ehewlett http://www.ehewlett.net Fr. Justin (Edward) Hewlett's electronic home on the 'net Fri, 06 Jan 2012 23:53:02 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Save Our Public Domain! http://blog.ehewlett.net/2012/01/save-our-public-domain.html http://blog.ehewlett.net/2012/01/save-our-public-domain.html#comments Fri, 06 Jan 2012 23:53:00 +0000 eHewlett http://www.ehewlett.net/?guid=ab22f16c91d9eb83d690bff98c4f6383 Continue reading →]]> amateur author, I've been interested in copyright issues for a long time now. One of the bloggers whose opinions on copyright issues (especially as they apply to us as Canadians) I respect most is Michael Geist, who is now warning that our country's proposed entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership may threaten some of the already rather limited freedoms we enjoy as Canadians under our current copyright law.

Mr. Geist encourages those of us who are Canadian citizens to speak out on the issues involved via the public consultation process that has already been put in place to gauge whether or not we should enter the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement. I'm no economic expert, so I can't really comment on many of the aspects of the TPP proposal, but I have at least voiced my opinion on some of the copyright issues involved in the following quick-and-dirty (or at least rough-and-ready) e-mail to consultations@international.gc.ca, the address set up for consultation submissions:
Please do NOT extend copyright any further! 
I am writing to voice my opinion, as a Canadian citizen concerned about copyright issues, that the government should NOT revise our copyright law to bring it into accord with the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Our current copyright provisions, which protect the work of the author for the author's lifetime plus fifty years provide more than enough protection to ensure that the author and his/her immediate beneficiaries will be able to benefit financially from the author's publications. Given the already generous protection afforded by current copyright law, I cannot see any justification for eroding the public domain by further extending the duration of copyright: the author obviously cannot benefit further, and the author's immediate beneficiaries may benefit marginally, but not substantially. The general public's access to works still in copyright years after the author's death, on the other hand, is already significantly hampered, especially in this age of ready access to public domain work by the internet - and would be even more hampered by the extension of copyright required by the TPP. 
Please protect the interests of the Canadian general public and our access to the public domain! Please do NOT ratify the TPP.
If you are going to write in (which I encourage you to do if you have an opinion on this very important issue), do be sure to include all the following specified requirements (which I haven't done a terribly great job of including in my own e-mail!):

  1. your name and address and, if applicable, organization, institution or business; 
  2. the specific issues being addressed; and 
  3. precise information on the rationale for the positions taken, including any significant impact it may have on Canada’s domestic or foreign interests.
]]> http://blog.ehewlett.net/feeds/1565345068003719106/comments/default 0 Recently discovered ancient cave art http://ehewlett.tumblr.com/post/14690180344 http://ehewlett.tumblr.com/post/14690180344#comments Fri, 23 Dec 2011 22:39:17 +0000 eHewlett http://ehewlett.tumblr.com/post/14690180344 Continue reading →]]>

Recently discovered ancient cave art

]]> http://www.ehewlett.net/2011/12/23/recently-discovered-ancient-cave-art/feed/ 0 Fun in a box! http://ehewlett.tumblr.com/post/14531900401 http://ehewlett.tumblr.com/post/14531900401#comments Tue, 20 Dec 2011 23:20:01 +0000 eHewlett http://ehewlett.tumblr.com/post/14531900401 Continue reading →]]>



Fun in a box!

]]> http://www.ehewlett.net/2011/12/20/fun-in-a-box-2/feed/ 0 Fun in a box! http://ehewlett.tumblr.com/post/14531900401 http://ehewlett.tumblr.com/post/14531900401#comments Tue, 20 Dec 2011 23:20:01 +0000 eHewlett http://ehewlett.tumblr.com/post/14531900401 Continue reading →]]>



Fun in a box!

]]> http://www.ehewlett.net/2011/12/20/fun-in-a-box/feed/ 0 Bringing home the Christmas tree http://ehewlett.tumblr.com/post/14437552404 http://ehewlett.tumblr.com/post/14437552404#comments Mon, 19 Dec 2011 03:04:36 +0000 eHewlett http://ehewlett.tumblr.com/post/14437552404 Continue reading →]]>

Bringing home the Christmas tree

]]> http://www.ehewlett.net/2011/12/19/bringing-home-the-christmas-tree/feed/ 0 My beloved http://ehewlett.tumblr.com/post/14026463245 http://ehewlett.tumblr.com/post/14026463245#comments Sat, 10 Dec 2011 19:43:22 +0000 eHewlett http://ehewlett.tumblr.com/post/14026463245 Continue reading →]]>

My beloved

]]> http://www.ehewlett.net/2011/12/10/my-beloved/feed/ 0 Now THAT is a powerhouse! (UBC Powerhouse, to be precise) http://ehewlett.tumblr.com/post/13327103808 http://ehewlett.tumblr.com/post/13327103808#comments Sat, 26 Nov 2011 02:14:54 +0000 eHewlett http://ehewlett.tumblr.com/post/13327103808 Continue reading →]]>

Now THAT is a powerhouse! (UBC Powerhouse, to be precise)

]]> http://www.ehewlett.net/2011/11/26/now-that-is-a-powerhouse-ubc-powerhouse-to-be-precise/feed/ 0 New kitten, tentatively called “Puff” http://ehewlett.tumblr.com/post/13229117601 http://ehewlett.tumblr.com/post/13229117601#comments Thu, 24 Nov 2011 00:40:04 +0000 eHewlett http://ehewlett.tumblr.com/post/13229117601 Continue reading →]]>

New kitten, tentatively called “Puff”

]]> http://www.ehewlett.net/2011/11/24/new-kitten-tentatively-called-%e2%80%9cpuff%e2%80%9d/feed/ 0 Free Verse http://blog.ehewlett.net/2011/11/free-verse.html http://blog.ehewlett.net/2011/11/free-verse.html#comments Mon, 14 Nov 2011 22:22:00 +0000 eHewlett http://www.ehewlett.net/?guid=004f7537fd37b24b13f792d1cf5f9f1a Continue reading →]]> Our verses are free:
Shed are the shackles
That chained them to convention.
All subjects are now suitable.
Rhyme and rhythm
Are outcasts,
punctuation and patterns
insignificant

Where
Is one to start?
Unwritten laws
Declare glory and honour with War
Incompatible.
Instead,
One is free to write about Anything
In Anymanner,
especially
the insignificant

Perhaps,
Despite their restraints and their fetters,
Rhythm and rhyme are the betters
Of man's inherent anarchy
Now manifest in poetry.

- written in Creative Writing 11 (1985/86)
]]> http://blog.ehewlett.net/feeds/7376670259808055788/comments/default 0 Went for a walk in Stanley Park today http://ehewlett.tumblr.com/post/12409619789 http://ehewlett.tumblr.com/post/12409619789#comments Sun, 06 Nov 2011 07:35:18 +0000 eHewlett http://ehewlett.tumblr.com/post/12409619789 Continue reading →]]>

Went for a walk in Stanley Park today

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