The Canadian Federation of Students has put together a really great video promoting better copyright policy in Canada. You can learn more about their campaign here.

It’s no secret that academics are an important source of inspiration for Students for Free Culture – after all, our name comes from a book by Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Lessig. Since the initial stirrings in 2003, SFC has looked to the research and advocacy of professors from disciplines as diverse as law, media studies and computer science; however, our relationship has always been informal, albeit fruitful.

In the hopes of taking this to the next level, today, we are announcing the first members of our new SFC Faculty Advisory Board. We have reached out to a number of intellectual leaders who will provide guidance and vision for Students for Free Culture through semiannual conversations with the organization. Over the next couple weeks, we will be announcing the members of this group.

In this week’s group, we are joined by some fantastic folks, so without further ado, here are the first four members:

Lawrence Lessig, Professor of Law @ Harvard Law School; Director, Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics

Professor Lessig has, for more than a decade, been one of the leading thinkers on the intersection of technology and law, especially copyright. He co-founded Harvard’s Berkman Center and Stanford’s Center for Internet and Society. He is the author of Remix (2008), Code v2 (2007), Free Culture (2004),The Future of Ideas(2001) and Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace (1999). In recent years, he has shifted his focus to “institutional corruption” in American public life. You can follow his Twitter here.

Michael R. Nelson, Visiting Professor @ Georgetown University’s Communication, Culture and Technology Program

Professor Nelson teaches courses on innovation and Internet policy. Prior to joining the Georgetown faculty, he was the Director of Internet Technology and Strategy at IBM. Prior to joining IBM in 1998, Professor Nelson was Director for Technology Policy at the Federal Communications Commission, a Special Assistant for IT at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and a staff member of the Senate Subcommittee of Science, Technology and Space. Until recently, he served as the Internet Society’s Vice President for Public Policy and recently became Chairman-Elect of the Technology Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a Trustee of the Institute for International Communications. You can follow his Twitter here.

Edward Felten, Professor of Computer Science & Public Affairs @ Princeton University; Director, Center for Information Technology Policy

Professor Felten teaches courses at the intersection of computer science and public policy. In addition to publishing widely in fields from encryption to government transparency, he started the popular Freedom to Tinker blog. Professor Felten served as a government witness in United States v. Microsoft and later work revealed that the Sony Rootkit patch made user’s computers more vulnerable to attack. His research, such as into the failures of electronic voting machines or digital rights management, is notable for its real-world applicability.

Gabriella Coleman, Assistant Professor of Media, Culture and Communication @ NYU

Professor Coleman is an anthropologist who studies the ethics of digital collaboration and the role that media and law have in sustaining political activism. She has conducted ethnographic research on hackers in the Debian community and has a forthcoming book entitled “Coding Freedom: Hacker Pleasure and the Ethics of Free and Open Source Software.” Her new research will focus on peer-to-peer patient activism online.

[Felten photo licensed CC-BY by Joseph Lorenzo Hall | Lessig photo licensed CC-BY via Wikimedia]

The SFC election is underway. This Sunday, May 9th at 9 PM EST, we are hosting a public Q/A session in IRC. This is your chance to meet and consult with nominees before voting. Voting tokens will be distributed Monday 10th morning via email.

Details:
Sunday, May 9th at 9 PM EST (GMT -5)
irc.freenode.net
#freeculture

For help with IRC, visit http://wiki.freeculture.org/IRC

To see the nominees for the 2010-2011 board of directors, visit http://wiki.freeculture.org/Board10/Nominations

Our friends at Public Knowledge write to let us know that they have a new job opening that would be a great opportunity for a recently graduated student excited about promoting free culture.

“The Web Content and New Media Associate will work with Public Knowledge (PK) outreach and legal staff to ensure that PK’s website is regularly updated, relevant, timely and widely dispersed through the use of social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, YouTube). Public Knowledge is a growing, internationally prominent consumer advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. that works to defend citizens’ rights in the emerging digital culture.”

The job is an opportunity to promote free culture through “translating” legal issues into layperson’s terms, generating content for the general public, and assisting in the planning of public events and initiatives (such as their successful World’s Fair Use Day). PK is looking for a college graduate with a passion for technology, public policy, media reform and activism. Candidates should have strong communications skills, be a quick learner and able to produce high-quality results on tight deadlines. Basic web design (HTML/CSS), graphic design, video production, social media, Drupal, and web activism experience is a plus. Compensation is competitive with excellent benefits and opportunities for professional growth.

It’s a great time to be in D.C. so interested candidates should provide a cover letter, resume, and writing sample of less than 1,000 words to Mehan Jayasuriya (mehan [at] publicknowledge [dot] org).

The flyer is available here.