News

French Circumvent Twitter Ban on Election Results

The NY Times reports on how Twitter users in France circumvented a law prohibiting the early publication of election results over the weekend. Canadians faced a similar ban during the last election, but the government has since announced plans to change the law.

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April 24, 2012 4 comments News

Backlash Against Academic Publishing Continues to Grow

The backlash against the current academic publishing continues to grow, with the Harvard Library’s Faculty Advisory Council finding that “large journal publishers have made the scholarly communication environment fiscally unsustainable and academically restrictive” and promoting open access alternatives. Meanwhile, the Guardian featured an article on the issue over the weekend, […]

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April 24, 2012 Comments are Disabled News

Public Safety Links Telecom Foreign Investment with Lawful Access

Last week, I posted on the Public Safety Canada seeming attempt to circumvent the government’s spectrum consultation by submitting dual letters – a public letter expressing mild concern with foreign ownership and a secret letter warning of “considerable risks”. While that approach raises serious concerns that undermine public confidence in the consultation process, Public Safety’s detailed response (which is available on the Industry Canada site) anticipates the fight over Bill C-30 by specifically claiming that opening the Canadian telecom sector to foreign competition increases the necessity of lawful access legislation:

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April 23, 2012 1 comment News

Kenya High Court Rules Anti-Counterfeiting Statute Unconstitutional

Kenya’s High Court has ruled that the Kenya Anti-Counterfeit Act of 2008 violates that country’s constitution because it threatens access to life-saving generic medicines. The law includes a very expansive definition of counterfeiting, which raises serious concerns among access to medicines groups.  The Constitutional Court of Kenya had previously barred […]

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April 23, 2012 2 comments News

Internet Surveillance Bill Threatens British Coalition

The National Post reports that plans to introduce new Internet surveillance legislation is threatening the current British ruling coalition. The bill has yet to be introduced, but has attracted criticism from MPs from all parties.

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April 23, 2012 4 comments News