Archive for May, 2008

Calm Copyright

A promising new forum for Canadian copyright debate.

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May 8, 2008 Comments are Disabled News

Ethics Committee Calls for Reinstatement of CAIRS

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics has issued a report "deploring" the cancellation of the CAIRS database and demanding that the government reinstate it.

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May 8, 2008 Comments are Disabled News

Canwest on Copyright Reform

Canwest features a story on possible copyright reform, focusing on the lobbying from the U.S. government – including a forthcoming trip to the U.S. by members of the IP Caucus – and the continued concern of thousands of Canadians.

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May 8, 2008 1 comment News

Liberal Response to Net Neutrality

Julianna Yau posts a response she received from a Liberal MP on net neutrality.  The response notes the deregulatory approach at the CRTC and states that "this approach does not afford proper recognition to the rights of Canadian internet users, and has resulted in the problems we are beginning to […]

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May 8, 2008 4 comments News

Canada’s Wireless Crisis

This week I delivered the opening speech at the annual Spectrum 20/20 conference that focused on the state of Canadian wireless marketplace.  As the title of this blog posts suggest, I believe that Canadian wireless is in a state of crisis, with limited competition and high data prices.  The talk and slides have been posted to Blip.tv and are embedded below.

Note that I also covered the issue this week in my technology law column (Toronto Star version, Ottawa Citizen version, Vancouver Sun version, homepage version).  I begin by noting that last week's announcement that the Apple iPhone will make its long awaited Canadian debut later this year generated considerable excitement.  While analysts focused on the bottom line impact for Rogers Wireless, it may be that the most important effects have already been felt in Canada since more than any industry statistics or speeches, the iPhone's slow entry into Canada has crystallized the view that the Canadian wireless market is hopelessly behind the rest of the world with limited competition, higher prices, and less choice.

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May 7, 2008 25 comments Columns