Legal Commentary

CRTC network management hearings over - decision in a few months

Posted on July 16, 2009
Michael has a post summarizing his thoughts on the hearings. I follow this subject from a distance out of interest - but it strikes me that one of the reasons we get such varied views and suspicions is that the facts are not always clear.  Of course, there will always be differences of opinion between those [...

Gain customers by turning them away

Posted on July 15, 2009
That’s the title of my Slaw post for today. It reads as follows: Author and marketing guru Seth Godin has a post today on his blog that rings true for anyone selling anything ? including lawyers. He talks about products where a buyer?s perception of them may not be the reality ? leading to frustration after the product [...

LABOUR ARBITRATION: It is not always practical to keep all of our information within our borders

Posted on July 13, 2009
For the London Free Press - July 13, 2009 Read this on Canoe A labour arbitrator recently considered whether Lakehead University’s switch to Google mail violated the faculty collective agreement. The university stated that the main reason for the switch to Google was because of the growing cost and effort of having an internal e-mail system...

CRTC network management hearings - congestion or competition?

Posted on July 10, 2009
The network management hearings continue.  And Michael’s coverage continues.  One of the interesting fundamental issues that has emerged is whether network management is about congestion or competition.  It seems that proponents talk about the need to deal with congestion, while opponents talk about the unfairness of using network management to provide a competitive advantage...

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Consumer advocacy by Youtube - United Breaks Guitars

Posted on July 09, 2009
That’s the title of my Slaw post for today.  It reads as follows: Frustrated consumers and lawyers alike often threaten to take complaints to the press in an attempt to get satisfaction for an alleged wrong. After all, the ?headline risk? of being perceived in a bad light by the public can sometimes be a sobering [...

CRTC network management - aka net neutrality - hearings underway

Posted on July 07, 2009
The CRTC’s network managemement hearings began yesterday.  A CBC article summarizes the scope of the hearing as: “The CRTC is trying to develop guidelines for internet service providers on acceptable ways of managing internet traffic and congestion, taking into account both the freedom individuals to use the internet as they wish and the interests of ISPs [...

NDA’s - Recent RIM case teaches what you need to know about need-to-know laws

Posted on July 06, 2009
For the London Free Press - July 6, 2009 Read this on Canoe Despite recent trends toward corporate transparency, it is still necessary to guard certain information. A recent case involving Research In Motion dealt with the interpretation of a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA, meant to limit what RIM could do with the other party’s information...

Trade-marks guide updated

Posted on June 30, 2009
 I have updated and split into 2 the trade-marks guide I created for my clients.  trade-marks-guide-part-1-registering-a-trade-mark summarizes what one should know before selecting and registering a trade-mark, and the advantages of registering.  trade-marks-guide-part-2-after-registration summarizes how to properly use and care for a trade-mark after it is registered.

Social Media in the courtroom - New technology a legal balancing act

Posted on June 29, 2009
For the London Free Press - June 29, 2009 Read this on Canoe We are seeing rapid developments in use of technology in court, including twittering, texting, “Googling,” and using Facebook during trial. These tools can be helpful, but can also lead to abuse of the process...

Unencrypted laptop violates UK privacy law

Posted on June 26, 2009
Outlaw.com has a report that starts by saying: “Manchester City Council broke the Data Protection Act when it failed to encrypt laptop computers containing data on nearly two thousand workers. The local authority has promised to ensure all mobile computers are encrypted...

Cloud Computing Myths

Posted on June 23, 2009
BusinessWeek has an article entitled Busting Cloud Computing Myths that is a worthwhile read for anyone curious about cloud computing.   For example, there is just 1 cloud, and cloud computing always saves you money. The ultimate conclusion is: “What’s the takeaway? That the cloud isn’t a magic wonderland of carefree computing, but a complex resource that [...

Registering a creative industrial design is a way for a company to protect one kind of brand identification

Posted on June 22, 2009
For the London Free Press - June 22, 2009 Read this on Canoe Registered industrial designs are less well-known than other types of intellectual property protection, but can be a valuable tool in the right circumstances. A registered industrial design protects unique features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament applied to an article...

Montana town requires social network passwords from job applicants

Posted on June 19, 2009
In the “you’re kidding, right?” category is a story about Bozeman City, Montana job applications that require the applicant to disclose all the social networking sites they use (aka Facebook, Google, Yahoo, YouTube, etc.) including their user names, log-on ID’s, and passwords...

Canadian Lawful Access Bill & US NSA domestic spying

Posted on June 18, 2009
Michael reports that a new “lawful access” bill is about to be introduced that is intended to give authorities easier access to private communications.  Also see Cory Doctorow’s take on it .  The privacy commissioner and CAIP (Canadian Association of Internet Providers) are not enamoured of the idea either...

