Columns

Child Pornography Blocking Plan a Risk Worth Taking

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) wades back into the Project Cleanfeed Canada debate. My last post on this issue generated considerable discussion with many valid criticisms of the ISP plans to block access to child pornography. In developing this column, I posed many of the […]

December 4, 2006 — 18 comments — Columns

We’re All On Candid Camera

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, BBC version, homepage version) focuses on how Internet video, in combination with ubiquitous video cameras embedded in millions of cell phones, has dramatically increased the likelihood that someone, somewhere will capture video evidence of once-hidden events that can be made instantly available […]

November 27, 2006 — 1 comment — Columns

PIPEDA Review Underway Today

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) examines the PIPEDA review which begins today. Representatives from Industry Canada will lead off, followed over the next week by privacy experts and the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. With the hearings expected to extend into mid-December, I argue that it […]

November 20, 2006 — Comments are Disabled — Columns

Oda Funding Controversy May Derail Broadcast and Copyright Policy

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) takes stock of the brewing controversy over Canadian Heritage Minister Bev Oda's fundraising activities. With the Hill Times running a lead story on her 2005 fundraiser and persistent questions in the House of Commons, it is becoming apparent that this issue is quickly becoming a liability for the Conservative government. While last week's discussion focused on the now-cancelled Oda fundraiser sponsored by a CanWest lobbyist and a 2005 Corus-hosted fundraiser, further investigation into Oda's past campaign financing demonstrates that the close ties between Oda and industry lobbyists may run deeper than even Angus realized.

According to Elections Canada data, Oda held a similar fundraiser in May 2004 – before she was even elected to the House of Commons – that attracted enormous corporate support from the broadcast industry including Alliance Atlantis, Astral, CanWest, and CHUM, as well as from more than a dozen senior executives from major broadcast and cable companies.

Once elected, the support continued.

November 13, 2006 — 5 comments — Columns

Net Neutrality is Back but is Bernier Listening?

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version ) discusses the renewed net neutrality concerns in Canada in light of comments from Videotron President Robert Depatie promoting the establishment of a new Internet transmission tariff that would require content creators of all sizes to fork over millions of dollars for the right to transmit content to ISP subscribers. I note that there is mounting evidence that content and application discrimination is already here. In Canada, the Depatie remarks join a handful of examples that include Telus' 2005 decision during a labour dispute to block access to a website that supported its union (blocking hundreds of additional websites in the process), Shaw Cable's ten dollar surcharge for "premium" Internet telephony service (which generated a complaint to the CRTC from Vonage, a leading Internet telephony provider), and Rogers' decision to limit bandwidth for legitimate peer-to-peer software applications (without full public disclosure of the practice).

While opponents of network neutrality legislation argue that a competitive marketplace removes the need for government intervention, the reality is that the market for broadband services in Canada is at best an oligopoly. Most Canadians have limited choice, with consumers in urban areas choosing between indistinguishable cable and telephone Internet packages, while Canadians in rural communities are often left with no broadband options at all.

In light of the current environment, a recent Canadian telecommunications policy review directly addressed the network neutrality issue.

November 6, 2006 — 5 comments — Columns