Just Some Copyright Humor

This past week in class we talked about Intellectual Property Rights. Meaning copyrights, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets. These four have an abundant amount of information attached to them, so I've found a few things that I found humorous about copyright. To start off here is a comic strip I found on the-digital-reader website depicting the many lawsuits that come from copyright.

This comic strip isn't entirely off base either, many lawsuits do arise when copyright comes into question. This very issue was the essence of the Top 10 Copyright Crimes list that comes from a LawMeme website out of Yale Law School. This list includes many ideas about the average person and the television industry, it's quite comical and may end up being true. With limits on when you can turn the channel as an advertisement comes on or channel surfing in general.

When you search for Copyright Humor on Google.com you can find many humorous parodies about copyright law and the system in general including a dispute with the copyright holders of "The Other White Meat" and ThinkGeek.com as the latter used the former's catch phrase in an advertisement for Unicorn Meat. It seems to me that lawsuits over the use of catch phrases in an advertisement for a fictional animals' meat is unnecessary. However, for the copyright holder of the phrase it means everything. I guess the value is in the eye of the beholder...or should I say the copyright holder?!

The fight against or the fight for information about copyright has been turned into an initiative for QuestionCopyright.org. This website was created in 2007 with the intent to "provide advocacy and practical education to help cultural producers embrace open distribution." There are many articles discussing the issues with copyright and the problems that the industry faces with the use of copyright. In fact one of the contributors to QCO made a video called "Copying is Not Theft" that raises some unique questions about whether copyright limits the industry or whether copying really takes anything away from the creative industry at all. I'll leave it up to you, should copyright laws be made more relaxed or should they become even more stringent to protect our intellectual property from being stolen and used against our will?

Links in order of use:

http://www.the-digital-reader.com/2011/02/23/copyright-humor/

http://lawmeme.research.yale.edu/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=198

http://www.thinkgeek.com/blog/2010/06/officially-our-bestever-cease.html

http://questioncopyright.org/

http://ipinsiders.com/video/copyright-humor-copying-is-not-theft

Navajo Hipster

On Saturday, March 3rd, an article on cnn.com highlighted an interesting topic with property rights. The Navajo Nation has filed a lawsuit against Urban Outfitters for the use of the term Navajo. A copy of the complaint lists the alleged harms. Specifically listed in the complaint is that "[S]ince at least March 16, 2009, Urban Outfitters has advertised, promoted, and sold its goods under the confusingly similar “Navaho” and identical “Navajo” names and marks on the Internet and in stores across the United States to compete directly with the Navajo Nation’s retail goods." A number of goods are cited with the complaint, and it does look, to the untrained observer, that Urban Outfitters knocked off the styles. So why isn't this a straightforward copyright claim? Enter the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990.

The Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 specifically outlaws the misrepresentation of products in advertising related to Native American goods. As noted from the Indian Arts and Crafts Board " products sold using a sign claiming "Indian Jewelry" would be a violation of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act if the jewelry was produced by someone other than a member, or certified Indian artisan, of an Indian tribe." It appears that through legislative intent, Native American goods are granted a higher level, or at least more express, copyright protection. It appears that the large corporation may get thwarted in an endeavor where they are at a capital advantage. How often does that happen?


Clearly, there is an interest in protecting the livelihoods of Native Americans and their goods. Maybe, these types of protections should be expanded to include more groups? Why should the little guy be forced to exert capital without any kind of backing from the government?

 

Sources in order of use:

http://inamerica.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/02/navajo-nation-sues-urban-outfitters-for-alleged-trademark-infringement/?hpt=hp_t2

http://turtletalk.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/uo_complaint_as_filed.pdf

http://turtletalk.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/exhibita.pdf

http://www.iacb.doi.gov/iaca90.html

http://www.iacb.doi.gov/act.html

The Complexity of Networks

How Complexity Leads to Simplicity

 TED talk presented by Eric Berlow.

