Archive for April 29th, 2010

ALDE Hearing on ACTA in Brussels

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to participate in a hearing on ACTA in Brussels sponsored by Members of the European Parliament Alexander Alvaro and Marietje Schaake.  Other participants included Luc Devigne, the head of the European ACTA delegation, and representatives from eBay and EuroISPA.  The full video of the hearing is posted below.  My presentation begins just after the 5:00 minute mark.

Read more ›

April 29, 2010 4 comments Committees, News, Video

Privacy Takes Step Towards Global Enforcement

My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes that last week the talk of the privacy world was news that 10 privacy and data protection commissioners – led by Canadian Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart – had released a public letter to Google CEO Eric Schmidt, expressing concern that the Internet giant was forgetting its privacy responsibilities.  

The letter, also signed by the heads of privacy agencies from France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain and the United Kingdom, focused on the recent introduction of Google Buzz, a service that offered new social media capabilities.  It attracted the wrath of users and privacy advocates after Google automatically assigned users a network of "followers" from among people with whom they corresponded most often on Gmail.  Google quickly altered the offending features, but the damage was clearly done, as privacy commissioners from around the world used the incident as the basis for a shot across the company’s bow.

Read more ›

April 29, 2010 2 comments Columns

Privacy Takes Big Step Toward Global Enforcement

Appeared in the Toronto Star on April 26, 2010 as Privacy Takes Big Step Towards Global Enforcement Last week the talk of the privacy world was news that 10 privacy and data protection commissioners – led by Canadian Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart – had released a public letter to Google […]

Read more ›

April 29, 2010 Comments are Disabled Columns Archive

ACTRA on Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore

This week ACTRA's Stephen Waddell appeared before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.  A discussion on the private copying levy led to a testy exchange about Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore with Waddell stating: "I really don't understand why our minister, the minister who should, as you say, be defending […]

Read more ›

April 29, 2010 6 comments News

Next ACTA Negotiation Round Details Leaked

Information on the next round of ACTA negotiations has leaked out with reports that it will be held in Lucerne, Switzerland from June 28 – July 2, 2010.

Read more ›

April 29, 2010 1 comment News