[Commons-Law] relay

Via: Jeebesh

Via: Pranesh Prakash

Via: Pranesh Prakash

Dear All,
Two interesting articles from the Kiwi newspaper National Business
Review talking about the new amendments to the Copyright Act,

which force ISPs to terminate their customers' upon accusations of
copyright infringement, and thereupon shifts the burden on to the
customer to show the legality of his or her behaviour. Whether
multiple accusations are required, or a single one is sufficient, is
unclear. Interestingly,
the Select Committee, before which submissions were made by interested
stakeholders, opined that the sections should be removed.
.
As with most things, there's a Facebook group
and a website
for rallying together the protesters.

Regards,
Pranesh

Via: Pranesh Prakash

Dear All,
Here's an interesting example of using a copyright claim to prohibit
reprints of Nazi propaganda newspapers (and a German edition of Mein
Kampf) by a bunch of historians. While discussion of its Nazi past
can be a very sensitive issue in Germany, it is very interesting to
see how it isn't anti-Nazi and hate speech laws that are being used to
suppress the speech but copyright.

- Pranesh

Via: Anasuya Sengupta

Dear all,

Ashwin and I wish you and yours love and strength in the new year; may
2009 be all you wish it to be and much more besides. Although 2008 was a
terrible year for peace and prosperity across the world, we hope this
year will give us both hope and healing.

Ashwin and Anasuya

We refuse to be enemies

We refuse to be enemies.
We refuse to use your words, claim your politics,
accept your versions of history.

We will wear our anger like a shroud,
we will hold our defiance like a shield,
we will carry our compassion like a sword.

We refuse to be enemies.
We refuse to believe that hate is justified,
that peace is weak, that conflict is endless.

We will sing across the borders,
we will march across the divisions,
we will fly our peace like a flag.
We refuse to be enemies.

Anasuya Sengupta
(2 January 2009)
http://blogs.sanmathi.org/anasuya/2009/01/02/for-2009-we-refuse-to-be-enemies/

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Reporters Without Borders/Reporters sans frontières

1 January, 2009
Press freedom round-up 2008
Better figures despite a hostile climate and more Internet repression

In 2008:
60 journalists were killed
1 media assistant was killed
673 journalists were arrested
929 were physically attacked or threatened
353 media outlets were censored
29 journalists were kidnapped

Internet:
1 blogger was killed
59 bloggers were arrested
45 were physically attacked
1,740 websites were blocked, shut down or suspended

For comparison, in 2007:
86 journalists were killed
20 media assistants were killed
887 journalists were arrested
1,511 were physically attacked or threatened
528 media outlets were censored
67 journalists were kidnapped
Reporters Without Borders only counted cases in which a link between
the violation and the victim's work as a journalist was clearly
established or very likely. The figures cover the violations the
organisation learned about. They do not cover violations which the
victims chose not to report (usually for security reasons). In other
words, the same method was used to compile the figures as in previous
years, making comparisons possible.

Overview
The Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions are still the deadliest for
the press. After Iraq (with 15 journalists killed), the two countries
with the highest death tolls are Pakistan (7 killed) and the
Philippines (6 killed). The bloodshed continues in Mexico, where four
journalists were murdered in connection with their work. The fall in
the death toll in Africa (from 12 in 2007 to 3 in 2008) is due above
all to the fact that many journalists stopped working, often going
into exile, and to the gradual disappearance of news media in war
zones such as Somalia.
The number of arrests (for periods of more than 48 hours) is
particularly high in Africa, where it is almost routine for
journalists to end up in police cells when they upset senior officials
or cover subjects that are off-limits. In Iraq (31 arrests), the US
military's handling of the security situation often results in Iraqi
journalists, including those working for foreign news media, being
imprisoned. In China (38 arrests), many cases of detention were
attributable to the Olympics. In Burma (17 arrests), outspoken
journalists and bloggers were jailed in a crackdown by the military
government.

