Copyright crusaders to launch cyber campaign

CTV.ca | Copyright crusaders to launch cyber campaign

OTTAWA — Critics of the Harper government’s proposed changes to the Copyright Act have launched a cyber crusade to fight the controversial bill.

They’re using everything from Facebook to YouTube to Wikipedia to blogs to get their message out. They want the government to either scrap or make serious amendments to Bill C-61 when Parliament resumes next month.

At the helm of the digital movement is Michael Geist, a professor at the University of Ottawa who specializes in Internet and e-commerce law. In addition to his own blog, Geist runs a Facebook group called Fair Copyright for Canada that boasts 90,000 members.

The group, which was created in December, has become so large that members have created local chapters by city and riding to better organize their efforts. Many of the local groups have also developed wikis — online encyclopedic web pages — to keep their members informed.

Geist said more Canadians are getting involved because they recognize how the proposed reforms could affect their daily lives.

“We’re talking about more than just copyright here. We’re talking about the digital environment,” he said. “This legislation represents a real threat to the vibrancy of that online environment.”

Via Slashdot | Canadians Battling Proposed Canadian DMCA

Blind boxer inspires Ugandans

Blind boxer inspires Ugandans - International Herald Tribune

Talk about shadow boxing.

In the center of a flyblown gym, where the musk runs strong and the weak are not welcome, Bashir Ramathan bobs and weaves, his tattered gloves punching furiously, trying to find their target. Blows rain down on his arms, his chest, his sweat-beaded face. But his fists keep flying - all completely in the dark.

Ramathan is entirely blind and he is a middleweight boxer. It sounds improbable - and dangerous - but it’s his way of dealing with his disability.

This husky, bearded bricklayer from the Ugandan slums is fearless, calling out all the other boxers in the gym to go toe-to-toe with him - as long as they wear a blindfold.

On a recent day, another fighter - and a quite chiseled one at that - tied a sweaty T-shirt over his face, and he and Ramathan duked it out for several rounds, trading some serious head-snappers. There were some wild whiffs, too, and at one point, the two boxers were back to back, punching like crazy in the absolute wrong direction.

Ramathan said he tried to home in on smells and sounds, like the squeak of the shoes and the huff of his opponent’s breathing.

“Bashir fights with his brain,” explained his coach, Hassan Khalil. “He has the talent,” said Monica Abey, a young woman contender who has trained with him….

His plan now is to start his own worldwide blind boxing league. “If blind people can wrestle or throw a javelin,” he said, referring to well-established blind sports, “why can’t they box?” “There are a lot of blind people in America, right?” he asked. “Think any of them will want to fight me?”