Copyright and Open Source

The Canadian Software Innovation Alliance (CSIA) (www.softwareinnovation.ca) is a coalition of open source supporters working to protect innovation and competition in the Canadian software industry by participating in Canadian copyright policy-making. This session will address the copyright policy debates taking place on Parliament Hill, detail how these laws could impact open source developers, and detail how the CSIA advocates for open source developers.

Recent proposals to expand copyright law potentially undermine the open source business model. Open source software businesses are uniquely situated to comment on the copyright balance, since open source developers rely on copyright both for protection of their software, and for freedom to access the software of others. The CSIA offers open source supporters with a vehicle for voicing their interests in copyright policy.