Archive for April 21st, 2008

Vuze Study Points To P2P Interference From Cogeco

While Bell and Rogers have attracted much of the Canadian net neutrality attention in recent weeks, a study conducted Vuze, an online video site that uses the BitTorrent protocol, has placed another Canadian provider – Cogeco – in the spotlight.  To better track ISP network management techniques, Vuze created a […]

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April 21, 2008 19 comments News

B.C. PIPA Review Released

David Fraser notes that a special committee has released its recommendations for reforms to the B.C. privacy legislation.

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April 21, 2008 Comments are Disabled News

CAB Seeks New Copyright Exception

The Canadian Association of Broadcasters has posted its submission to the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, which is conducting a science and technology policy review.  The CAB calls on the committee to "recommend to the Government of Canada that sections 30.8 and 30.9 of the Copyright Act be […]

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April 21, 2008 2 comments News

Who Owns Sports Coverage?

The NY Times covers the growing tension between professional sports teams and bloggers.  I covered the issue in a column last summer.

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April 21, 2008 Comments are Disabled News

“Three Strikes and You’re Out” Policy Strikes Out

The new baseball season is in full swing, yet in recent months the phrase "three strikes and you’re out" has taken on an entirely different meaning on the Internet.  My new technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) reports on how, prodded by content lobby groups, a handful of governments have moved toward requiring Internet service providers to terminate subscribers if they engage in file sharing activities on three occasions. The policy – occasionally referred to as "graduated response" – received support last fall from French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who pressured the private sector to negotiate an agreement to implement the three strikes system.  The policy soon attracted global attention as the United Kingdom, Japan, and Australia all announced that they were contemplating a similar approach.

In recent weeks, however, it would appear that governments are beginning to have sober second thoughts.  After a Swedish judge recommended adopting the three strikes policy, that country's Ministers of Justice and Culture wrote a public opinion piece setting out their forthcoming policy that explicitly excluded the three strikes model.

Earlier this month, the European Parliament delivered an even stronger rejection. 

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April 21, 2008 7 comments Columns