Reporters Without Borders comment:

"The figures may be lower than last year's but this should not mask
the fact that intimidation and censorship have become more widespread,
including in the west, and the most authoritarian governments have
been taking an even tougher line. The quantitative improvement in
certain indicators is often due to journalists becoming disheartened
and turning to a less dangerous trade or going into exile. We cannot
say that 60 deaths, hundreds of arrests and systematic censorship
offer grounds for optimism."

Repression shifts to the Internet

The fall in the number of journalists from the traditional media
killed or arrested in 2008 does not mean the press freedom situation
has improved. As the print and broadcast media evolve and the
blogosphere becomes a worldwide phenomenon, predatory activity is
increasingly focusing on the Internet.

In this respect, the figures speak for themselves. In 2008, someone
was for the first time killed while acting as a "citizen journalist."
It was Chinese businessman Wei Wenhua, who was beaten to death by
"chengguan" (municipal police officers) while filming a clash with
demonstrators in Tianmen (in Hubei province) on 7 January. Cases of
online censorship were recorded in 37 countries, above all China (93
websites censored), Syria (162 websites censored) and Iran (38
websites censored).
There are democracies that do not lag far behind in terms of online
surveillance and repression. Taboos established by the monarchy in
Thailand and by the military in Turkey are so tenacious that
incautious Internet users are increasingly being monitored and
punished by the police. Video-sharing websites such as YouTube and
Dailymotion are favourite targets of government censors. It is
becoming more and more common for sites to be blocked or filtered
because of content that officials have deemed "offensive."
A visceral reaction from some governments towards participatory
websites, especially social networking sites, is beginning to give
rise to cases of "mass censorship." The censorship of sites such as
Twitter (in Syria) or Facebook (blocked in Syria and Tunisia, and
filtered in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates) leads to massive
amounts of content being blocked - an effect that is considerably
compounded when combined with other standard methods of control.

Governments are increasingly responding with imprisonment to criticism
by bloggers. In China, 10 cyber-dissidents were arrested, 31 were
physically attacked or threatened, and at least three were tried and
convicted. In Iran, Reporters Without Borders registered 18 arrests,
31 physical attacks and 10 convictions. Online free expression is also
curtailed in Syria (8 arrests and 3 convictions), Egypt (6 arrests)
and Morocco (2 arrests and 2 convictions).
Internet freedom has been crushed with particular severity in Burma,
where the military government has arrested and tried blogger and
comedian Zarganar and the young cyber-dissident Nay Phone Latt in a
disgraceful manner and sentenced them to incredibly severe jail terms
(59 years for the former, 20 years for the latter). These two men join
Burma's many other political prisoners, who include 16 journalists.

Reporters Without Borders comment:

"The growth in the Internet's influence and potential is being
accompanied by greater vigilance on the part of some governments with
already marked security concerns. Every year, repressive governments
acquire new tools that allow them to monitor the Internet and track
online data. The Internet is gradually becoming a battleground for
citizens with criticisms to express and journalists who are censored
in the traditional media. As such, it poses a threat to those in power
who are used to governing as they wish with impunity."

Hostile climate, better figures

The upsurge in online repression comes at a time when traditional
media, even in the leading western democracies, are coming under
renewed pressure. Anti-terrorism and "post-9/11" laws put
investigative journalists in very delicate positions. Foreign
correspondents face growing hostility if they are from countries that
are part of, or associated with, the US-led "anti-terrorist"
coalition.

Still, even if the overall situation is bad, the figures are not as
alarming as in previous years. Repression has shifted and diversified.
Some authoritarian governments have been replaced. But even with 24
per cent fewer arrests, there are still too many police raids on news
media and reporters' homes, including in France. And there are leading
journalists and free expression activists such as Hu Jia, the
"Olympic" prisoner of a Chinese government as intolerant as ever, who
are beginning 2009 in jail.

