Next Wednesday is World Intellectual Property Day - and I'm going to be part of an event which takes place within the virtual world of Second Life. This is my first venture into Second Life, and it should be an exciting event. We'll be meeting at Pooley Stage, Pooley (251, 16, 55), at 2 p.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday 26 April (which equates to 9 p.m. Server Time on Tuesday 25 April).

21st Century Creativity in a Copyright World: How Can the Potential Be Realised?

You are invited to join the QUT Law Faculty's Intellectual Property: Knowledge, Culture, and Economy Program, in conjunction with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation, for a free seminar on World Intellectual Property day at 2pm on Wednesday 26 April 2006. The rapid pace of technological change that we are experiencing requires us to always be aware of the balances inherent in copyright law; we must attempt to provide adequate protection to copyright owners, while at the same time allow for a rich culture of experimentation and innovation. Particularly, we must be careful not to close off new avenues for expression and creativity before they have a chance to develop. Join us for a discussion of the current context, covering fair use/fair dealing, blogs, mash-ups, parody, and much more.

Speakers include:

• Richard Neville
• Toby Miller (UC Riverside, QUT Vice Chancellor Distinguished Visitor)
• Professor Brian Fitzgerald (QUT)
• Professor Mark Perry (UWO)
• Peter Coroneos (Internet Industry Association)
• Mia Garlick (Creative Commons)
• Dean Whitbread (funk.co.uk)
• Dr Axel Bruns (QUT)
• Anne Matthew (QUT)
• Nicolas Suzor (QUT)
• Dilan Thampapillai

The seminar will be held in Second Life, an online massively-multiplayer virtual world created by Linden Labs. Virtual worlds are becoming increasingly popular and diverse. As more and more people are becoming involved in these virtual spaces, we are changing the way we think about place, social relationships, economics, property, and many other aspects of social life. The immersive nature of these worlds challenges us to consider questions of space - the experience of presence (or being there) and copresence (being there together) (Ralph Schroeder, Being There Together). These worlds provide an excellent opportunity for interaction, learning, and research, as well as raising some very interesting questions about culture, regulation, property, and society.

Second Life is free to download and play, but there are some minimum technical requirements. Either a credit card or a PayPal account is also required for age verification. We understand that this will create a barrier to access to some people, and invite anyone who can not join us online to contact us to arrange for you to participate from QUT.

PC Minimum System Recommendations:

• Internet Connection: Cable or DSL
• Computer Processor: 1.6GHz Pentium 4 or Athlon 2000+ or better
• Computer Memory: 512MB or better
• Video/Graphics Card:
• • nVidia GeForce FX 5600, GeForce 6600, or better
  • OR ATI Radeon 9600, X600, or better

Mac Minimum System Recommendations:

• Internet Connection: Cable or DSL
• Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4.3 or better
• Computer Processor: 1.25 GHz G4 or better
• Computer Memory: 768MB or better
• Video/Graphics Card:
• • nVidia GeForce FX 5600, GeForce 6600, or better
  • OR ATI Radeon 9600, X600, or better

Attached you will find instructions (PDF) showing how to register, install, and meet up with us in Second Life (http://secondlife.com).

Hope to see you online soon!

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