This week’s featured work, the W3C Multipage Validator comes courtesy of the good people at Proze Network. The Validator is used to scan a website’s code to ensure that it meets the standards of the World Wide Web Consortium. Such a tool promotes consistency accross the web and allows web designers to improve their sites. I guess you could say that this Validator is a pretty good metaphor for Canada: available in both official languages, unassuming, globally minded, effective, and looking for acknowledgement. They’ve licensed the Validator under an Attribution 2.0 Canada Licence, meaning that you’re free to copy and reuse the code so long as you give credit to the Proze Network.

La vedette de cette semaine , le Validateur W3C Multipages, vient des gens au Résau Proze. Un validateur est utiliser pour guarantir que le code comforme aux normes duWorld Wide Web Consortium. C’est un outil pour promouvoir la cohérence
générale du web et pour améliorer des sites individuels. Sous Contrat Paternité 2.0 Canada la seule condition c’est qu’il faut attribuer les auteurs du Résau Proze. Et on n’a besoin– notre site a eu des résultats terribles.

K’AN is a writer. He writes novels and would be most pleased if people read his novels. While he probably wouldn’t object to making money, Oprah’s book club is an afterthought compared with a) publishing a physical copy of his book b) arranging distribution for his book and c) convincing readers to buy the book. Unlike Margaret Atwood, K’AN cannot meet with his publishers at whim and expect a comfortable advance. And yet, there is only ONE Margaret Atwood, one Dan Brown, a partial James Frey, and no Pierre Bertons. So where does that leave every other aspiring author?

Following in the footsteps of fellow Canadian novelist Cory Doctorow, BoingBoing editor and Creative Commons evangelist, K’AN has posted “soft copies” of his work for general public consumption. To protect his property rights and secure future commercial interests, K’AN has released his first novel “The Space Between Dreams” under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Canada licence.

Read it. Share it. Love it. Hate it. Welcome to the Commons.

We are pleased to announce that we will be putting together a “CC Canada Mix CD” in celebration of Canadian music . The project is based roughly on the Wired CD: Rip, Sample, Mash, Share and is on track for a launch this Fall. We are still looking for partners and will announce criteria for contributing to the compilation shortly. For further information or to suggest an artist, please contact Tanya: twood065 (at) uottawa.ca. Long live CANCON!

Les buts de Creative Commons ne sont pas des efforts isolés. On est accompanie par des diverses organizations, corporations, et individus qui sont attentifs au dangers présentés par les lois du droit d’auteur traditionelle. W3Québec est un group Québécois engagé avec:

…promouvoir les normes, standards ouverts et bonnes pratiques du Web et du multimédia au Québec.

Leur site est un gabarit pour les communautés du Web, intégréant un Wiki et plusieurs blogues avec une structure conventionelle. Pour encourager “les bonnes pratiques du Web” ils ont choissi le contrat Paternité - Partage des Conditions Initiales à l’Identique 2.0 Canada. C’est comme ça qu’on mène.

The goals of Creative Commons are not isolated efforts. We are accompanied by many other organizations, corporations, and individuals conscious of the dangers posed to the Web by traditional copyright laws. W3Québec is a Quebecois group trying to:

…promote norms, open standards, and best-practices to the Web and multimedia of Québec. [CC.CA translation]

Their site is an excellent template for online communities with a Wiki and several blogs integrated into an otherwise conventional format. To encourage “best-practices” they’ve chosen the Attribution-Sharealike 2.0 Canada licence. Now that’s how to lead.