Hi all,
thought this might be of interest.
Cheers,
Pia
----- Forwarded message from David Vaile <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> -----
Dear colleague,
UNSW's Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre invite you to the next free seminar in
the 2008 Cyberspace Law and Policy Series:
"Sharing info on the 'Semantic Web' or 'Giant Global Graph': unresolved legal
issues"
Speaker: Pierre-Paul Lemyre, LexUM, Canada
Date: Wednesday 14 May 2008
Time: 1:00-2:00 pm
Venue: Room 101, first floor, Faculty of Law building,
UNSW lower campus (near Roundhouse), Kensington, Sydney
Map: http://www.unsw.edu.au/maps/kensington.pdf
Abstract:
Software developers realized the benefits generated by making their source
code freely available to others years ago. In time, the success of the open
source software (OSS, or sometimes F/LOSS) model demonstrated that opening
access to information is not just about distributing it in a more equitable
fashion, it is also an effective method to boost the production of knowledge.
If anything facilitated the expansion of this collaborative process, it is the
appearance of software licenses designed to exploit the protections of
copyright laws in order to secure the openness of software.
This model inspired a broad range of commercial and non-profit initiatives
generating value by promoting the mass collaboration of individuals over shared
sets of information. Based on wikis, blogs, social tagging or social networking
technologies, these ventures have gave birth to a business revolution that has
come to be dubbed "Web 2.0". The development of dedicated licensing schemes has
been crucial in this outcome. The Creative Commons movement, in particular,
have been extremely helpful in clarifying the spectrum of rights and reuse
conditions attached to freely accessible information. (The Australian-initiated
Free for Education licence under the AEShareNet/TVET suite also offers a domain
specific application of similar principles.)
But if the current 'information commons' have been developed in independent
channels, some anticipate that the next step in the evolution of the Web will
make their seamless integration possible. This development should create
tremendous opportunities for those capable of building innovative services and
knowledge products on top of this shared knowledge base.
While the technological foundations of this 'Web of ideas', 'Semantic Web'
or 'Giant Global Graph' are raising off the ground, we need to think about the
legal framework that will support the whole structure. For distributed
information systems to thrive, some old legal issues need to be resolved.
Additional attention should be given to license incompatibilities resulting
from the fragmentation of rights by conditions, jurisdictions and data formats.
Privacy concerns over the sharing of sensible data should also be addressed.
This presentation proposes possible solutions to reduce the remaining legal
obstacles to the aggregation of freely accessible information.
About the Speaker:
Pierre-Paul Lemyre is one of the leading researchers at LexUM, the legal
information technologies laboratory of the Law Faculty at Universit� de
Montr�al in Canada, like AustLII a member of the Free Access to Law movement.
From September 2007 to August 2008, he is on study leave at the University of
Technology, Sydney, working on his Ph.D. Before this he was in charge of the
business development of LexUM, particularly at the international stage where he
contributed to building relationships with numerous founding agencies and local
partners. He is interested in the challenges that lasting development poses,
with extended experience in the improvement of access to legal information in
developing countries. He is also recognized as an expert on legal issues
related to free and open source software.
Bookings:
Entry is free, no need to book. If you are coming from off campus please RSVP
to feedback [at] cyberlawcentre.org.
Regards,
David
David Vaile
Executive Director
Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre, UNSW
Room 153, Law Building, Union Road
UNSW Kensington Campus
Sydney NSW 2052 Australia
(via Gate 2 off High Street)
T: +61 (0)2 9385 3589
F: +61 (0)2 9385 1778
M: +61 (0)414 731 249
E: d.vaile [at] unsw.edu.au
W: http://www.cyberlawcentre.org/
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----- End forwarded message -----
Cheers,
Pia
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