Columns Archive

If U.S. Cloud Computing Isn’t Good Enough for the Canadian Government, Why Should It Be for You?

Appeared in the Toronto Star on March 8, 2014 as Time for Consumers to Think Local for Cloud Computing In August 2011, the federal government announced plans to consolidate more than 100 different email systems used by over 300,000 employees into a single, outsourced email system. While the email transition […]

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March 12, 2014 Comments are Disabled Columns Archive

The Future of Television Consultation Omits the Big Question: Do We Still Need the CRTC?

Appeared in the Toronto Star on March 1, 2014 as Do We Still Need the CRTC? The regulation of Internet video services and the prospect of pick-and-pay television channels headline the second phase of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s future of television consultation which launched late last month. The […]

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March 5, 2014 Comments are Disabled Columns Archive

Canadian Court Ruling in Teksavvy File Sharing Case a Blow to Copyright Trolls

Appeared in the Toronto Star on February 22, 2014 as Canadian Court Ruling in Teksavvy File Sharing Case a Blow to Copyright Trolls The outbreak of copyright trolling cases in the United States and Britain in recent years has sparked considerable anger from courts, Internet providers, and subscribers. These cases, […]

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February 22, 2014 1 comment Columns Archive

Downloading Decision: Federal Court Establishes New Safeguards on Disclosures in File Sharing Suits

The federal court has released its much anticipated decision in Voltage Pictures v. Does, a case involving demands that TekSavvy, a leading independent ISP, disclose the identities of roughly 2,000 subscribers alleged to have downloaded movies without authorization. The case attracted significant attention for several reasons: it is the first major “copyright troll” case in Canada involving Internet downloading (the recording industry previously tried unsuccessfully to sue 29 alleged file sharers), the government sought to discourage these file sharing lawsuits against individuals by creating a $5,000 liability cap for non-commercial infringement, TekSavvy ensured that affected subscribers were made aware of the case and CIPPIC intervened to ensure the privacy issues were considered by the court. Copies of all the case documents can be found here.

The court set the tone for the decision by opening with the following quote from a U.S. copyright case:

“the rise of so-called ‘copyright trolls’ – plaintiffs who file multitudes of lawsuits solely to extort quick settlements – requires courts to ensure that the litigation process and their scarce resources are not being abused.”

The court was clearly sensitive to the copyright troll concern, noting that “given the issues in play the answers require a delicate balancing of privacy rights versus the rights of copyright holders. This is especially so in the context of modern day technology and users of the Internet.”

So how did the court strike the balance?

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February 20, 2014 2 comments Columns Archive

Canadian Digital Strategy Takes Shape With 2014 Budget

Appeared in the Toronto Star on February 15, 2014 as Digital Strategy Finally Takes Shape With Federal Budget In 2010, the Canadian government launched a consultation on developing a national digital strategy. Despite obvious interest from provincial governments, technology companies, and the public, the issue has languished for years. Successive […]

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February 15, 2014 Comments are Disabled Columns Archive