The Supreme Court of Canada this morning ruled that the federal government’s plan to create a single securities regulator is unconstitutional since it stretches the federal trade and commerce clause too far into provincial jurisdiction. The ruling is a wake-up call on the limits of federal powers, even where many […]
Archive for December, 2011
Letters Of The Law: The Year In Tech Law And Policy
A is for the Amazon one-click patent, which is at the centre of a long running fight over the validity of business method patents in Canada.
B is for Baglow v. Smith, an Ontario Superior Court decision which ruled that comments on a blog should not necessarily give rise to a claim in defamation, when the person alleging defamation has a right of reply in the same blog.
C is for Century 21, which won a major case over Rogers Communications and its real estate search site Zoocasa. The case included important findings on online contracts, trespass, and copyright.
Canadian Library Association on C-11
The Canadian Library Association has released a new position paper on Bill C-11. The CLA directs much of its concern to the digital lock rules: The prohibitions on the circumvention of digital locks in Bill Câ€11 exceed Canada’s obligations under WIPO copyright treaties. Canada agreed to distinctive wording and flexibilities […]
Fair Dealing’s 100 Years of Solitude
Ariel Katz has a must-read post on the history of fair dealing. Katz states “the notion that if a purpose isn’t explicitly enumerated, it is categorically excluded from the purview of fair dealing, is antithetical to the purpose of the Copyright Act. In order to encourage future innovation and creativity […]
The Letters of the Law: The Year in Tech Law from A to Z
Appeared in the Toronto Star on December 18, 2011 as The Year in Tech Law, From A to Z The past 12 months in law and technology were exceptionally active, with legislative battles over privacy and copyright, near-continuous controversy at the CRTC, and an active Supreme Court of Canada docket. […]
Recent Posts
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 214: Erin Millar on Trust in Media and the Implementation of the Online News Act 
The Bill on Canada’s Digital Policy Comes Due: Blocked News Links, Cancelled Sponsorship, Legal Challenges, and Digital Ad Surcharges 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 213: Elaine Craig on Mainstreaming Porn and Why Bill S-210 May Make Matters Worse 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 212: Matt Hatfield on the State of Canadian Digital Policy as Politicians Return from the Summer Recess 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 211: Carlos Affonso Souza on the Unprecedented Brazilian Court Order Blocking Twitter/X and VPN Use to Access the Service
