I appreciate that a difficult decision is before the leadership of many Canadian universities, including Kwantlen, with regards to the Access Copyright agreement. I’ve reviewed positions of many dissenting voices including Kwantlen’s Student Association and Faculty Association, Michael Geist, (Professor of Law at the University of Ottawa where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law) and the Canadian Association of University Teachers, and see compelling arguments. Many Canadian Universities, including Mount Royal, UBC, the University of Waterloo, Athabasca University and York University have chosen not to enter into the agreement. While the contrary position has not been as clearly voiced, surely the decision is more complex than these advocates would like us to believe.
As I was considering this, TEDTalks tweeted their most recent addition to their video library. The 18 minute presentation is by Don Tapscott and is entitled “Four principles for the open world – Don Tapscott (2012)”
I found the information presented here to be particularly relevant given the changes we are seeing in education. I noted the parallels between the intellectual property challenges of the music and pharmaceutical industries and those we face. Perhaps this is our own “burning platform” moment. It is my hope that Kwantlen chooses to leap early and join the other innovative institutions which have said no to Access.
Amanda Bickell 
Also lost of good commentaries on http://excesscopyright.blogspot.ca/ and http://arielkatz.org/archives/category/blog/copyright.
Posted by John O'Brian | June 28, 2012, 12:34 pmThanks for those – more important insights well worth considering
Posted by amandabickell | June 28, 2012, 1:03 pm