Sunday, 15 April 2018
Toronto 2018 Creative Commons summit day 3 -> the Future of Copyright in the Commons - From Toronto 2018 Onwards
TorontotheBetter to start its post-2018 summit creative commons initiative. Join us!
Whether it's Ghana, Beijing, Poland, Krygyzstan, or Canada, ask a random person in the street about the creative commons and you are likely to be met with a blank stare. The enthusiasm of the hundreds of commons supporters at the 2018 global Commons summit in Toronto is both misleading and promising. The dream of open access to all knowledge for all is alive and well, but like any revolution in the making it still faces indifference and actual resistance from the established orders, in this case, many copyright holders, be they publishers, authors or legal systems that will be disrupted by the commons. As a result, creative commons still remains largely marginal in most jurisdictions though there is remarkable growth in its acceptance (predictably more in certain sectors than in others). Education and research have led the way, with more and more authors willing and able, through open access Web channels to make creator works available free to anyone interested, but new sectors like publishing, healthcare and even commerce (as in TorontotheBetter's directory of local social enterprise [www.TorontotheBetter.net]) are increasingly re-aligning themselves. The summit's last keynote speech depicted a future of common ground where copyright defenders and public
access proponents can see mutual benefits in an alternative system of licensing along with exceptions and limitations to standard copyright.
For all that the rationale for an open knowledge (and open science) future seems clear, in principle, the road ahead will not be easy as income, careers and institutions must adjust and sometimes perish, Further, wider capacity will require greater
investment. Wealth and power rarely vacate their positions voluntarily so the forces for free and open access must be persistent and creative.
TorontotheBetter renews its commitment to a better Toronto and a better world in which enterprise, states and civil society must each play a role in ensuring that what all need is indeed available to all. Ultimately the change starts here, with each of us, in our own decisions about how and what to create and access. As the Creative Commons summit sets off to its 2019 venue in Lisbon, Portugal TorontotheBetter will work to sustain the legacy from our city's two-year involvement as global summit hosts.
** C.C. Certification Opportunities for all - participate in spreading the creative commons message. See https://certificates.creativecommons.org/about/packages/. Contact postmaster@TorontotheBetter.net to join our local Creative Commons initiative.
Spreading the Movement: Day 2 highlights from Toronto Creative Commons Summit
Day 2 brought a crucial discussion about the struggle to spread the commons movement; the movement is building, but is still culturally marginal to mainstream property traditions.Two problems dominated audience contributions to the conversation: a continuing ignorance, often poverty related, of creative commons licensing options, and the
lack of credibility, to many, of the open access creed. In short, we were asking ourselves '"how do we make the movement stronger?" Among the most effective methods voiced were adoption of open access by prominent organizations such as
universities and state bodies, and spontareous exemplary actions, funded if need be, by authors and creators. Our TorontotheBetter spokesman noted how the David of open access in healthcare research and publication had not yet slain the giants of traditional publishing but was making progress as more researchers and writers choose to make their work openly available to all. as readers, even those who are not writers, we should applaud and support those willing to make their ideas available to all, particularly in areas where they can have direct life or death consequences,
Friday, 13 April 2018
2018 Creative Commons Global Summit starts in Toronto today
The 2018 Creative Commons Global Summit begins in Toronto today
As leaders continue to fail us, be they Canada's Liberals with their impossible dream of uniting new pipeline development and environmental preservation, Donald Trump's warmongering or Mark Zuckerberg's lame "dis-ingenuity" about the corporate use of personal data by his Facebook corporation, a better option for the world continues to grow. For the second year in a row the Creative Commons organization (www.creativecommons.org), developers of the creative commons licensing process for responsible publishing, has brought to Toronto its global summit. And with it comes renewed commitment to a world relieved of the shackles of private enclosure in all its forms.
Among many other topics on day one summit a record number of international participants heard of the growing worldwide interest in open access and open source publication using creative commons licenses, both in scholarly and popular settings, and as well about techniques for motivating personal and organizational creative commons initiatives. It is not fanciful now to think of a day when creative commons is the norm for publishing rather than the exception.
Perhaps most notable of all was the heavy institutional presence at the summit of libraries as agents of what can now reasonably called "the new commons movement." With a global installed base and a fast growing range of involvements, from "things", including tools and seeds, to people, the once "humble" library, i.e. the "loaner-ship" model, appears to more and more as a socio-economic model that avoids many of the problems associated with ownership based economic systems, while building practical contributions to the common good.
TorontotheBetter welcomes the Creative Commons to Toronto once again and will be posting on-site bulletins from each of the three days of the Summit taking place on April 13 to 15, 2018.
Monday, 2 April 2018
TorontotheBetter welcomes new George Brown College Community Worker Placement Student
This semester we are pleased to provide a TorontotheBetter Placement opportunity as part of the credit requirements for a Community Worker student from George Brown College. Student Jayden Rathwell is assisting us by learning about new developments in existing enterprises in our directory while also researching others in two exciting new areas of development - aboriginal business and medical marijuana. Once again this year we welcome our chance to contribute to George Brown College's important programme contribution to community development and also the enthusiasm, ideas and talents that Jayden, like similar placement students in previous years, brings to her work with us.
TorontotheBetter Prepares for Inclusion of Marijuana Directory Listings.
With the legalization of Marijuana in Canada just a couple of months away TorontotheBetter is assessing existing services to determine which marjuana suppliers comply with our better Toronto enterprise criteria. Though medical functions like pain management are clearly within our commitment to justice for all in the city in our view Marijuana has been to date unjustly prohibited to the detriment of those who can benefit from it, arguably for ethno-cultural rather than reasons of harmfulness. We expect our review to allow us to add this new sector of enterprises to the scope of our directory in time for their official legalization in July. A better Toronto is one which facilitates whatever healing agents can assist residents to live their lives to the fullest without unnecessary financial or legal impediments. Stay tuned to this spot for announcements of our first ToorntotheBetter marijuana suppliers.
