Appeared in the Ottawa Citizen on December 27, 2012 as Letters of the Law: The Year in Tech Law and Policy From the remarkable battle over the Stop Online Piracy Act to the massive public backlash against Internet surveillance in Canada, law and technology issues garnered headlines all year long. […]
Archive for December, 2012
The Letters of the Law: The Year in Tech Law from A to Z
From the remarkable battle over the Stop Online Piracy Act to the massive public backlash against Internet surveillance in Canada, law and technology issues garnered headlines all year long. A look back at 2012 from A to Z: A is for Astral, the Canadian broadcasting giant that was to be […]
UK To Introduce Wide Range of Copyright Exceptions
The UK government has announced plans to introduce a wide range of copyright exceptions. The plan includes a new private copying right that will permit personal copying of content onto any medium (including personal cloud storage) for personal use. The personal copying right will not require further payment or a levy system. Canada enacted a similar reform this year, though the levy remains for copying of sound recordings onto some media. The UK reforms will also include a fair dealing exception for non-commercial use of materials in teaching. The summary of UK reforms include:
European Commission Drops ACTA Appeal
The European Commission has dropped its appeal of ACTA at the European Court of Justice. Earlier this year, the EC promised to take ACTA to the ECJ to review its compatibility with fundamental rights. With ACTA now politically dead in Europe, the EC has dropped the action.
ITU Phobia: Mueller on the WCIT
Milton Mueller offers an insightful take on the recently concluded WCIT. Mueller characterizes some of the extreme ITU criticism as “ITU phobia”, which he notes: One notable feature of ITU phobia is that it takes the alternative internet institutions off the hook. They are inherently good – good by definition […]
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