CBC's Cross Country Checkup has posted the podcast of the recent program that focused on Internet privacy and lawful access. I appeared along with Public Safety Minister Peter van Loan.
Blog
Elections Canada Pushing For E-Voting
The Chronicle Herald reports that Elections Canada is promoting the use of e-voting, which it believes could increase voter participation.
Copyright Board Releases Educational Copyright Decision
The Copyright Board of Canada has released its long delayed decision on photocopying in primary and secondary schools. There are two ways of looking at these decisions – the dollar amount of the tariff and the reasoning. The dollar amount in this case is big – jumping from the current fee of $2.45 per full-time student (FTE) to $5.16 per FTE. Note that this goes back to 2005 (although the back pay will be set at $4.64 per FTE), so this represents a huge additional cost to Canadian education and a major source of revenue for Access Copyright. The Board goes through a detailed analysis of how it arrived at this figure, but at the end of the day, it feels like that it simply split the difference between the two sides. Access Copyright was seeking $8.92, while the schools argued for $2.43 – that averages to $5.67 per FTE and the Board's award is just below that figure. Whether this is just coincidental or by-design, the current system encourages big requests which set a framework for "reasonableness" that can result in major increases in royalties.
The core aspect of the reasoning is the Board's assessment of fair dealing.
Rogers Again Injects Web Pages With Its Own Content
Canadian Internet watchers may recall a controversy in late 2007 when Rogers began experimenting with adding its own content to webpages that its subscribers visit. The company used the technology to alert customers about their data usage. Google was one of the targets of the experiments and the company reacted […]
CFTPA on Bell’s Throttling Practices
P2PNet points to a submission from the Canadian Film and Television Production Association that argues that Bell's throttling practices unduly disadvantage P2P content, P2P apps, and end-users accessing legal P2P content.
Recent Posts
Solomon’s Choice: Charting the Future of AI Policy in Canada 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 232: What Will Canadian Digital Policy Look Like Under the New Liberal Carney Government? 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 231: Sara Bannerman on How Canadian Political Parties Maximize Voter Data Collection and Minimize Privacy Safeguards 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 230: Aengus Bridgman on the 2025 Federal Election, Social Media Platforms, and Misinformation 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 229: My Digital Access Day Keynote – Assessing the Canadian Digital Policy Record
