Archive for December, 2010

The Letters of the Law: 2010 in Tech Law from A to Z

The past twelve months in law and technology were exceptionally active, with the passage of anti-spam legislation, record penalties for violating the do-not-call list, and relentless lobbying on new Canadian copyright legislation. A look back at 2010 from A to Z (Toronto Star version, homepage version):

A is for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which concluded in October with a watered-down treaty after the U.S. caved on several controversial Internet issues.

B is for Black v. Breeden, an Ontario Court of Appeal ruling involving postings on the Hollinger International, Inc. website that Conrad Black claimed were defamatory.

C is for Crookes v. Newton, the high-profile Supreme Court case that addressed the liability hyperlinks between websites.
                        
D is for the do-not-call list, which gained new life when the CRTC pressured Bell into paying $1.3 million for multiple violations of the list rules.

E is for the Electronic Commerce Protection Act, the initial name of Canada’s anti-spam legislation that received royal assent in December, six years after a task force recommended new Canadian spam laws.

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December 28, 2010 12 comments Columns

The Letters of the Law: 2010 in Tech Law from A to Z

Appeared in the Toronto Star on December 28, 2010 as The Year in Tech Law and Policy The past twelve months in law and technology were exceptionally active, with the passage of anti-spam legislation, record penalties for violating the do-not-call list, and relentless lobbying on new Canadian copyright legislation. A […]

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December 28, 2010 Comments are Disabled Columns Archive

Supreme Court Grants Leave to Hear Song Previews as Fair Dealing Case

Fair dealing is heading back to the Supreme Court of Canada.  This morning, the court granted leave to hear an appeal of SOCAN v. Bell Canada, the case in which the Federal Court of Appeal confirmed that 30 second song previews can constitute fair dealing under the Copyright Act since […]

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December 23, 2010 10 comments News

Canadian Education Faces Technology Tipping Point

Canadian universities and colleges have undergone a remarkable technological transformation over the past decade.  Ten years ago laptops were relatively rare in classrooms, yet today virtually every student comes to buildings outfitted with electric outlets and Internet connectivity at each seat equipped with one.  Course websites were once little more than places to post a syllabus and a list of readings, but today they feature podcasts, webcasts, the actual course readings, and space for ongoing discussion and debate.

While technology has become a core part of the educational process, my weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes it has often been treated as a complement – rather than a replacement – for traditional educational materials.  Libraries still spend hundreds of millions of dollars on physical books and journals, some professors still generate paper-based coursepacks, and the schools themselves still pay millions of dollars in copying licensing fees.

The two-track approach may have made initial sense, but the costs of maintaining both are increasingly forcing universities to consider whether technology can replace conventional approaches. The tipping point toward using technology as a replacement may have come this year when Access Copyright, the copyright collective that licenses copying on Canadian campuses, demanded a significant increase in the fees associated with photocopying articles and producing printed coursepacks.

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December 23, 2010 11 comments Columns

Canadian Education Faces Technology Tipping Point

Appeared in the Toronto Star on December 19, 2010 as Canadian Education Faces Technology Tipping Point   Canadian universities and colleges have undergone a remarkable technological transformation over the past decade.  Ten years ago laptops were relatively rare in classrooms, yet today virtually every student comes to buildings outfitted with […]

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December 23, 2010 Comments are Disabled Columns Archive