Social Network analysis is complex. To think otherwise does a great disservice to those nodes who may not be directly linked together. Think about your own social circles and how petty some of those linkages can become and the evolution that occurs over time. Example: I can no longer talk to A, someone who is 4 nodes away from me, because B, who is 2 nodes away, doesn't like them and would be crushed if I talked to them. Sounds lame, right? But does it sound impossible? Complexity Theory or Complex Systems allows us to magnify these types of networks and understand what the actions of the individual agents affect. This is a broad topic that takes into account a multitude of actors and interrelated systems.

Sources in order of use:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThV4pnPbI8E

GIS: a tool for communities

Geographic information systems (GIS) is a widely used tool that has a variety of applications.  It can be used to interpret spatial data and display it in a visually appealing way, generally with maps.  One of the most important features of GIS I have encountered is the ability to compile layers of data together on the same visual reference.  For example, data about crimes in a given area paired with suspected causes of crime like poverty, gang affiliations, etc. can present a visual map with the data overlaid on top of each other.  This allows for an accurate analysis of the relationship of multiple different sets of data.  Furthermore, the application of GIS in the planning process can be particularly effective for a variety of planning issues. 

Zoning is an incredibly important tool for municipalities to decide the way they want their township or city to look.  Clearwater Florida has a website that uses ArcGIS to display zoning patterns for citizens.  This can help resolve issues and inform citizens what is able to be built in or around the property that they own.  The uses of GIS for community planning go far beyond zoning, a movement known as Public Participatory GIS (PPGIS) is providing various ways citizens can interact with their community.  These range from creating maps of your community for exercise or safe routes to school all the way to quantifying the health data for a local hospital.  The applications of GIS extend beyond the community and can be used to protect the environment through observing watershed data, species habitats, and deforestation rates. 

Agencies such as the EPA and USGS gather enormous amounts of GIS compatible data about the environment.  This could range from soil data to ease in site selection for agricultural production to water quality data of various bodies of surface and ground water.  Once again the ability of GIS to overlay data and create complex maps relating several types of data and aid us in intelligently using our remaining open space.  In conclusion, GIS allows us to observe different characteristics of our world at once streamlining the necessary information to make smart decisions about how our population grows and prospers.

Cash Mobs: Social Networking's New Craze

Recently in the news the new craze has been cash mobs. Many have been comparing cash mobs to flash mobs, when a group of people spontaneously bursts into dance in a public place, but cash mobs work to help small businesses rather than simply for entertainment purposes. Cash mobs come from social networking, a business of supporter will tweet out with a place to meet and patrons come to a small business with the understanding and promise to spend at least twenty dollars in cash. These efforts to help small local businesses thrive wouldn't be possible on this large scale without the use of social media. With a simple tweet or a Facebook post a hundred people can show up to support a local business that they might never have heard of before.

Cash Mobs have hit large cities across the nation including Richmond and now Downtown Blacksburg too. So head down to Mish Mish on March 8th as this is the first cash mob location, with a new storefront location being released once a month! Support Downtown Blacksburg, buy, eat and live local!

Full Website Links:

https://cashmobs.wordpress.com/

http://www.cnbc.com/id/46512433

http://money.msn.com/saving-money-tips/post.aspx?post=014a5269-19b8-40ab-8b2b-53cd13c3d4ca

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/303841/20120223/cash-mob-small-business-grassroots.htm

http://www.richmondbizsense.com/2012/02/21/cash-mobs-hit-richmond/

http://www2.wsls.com/news/2012/feb/22/blacksburg-hold-cash-mob-ar-1708769/

The Environment vs The Public: A Standoff of Epic Proportions

Throughout my time as an Environmental Policy and Planning major, most of my courses have harped on public participation being the main way that "we" as planners get things done with regards to the environment. It is easy to see why public participation is such an essential part of environmental planning and regulation... WHAT HAPPENS TO THE ENVIRONMENT HAPPENS TO ALL OF US,IT IS NOT ON AN INDIVIDUAL THING. We are all affected by how we treat and utilize our natural resources.

The Co-Intelligence Institute has outlined on their website "The Principles of Public Participation". Some of the principles they include are that there is a promise to the public that their input will influence a decision. As well as the overall idea that public participation is solely based on the idea that the people who are affected by something, should have a say in what happens. Now, these are only two of the principles outlined by the Co-Intelligence Institute, but they are the most primal. I know that I want to be included in any decision that effects me, and I'm sure that that holds true for most people.