Olympics athlete blogging rules set - update

Posted on June 17, 2009
For my Slaw post this week I referred to my Free Press article from Monday, being the last post I made.  But I added some thoughts based on a Slaw post from the 2008 Olympics.   It reads as follows: That?s the title of my Free Press article for this week...

Olympics athlete blogging rules set

Posted on June 15, 2009
For the London Free Press Read this on Canoe The International Olympic committee (IOC) recently announced its athlete blogging rules for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. There are still restrictions, but they are more flexible than those for the 2008 Beijing Games, which was the first time athletes could blog about their experiences...

Facebook allows usernames - protect trade-marks NOW

Posted on June 12, 2009
Facebook has announced that effective at 12:01 am Saturday they anyone with an existing Facebook account can claim a user name. They have not given much notice, so anyone with a trade-mark needs to act quickly to lessen the chances that anyone else will try to obtain a username using one’s trade-mark...

The Streisand Effect ? demand letters in a Web 2.0 world

Posted on June 10, 2009
Presentation to the Middlesex Law Association.   The ?Streisand effect? is what happens when someone tries to suppress something and the opposite occurs.  The act of suppressing it raises the profile, making it much more well known than it otherwise would have been...

Do ‘I’m on vacation’ posts pose security concerns?

Posted on June 10, 2009
That’s the title of my Slaw post today.   It reads as follows: Take a look at the article by that title on the Canoe Tech page. It questions whether the tendency for people to put reply messages on emails that they are on vacation, or talk about their vacation plans or current locations on Facebook and Twitter [...

The decline of telecom in Canada

Posted on June 09, 2009
Michael Geist recently appeared before the Standing Committee on Transport and Communications to discuss the state of telecommunications in Canada.    The committee is conducting a study on the wireless sector and access to high-speed Internet. Michael’s opening statement and the transcript make interesting - and frustrating - reading...

Don’t expect privacy on work computers

Posted on June 08, 2009
For the London Free Press - June 8, 2009 Read this on Canoe Do you have a reasonable expectation of privacy when using an employer-owned computer? That was the issue before the Superior Court of Justice on March 12 in Regina vs. Cole. According to the facts of the case, a school information technologist found nude photos of a [...

CRTC decides to keep hands off new media

Posted on June 05, 2009
Michael reports that the CRTC’s just released decision based on their new media hearings that were held in February is that they will continue to not regulate media over the internet.  The CRTC’s press release says in part:  ?While broadcasting in new media is growing in importance, we do not believe that regulatory intervention is necessary [...

Copyright levies more costly than the media

Posted on June 02, 2009
Techdirt points out a post by Howard Knopf on his Excess Copyright blog (not sure how I missed this last week, as I follow Howard’s blog) that points out that because of increasing capacities and lowering prices, the copyright levy on blank CD’s is the majority of the price...

Proposed anti-spam bill merits close attention

Posted on June 01, 2009
For the London Free Press - June 1, 2009 Read this on Canoe The federal government recently tabled an anti-spam bill aimed at reducing spam originating in Canada. The anti-spam bill, officially known as the Electronic Commerce Protection Act (ECPA), also would apply to text messaging, instant messaging, phishing, spyware and botnets...

Round-up of new stuff

Posted on May 29, 2009
Is it just me, or have we seen an unusual number of new product announcements recently?  Sure, some have been in the mill for a while and are just getting closer to launch, but here are some things that have been getting attention recently.  They all seem to be getting a lot of positive press/hype [...

UK license plate spy cameras

Posted on May 28, 2009
Add this to inconsistencies I don’t understand.  Google street view often gets lambasted for privacy issues.  That happens when an individual or a car license plate is visible.  Since these street views are one time images - one only gets captured if one happens to be in view of the camera at the specific time and place [...

Jim Carroll speaks to TechAlliance

Posted on May 27, 2009
That’s the title of my Slaw post for today.   It reads as follows: Canadian futurist Jim Carroll (@jimcarroll)just spoke about innovation at the London TechAlliance AGM. Here are some of the points that got my attention. (We used to call these sound bites or bullet points - I?ve already seem some of these show up in [...

Canada proposes to fingerprint before laying charge

Posted on May 26, 2009
David Fraser points out that:  “The federal government introduced legislation in Parliament to “modernize” criminal procedure in Canada. What it means, among other things, is that police will get the authority to fingerprint suspects even before charges are laid...

Solving disputes online cheaper, faster

Posted on May 25, 2009
For the London Free Press - May 25, 2009 Read this on Canoe Online alternative dispute resolution (ADR) may be the future of dispute resolution. ADR has been used for many years to resolve disputes outside the court system. It involves parties agreeing to mediate or arbitrate their dispute rather than pursue it through the courts...

Can’t sell your house? - create your own lottery!

Posted on May 22, 2009
Outlaw.com has an article about a British family that was having trouble selling their house.   So they sold £25 tickets and raffled it off.  They were successful enough that others are trying it too.  They apparently sold 46,000 tickets for a total gain of £1...

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