LukeWalker.org

I just this great comic on Boing Boing. It does an amazing job of explaining the controversy surrounding the Conservatives’ on-again-off-again copyright amendment legislation, and provides a ton of links to great opinion pieces (including this great blog post from Howard Knopf, mentioning that if anyone is beholden to the US, it’s Israel, and they’ve managed to move away from DCMA-style legislation, why can’t we?), new sources, and ways that you can take action. Lots and lots and lots of really good information/background.

Two great sources for actions you can take:

• Fair Copyright for Canada (Join the Facebook group)
• Michael Geist has a list of 37 things you can do RIGHT NOW

I’ve sent emails to most of the people on Michael Geist’s lists, but need to follow up with some real paper letters. Been a LONG time since I bothered sending one of those.

TIGed, in partnership with ABEL and TEACH Magazine, are finally launching the Orange Revolution game and a free virtual classroom focused on human rights, democracy and good governance. And we need some feedback from you!

More about the resource:

The game
The game leads players through the 2004 presidential elections in Ukraine, which saw the pro-West and pro-Russia factions in the country pitted against each other in a bitter battle including corruption, scandals, and a poisoning. Players make decisions for both main candidates, with the goal of achieving democratic reform while avoiding violence. Play the game here. (note: the game is still a bit of a work in progress)

The virtual classroom
The classroom/lesson plans focus on democracy, human rights and governance, and are designed with high school students in mind. There is focus on the relationship between Canada and Ukraine, and on Canadian involvement (government and NGOs) in the Orange Revolution, but this can easily be adapted for use in other countries. Check out the homepage for the project to set up a classroom or the TIGed Activity Database for lesson plans.

How can you help?
We need teachers to evaluate the lesson plans and game! Set up a virtual classroom (here), play the game or implement any portion of the lesson plans, and respond to this short survey by June 12. We will randomly select 3 teachers who set up the virtual classroom by June 12 to receive a special TIG prize pack.