But I digress. Environmental policy is often confusing and wordy, and the government knows this, so the Environmental Protection Agency has taken it upon themselves to break down the public participation part of the 1990 Clean Air Act into plain english. The EPA breaks down the portions of 1990 Clean Air Act that tell the public how they can participate saying, that there are opportunities to write in to the EPA about a polluter in your area, or that a citizen can even review reports from polluters in the area. However, just telling people that they can do something, without telling them how seems pointless to me. Public Participation needs to be broken down into even simpler terms.

In an article from ChinaDialogue.net this very idea is discussed in regards to the pollution in China. The author writes that without public participation, the environmental movement in China would not exist, so it only makes sense that the public needs to take action again to create reform and try to fix the environmental degradation that is occurring at an alarming rate in the country. However, this is not just happening in China. It seems to me that as the world population grows, we are becoming more and more complacent about the rate at which we are using up our natural world. Yes, there are those extraordinary people like Richard Branson who are using their billions to try to save the world, but they cannot do it alone. Public participation is going to be the answer to saving our planet.

Environmental Impact Assessments have always been a hot issue because the way they are handled can either greatly limit or greatly utilize public participation. In Canada, there are changes being made to their environmental impact assessment protocol because of the intense need for resources. In order to expedite the process of getting to "the goods" public participation is being overall cut-out. This could lead to major problems in the future with regards to public health and safety, because corporations and the government don't always know the land as well as the communities that live and thrive off of it. In an article from Global News, this conflict is discussed, and explained from the government's point of view that they want to include the "legitimate" people and concerns but they don't want the big projects sidetracked in public participation by special interest groups.

Meanwhile in the European Union, Environmental Impact Assessments are more user friendly, says an article from eGovmonitor. The changes try to make the EIA's more transparent and accessible for the public. The following is a direct quote from the European Commision about the EIA Directive's relationship with public participation; its strong....

"The Directive ensures early public participation in the environmental decision-making

procedures. During the project assessment period, members of the public concerned

must be kept informed and have the ability to comment on developers' proposals, thus

enabling competent authorities and developers to make well-informed decisions."

The European Union appears to have a strong stance on the use of public participation in environmental action, and I think it is a position that more of us should live by. After all, if I pollute in my zip code today you may breathe in the affects of it tomorrow. We are all connected by our environment, so we all need a say in how we treat it.

Links in Order of Use:

http://www.co-intelligence.org/CIPol_publicparticipation.html

http://www.epa.gov/airquality/peg_caa/public.html

http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/604-The-environment-needs-public-participation

http://www.worth.com/index.php/component/content/article/926

http://www.globalnews.ca/canada/health/health+and+safety+at+risk+in+environmental+assessment+changes+critics/6442584982/story.html

http://www.egovmonitor.com/node/46883

The Seven Common Sins Leading to Public Participation Failure

The following list is titled the "Seven Common Sins Leading to Public Participation Failure." It was developed by the Perspective Group, a firm that assists Think Tanks and other clients on Complex Systems and Organization tasks. The group's history can be found  here. Of note is their work with Stake-Holder Groups and participation.

The "Seven Sins" that we will face are as follows:

Lack of Commitment

The Checklist Approach

Public Participation Starts Too Late

Public Participation is Not Integrated Into Decision Making

Not All Stakeholder Voices Are Heard

The Public Is Not Adequately Informed

The Public Receives Inadequate Feedback

These seven issues are not the only problems that can occur, but provide a simple baseline. Generally, this list makes it clear that public involvement must be a desire of the entire organization and it must actively involve the public throughout the entire process. What is missing, at least from a rational planning perspective, would be the eighth sin, limiting the role of evaluation. As gatekeepers to information we can attempt to provide the public with everything known, but unless we continually evaluate our endeavors we will end up hitting one or all of those "sins."

Sources in order of Use:

http://www.theperspectivesgroup.com/links/sevensins.pdf

http://www.theperspectivesgroup.com/about/history.html