Facebook at 40,000

Sometime sson, quite possibly tonight, Michael Geist’s Facebook Fair Copyright for Canada (FCFC) site will hit 40,000 members. As I write this, it’s at 39, 941.

Here’s the link for those are already on Facebook.

For those who aren’t members and want to join, it’s painless. You don’t have to give a lot of information about yourself to sign up. You don’t even have to reveal your age (thank goodness), and the mandatory registration info required is quite minimal.

Let’s put that these numbers in perspective. At this same moment, Barrack Obama has 359,307 members on his Facebook site.

So, Michael has in less than two months accumulated more than 11% of the membership of Obama, whose campaign for President began some would say at least three years ago. Using the usual back of the envelope rule that everything in the USA is about 10 times greater than Canada, Michael’s site is actually relatively more popular than Obama’s.

Some have taken cheap shots at the fact that the average Facebook FCFC member does not have an LL.M. in copyright law, or sentiments to that effect. I actually find most of the comments quite prescient, positive, relevant and informative. The point is that they are from citizens who are wired and likely very well educated, impassioned and influential with their friends and families. If copyright law is not understandable and acceptable to ordinary Canadians, then who is it for?

The fact is that these 40K people are voters and they represent many times more voters who feel the same way. Anyone who is in denial about this may well have to reckon with reality.

HK