DRAFT RESOLUTION on Access Copyright and Academic Libraries in Canada

BCLA Information Policy Committee

DRAFT Resolution on Access Copyright and Academic Libraries in Canada

WHEREAS In 2011, over 30 Canadian universities and colleges opted out of licensing agreements with Access Copyright, The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency, due to both Access Copyright’s significant increase in per-student fees as well as the introduction of what many considered to be intrusive and impractical monitoring requirements.

and

WHEREAS In January 2012, two universities, the University of Toronto and the University of Western Ontario entered into a voluntary licensing agreement with Access Copyright.

and

WHEREAS from a library perspective, one of the most troubling aspects of the deal signed with Access Copyright is that it gives Access Copyright additional rights that simply do not exist under Canada’s copyright legislation, specifically, defining copying to include “posting a link or hyperlink to a digital copy”, a definition not upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada. Academic libraries have already paid for access to online content. Having to essentially “pay twice” to link to this content in library reserves, on course sites, or even in an email is unacceptable.

and

WHEREAS the Newfoundland and Labrador Library Association “strongly urges universities and colleges, particularly those in Newfoundland and in Atlantic Canada, not to capitulate to Access Copyright’s unfair and unreasonable demands”.

and

WHEREAS The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) is also condemning the agreement, advising universities and colleges that “It‘s time to stand up for the right to fair and reasonable access to copyrighted works for educational purposes.”

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the British Columbia Library Association strongly urge universities and colleges, particularly those in British Columbia, not to capitulate to Access Copyright’s unfair and unreasonable demands, but rather to stand up for the right to fair and reasonable access to copyrighted works for educational purposes.

Acknowledgement: this resolution is based on the Open Letter: Access Copyright and Academic Libraries in Canada crafted by the Newfoundland and Labrador Library Association, dated February 12, 2012.

Please submit comments on the draft resolution by April 1, 2012.

The case against google: good article on privacy

Good article on privacy and google:  http://gizmodo.com/5895010/the-case-against-google

Excerpt:

For the last two months, you’ve seen some version of the same story all over the Internet: Delete your search history before Google’s new privacy settings take effect. A straightforward piece outlining a rudimentary technique, but also evidence that the search titan has a serious trust problem on its hands.

Our story on nuking your history was read nearly 200,000 times on this site alone—and it was a reprint of a piece originally put out by the EFF. Many other outlets republished the same piece. The Reddit page linking to the original had more than 1,000 comments. And the topic itself was debated on decidedly non-techie forums like NPR.

It’s not surprising that the tracking debate had people up in arms. A Pew Internet study, conducted just before Google combined its privacy policies (and after it rolled out personalized search results in Search Plus Your World) found that three quarters of people don’t want their search results tracked, and two thirds don’t even want them personalized based on prior history.

Canadian Association of University Teachers on why U of T / UWO Access Copyright Agreements a bad deal

The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) has posted on why the recent signing of the Access Copyright agreement by the University of Toronto and University of Western Ontario is a bad deal: http://www.caut.ca/pages.asp?page=1061

This deal has profound implications for copyright and for privacy as well, as the agreements permit audits of campus e-mail.