[CivicAccess-discuss] Free US Census data leads to analysis of Electoral results > abolition of crown copyright

[Bob Gibson]

Tracey: wonderful examples.

Ilona: the root cause of this ridiculous situation is crown copyright, which
needs to be expunged from our statutes. It's archaic and, as Tracey's
examples so well illustrate, actively damaging not only our democracy, but
our technological progress. 

It's also curious because it serves no purpose for government. There's
virtually no one (other than a bureaucrat whose job might be threatened) who
would or could reasonably oppose its abolition.

But it's a hard one to get onto the radar. The Green Party 2008 platform
actually called for abolition, which is a first, as far as I know. 

Michael Geist has taken up the cause consistently (see
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/2920/135/) but it always plays a
subsidiary role to larger DMCA issues. 

Because it must affect the efficacy of advocacy groups across the spectrum,
if there were a way to consolidate their wish lists, abolition of CC might
make its way into the government mindset just because it is so unanimous.
Like closing Guantanamo. Is there such a thing: an umbrella/consolidation of
Canadian advocacy groups' wishlists? If there ain't, there should be!

Bob Gibson
bob at gibsonlibraryconnections.ca


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Today's Topics:

   1. Re: Free US Census data leads to analysis of	Electoral
      results! (Ilona Dougherty)
   2. Re: Free US Census data leads to analysis of	Electoral
      results! (Tracey P. Lauriault)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Sat, 8 Nov 2008 17:21:15 -0500
From: Ilona Dougherty <ilona at apathyisboring.com>
Subject: Re: [CivicAccess-discuss] Free US Census data leads to
	analysis of	Electoral results!
To: civicaccess discuss <civicaccess-discuss at civicaccess.ca>
Message-ID: <54CF6822-19FF-4CD0-8107-BEBF770C3F55 at apathyisboring.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"

Tracey,

Thanks for your thoughts on this. This kind of demographic breakdown  
would be very useful for groups like ours....
I am curious as to what is the best way to continue / advance this  
discussion......it is certainly a critical one.

Ilona

Ilona Dougherty
ilona at apathyisboring.com

Executive Director :: directrice g?n?rale

Apathy is Boring :: L'Apathie C'est Plate
514.844.AisB (2472) :: 1.877.744.2472
10 Pins W. #412 :: Montreal, QC :: H2W 1P9

www.apathyisboring.com / www.lapathiecestplate.com

Apathy is Boring uses art and technology to engage youth in  
democracy. Help support our work!	
http://www.apathyisboring.com/en/about_us/donate

? L?apathie c?est plate ? passe par l?art et la technologie dans le  
but de sensibiliser les jeunes sur la d?mocratie. Aidez-nous ? faire  
notre travail!
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On 8-Nov-08, at 11:07 AM, Tracey P. Lauriault wrote:

> Did anyone notice that during the Canadian elections there were few  
> if any maps on the Tele Screen?
>
> There were no magic pyramid charts with bars with a demographic  
> group marked on it and associated to each electoral district and a  
> tap on the board yielding a pop out pie chart?
>
> Has anyone seen in the private media the breakdown of the Canadian  
> vote by electoral district and a discussion of who lives there?
>
> Have you noticed the silences in blogs about organizing and  
> stategizing around certain demographic groups, the pattern of the  
> vote and etc.?
>
> Have you read in Canada about the anglophone vote, Haitian vote,  
> Chinese vote, aboriginal vote, eastern European vote, youth vote,  
> poor vote, rich vote, senior's vote, womyn's vote, men's vote, etc.?
>
> Well we cannot even imagine having that conversation because our  
> public data are locked up in the deep lurkium dbases of Statistics  
> Canada, while our public electoral maps are locked up, funny, also  
> in the same dbase, and the key to all of these are the Cost  
> Recovery Price!
>
> How are we to imagine our country in all its diversity if we are  
> not even allowed to make pictures that tell us part of our story?   
> These last two elections - back to back - made obvious the real  
> cost to locked up data - a collective national ignorance!
>
> I have been reading blogs about Proposition 8 (same sex marriage)  
> vote in the US, the demographic breakdown of those results, and was  
> drooling over the visuals i watched on election night.  Seems to  
> me, the data, the infrastructure and the pictures can help us have  
> a conversation about sameness and differences.  Canada however  
> remains silent!
>
> -- 
> Tracey P. Lauriault
> 613-234-2805
> https://gcrc.carleton.ca/confluence/display/GCRCWEB/Lauriault
> _______________________________________________
> CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
> CivicAccess-discuss at civicaccess.ca
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Message: 2
Date: Sun, 9 Nov 2008 08:39:29 -0500
From: "Tracey P. Lauriault" <tlauriau at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [CivicAccess-discuss] Free US Census data leads to
	analysis of	Electoral results!
To: "civicaccess discuss" <civicaccess-discuss at civicaccess.ca>
Message-ID:
	<bbde3c880811090539j1f34849bn95f168dcd0ce2736 at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

In what way do you want to advance this discussion?

********