Musings on law, tech, chess & other topics by a geek

I am excited to announce that Public Knowledge has launched the Youtube Copyright School Challenge:

In an attempt to educate its users about copyright law, YouTube has debuted a “Copyright School” video that explains why videos are removed from YouTube. While “Copyright School” does a great job of telling you what you can’t do with copyrighted content, it does a very poor job of telling you what you can do with copyrighted content–namely, remix, reuse and repurpose content without permission from the rightsholder as allowed under the doctirine of fair use. So here’s our challenge to you: can you make a better video than YouTube that explains both what you can and can’t do with copyrighted content? Watch the video above (and read the official rules) to find out how you can win $1000 and have your video featured on the Public Knowledge website!* From the pool of submissions, we’ll select six finalists, whose videos will be judged by the following panel of celebrity judges:

Kirby Ferguson: Kirby is a writer, director and editor who is best known for his “Everything is a Remix” video series, which traces the evolution of culture as it is remixed, reused and repurposed into new works.

Elisa Kresinger: Elisa is a remix artist, educator, curator and speaker. She is best known for her “Queer Carrie” remix project, which reconfigures the gendered narratives found in the series “Sex and the City”.

Jonny McIntosh: Jonathan McIntosh is a pop culture hacker, best known for his Glenn Beck/Donald Duck mash-up video, “Right Wing Radio Duck”.

Brian Rowe: Brian is an activist and legal scholar and teaches Policy, Law, and Ethics in Information Management at the University of Washington’s Information School.

I am honored to be one of the judges with three amazing remix artists!  Good luck with the videos.

PS: Last week I blogged about the problems with you tubes new copyright school and  Youtube Copyright Propaganda Remix Challenge over at FFIP.  I will be posting some of the entries there.

PK has an email campaign to contact the legislators over FCC v. Comcast and the recent Google talks with Verizon.  Here is the message I sent:

Since the Comcast v. FCC decision, the rules protecting consumers on the Internet have become unclear. Without clear rules in place, the industry’s largest companies have been making rules of their own, designed to protect their bottom lines and not the public interest. We can see this today in recent reports that Google and Verizon have an agreement on how to manage Internet traffic. With the breakdown in negotiations at the FCC among the biggest industry players, there is almost no chance for a short-term legislative solution.

Therefore, the FCC must act to protect consumers with the authority that Congress has already given it in the Communications Act. The FCC needs to finish the job it has started to re-establish clear rules of the road for broadband Internet providers now. If the FCC does not take action, consumers like me will be left vulnerable to future “Google-Verizon” deals that will benefit the largest Internet companies, harm competition, and ultimately transform the open Internet into the corporate Internet. Please demand that the FCC take action now to protect innovation, competition and American broadband consumers.

Please feel free to contact me over this issue directly! I run a local organization, Freedom for IP, dedicated to balancing end user rights with corporate and other interests.  I also teach Information Privacy Law at Seattle University Law and am deeply concerned over implication of Comcast v. FCC on privacy rights. As an independent blogger I am worried that corporate favoritism for internet traffic has the potential to kill free speech online. Contact info: xxx-xxx-xxxx  Email: Brian <at> freedomforip.org. (I added this section)

Write your own message at Google Sold Out the Open Internet.

Remember to customize the letter with why this maters  to you.  Is this a privacy issue, a free market issue, a free speech issue or a user rights issue.  Additionally add why you matter, legislators like to hear from active influential people, and how they can contact you to discuss the issue further.

Bob Cohen gave a great talk today at Seattle University Law on using technology to reach under-served populations. Here are my notes on the talk:

The general rule you need to keep in mind when working with low income folks is that only 20 percent have access to legal services. This means that access to justice is not the reality in the system and that the justice system may be viewed negatively due to the real lack of access.

Orange County uses a three tier approach to providing legal services:

• 1st Tier – Initial Access = Once people access the system it is often very late in the legal process. A key is getting connected with people ASAP in the legal process. For Orange County this means providing hotlines where people can call in with issues and physical locations where people can come and ask questions.
• 2nd Tier – Interactive Community Assistance Network I-CAN! This is a system that works with clients to create documents to file directly with a court. This was extended to IRS tax filings in 2004 which directly helps households file taxes and gain earn income tax credits. www.icanefile.org
• 3rd Tier – Access to attorneys – This is primarily for individuals who are facing actions in court. Unfortunately only 30 to 40 percent of the need is meet at this level due to financial limits.

Beyond providing services Bob also focused on how to communicate your message for the public. One of those strategies is the communicate through new media. An example of this the Maria Shriver EITC Initiative You-Tube video.

This provides a way to both educate the public about programs and a proactive media approach for creating a positive image of the program. This event was hosted by Public Interest Law Foundation and Students for Free Culture.