

The Bassel Khartabil Memorial Fund, launched in August 2017 at the behest of his family, will provide grants between $1,000 and $10,000 to organizations, groups, and individual grantees working to advance collaboration, community building, and leadership development in the open communities of the Arab world. The Memorial Fund is accepting grant applications until March 24th. These grants will be awarded to individuals or groups whose work embodies the legacy and impact of Bassel Khartabil, and whose projects are deeply intertwined with Creative Commons’ core mission and values. Applicants from the Creative Commons Global Network and broader Open movement are strongly encouraged. Creative Commons gratefully acknowledges generous support for the Bassel Khartabil Memorial Fund from London Media Trust, the family of Bassel Khartabil, and individual donors. Learn more at the following link.

The Bassel Khartabil Free Culture Fellowship supports outstanding individuals developing open culture in their communities under adverse circumstances. This unique and life-changing fellowship is based on a one-year term, eligible for renewal, and includes a stipend of $50,000 USD as well as associated, supplemental funds to support other costs and overhead.

The fellowship is organized by Creative Commons, Mozilla, the Wikimedia Foundation, the Jimmy Wales Foundation, #NEWPALMYRA, Fabricatorz Foundation, and others. It seeks to catalyze free culture, particularly in societies vulnerable to attacks on freedom of expression and free access to knowledge. Special consideration will be given to applicants operating within closed societies and in developing economies where other forms of support are scarce. Applications from the Levant and wider MENA region are greatly encouraged. Creative Commons gratefully acknowledges generous support for the Bassel Khartabil Free Culture Fellowship from the organizing partners as well as the family of Bassel Khartabil. More information and application is available at this link.

The fellowship and memorial fund are part of Creative Commons’ three-year commitment to promote the values important to Bassel’s work and life: open culture, radical sharing, free knowledge, remix, collaboration, courage, optimism, and humanity.

For more information or inquiries, please reach out to info@creativecommons.org

The post Creative Commons launches Memorial Fund Grants and Fellowship in Memory of Bassel Khartabil appeared first on Creative Commons.