There are no grounds for optimism. The murders of journalists continue
although the number has fallen slightly (by 22 per cent, from 86 in
2007 to 60 in 2008) and the deaths are now concentrated in "hot zones"
- Iraq, Pakistan's Tribal Areas, Philippines and Mexico - where
civilians of all kinds fall victim to wars, political and criminal
violence or terrorism. Abduction, an effective source of income and
political affirmation, is still very frequent in Afghanistan (7
journalists and media assistants kidnapped), Somalia (5 kidnappings),
Mexico (5 kidnappings) and Iraq (4 kidnappings).
Finally, there is a slight decline in the use of censorship (with a
third fewer cases in 2008 than in 2007) but it continues to be a
routine tool in many countries that are equally distributed in all the
continents - Sudan (4 media outlets censored), Guinea (5), Somalia
(5), Iran (27), Egypt (10), Syria (11), Russia (15), Belarus (18),
Turkey (13), Burma (85), China (132), Pakistan (19), Malaysia (25),
Bolivia (20), Brazil (14), Mexico (10) and Venezuela (7).

Reporters Without Borders comment:
"One should not conclude from a decline in the figures that the
situation has necessarily improved. The sad spectacle of a journalist
in handcuffs is an almost daily occurrence in all the continents. When
governments are challenged, their most frequent response is
imprisonment. And the dozens of murders, in which the involvement of
the security forces is often almost certain, rarely lead to trials,
whether in Sri Lanka or Burkina Faso."

Via: "Raman Chima"

(From http://in.news.yahoo.com/139/20090101/824/tnl-copyright-on-mahatma-gandhi-s-litera.html)

Thu, Jan 1 02:05 PM

Ahmedabad, Jan.1 (ANI): With the copyright restrictions on Mahatma
Gandhi's literary works expiring on January 1, 2009, publishers other
than the previously authorized Navjivan Trust may be able to publish
his writings and speeches.

In 1940, Gandhi made a will. In 1944, he signed an assignment deed
where he assigned the copyright of his writings to Navjivan trust. But
according to Section 22, Copyright Act, 1957, the copyright with
Navjivan Trust ends on January 1, 2009.

According to the Copyright Act of 1957, the works of a person go into
the public domain after 60 calendar years of his or her death. And, by
this clause the Navjivan Trust loses the copyright on Gandhi works in
2009.

Navjivan Trust is unwilling to ask the Government of India to extend
the copyright.

Navajivan Trust, since its inception, has published some 300 volumes
of Mahatma Gandhi's works including articles, letters and speeches,
apart from translations of his autobiography.

In 1940, Mahatma Gandhi, the legendary nationalist leader and freedom
fighter, through a will had entrusted the copyrights of his works with
Navajivan Trust. In 1944, he signed an assignment deed in which he
assigned his copyright of his write ups to Navjivan trust.

Authorities with the Navajivan Trust say that the Mahatma never
subscribed to the idea of copyright despite authorizing them for his
works.

"Gandhiji never supported the idea of copyright. But due to some
instances, where his thoughts were misinterpreted, he was forced to
give into the insistence of his well wishers urging him to get his
works copyrighted. So he decided to entrust the copyright of his works
with Navajivan Trust, which was founded by him," opined Amrut Modi,
Managing Trustee, Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad.

"If you consider the spirit of Gandhian thought, one should not ask
for such extension. And we have considered this issue and we are not
going to ask for such extension," said Jitendra Desai, Managing
Trustee, Navajivan Trust, Ahmedabad.

But scholars in Gandhian thoughts and admirers of his philosophy,
however, want the copyright to be revived by the government. The
dominant fear among them being an unrestricted use of his works in
future could lead to misinterpretation of his texts and concepts by
other publishers.

"Once the copyright ends, the prices of the works are sure to shoot
up. Besides, the task of taking the Gandhi's thoughts to the people
might also be affected. The Government should immediately take steps
to do something about it and entrust the copyrights back to Navajivan
Trust," said Dhimant Badiya, a Gandhian in Ahmedabad.

The Navjivan Trust will, however, continue to publish Gandhi's works
at subsidised prices so that his writings and thoughts would continue
to be propagated even after the copyright has ceased.
-By Ami Sharma (ANI)