News

Privacy Commissioner Launches Consultation on Cloud Computing

The Privacy Commissioner has launched a consultation on the privacy implications of cloud computing.  Responses will be accepted until April 15th.

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February 11, 2010 5 comments News

USTR: No Mandatory Three Strikes in ACTA

Public Knowledge features a post describing a response from the USTR on its position on ACTA.  When asked about whether the U.S. was seeking mandatory filtering or three strikes, Stan McCoy of the USTR responded: Mandatory filtering by ISPs would go beyond existing U.S. law, as would a mandatory “three […]

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February 11, 2010 9 comments News

“20th Century Tools for a 21st Century Undertaking”

The Privacy Commissioner of Canada's must-read speech on the future of privacy regulation.

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February 11, 2010 Comments are Disabled News

Conference Board of Canada Releases New IP Report, Backs Away From Prior Recommendations

The Conference Board of Canada has released its long-promised report on intellectual property policy in Canada.  Readers will recall that last spring the Board withdrew three reports funded by copyright groups after admitting that the reports contained plagiarized passages.  In fact, the copyright report recommendations and text were taken directly from the IIPA, the leading copyright lobby in the United States.

The new report, which weighs in at 113 pages, was completed by Ruth Corbin, a Toronto-based IP expert.  Corbin started from scratch, reading a broad range of materials, conducting interviews, and leading a private roundtable on the issue (I participated in the roundtable and met separately with her).  While there is much to digest, the lead takeaway is to marvel at the difference between a report cribbed from lobby speaking points and one that attempts to dig into the issues in a more balanced fashion.  Three examples:

First, the report puts intellectual property policy into perspective as just one portion of the innovation agenda, noting that over-protection can be lead to diminishing returns:

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February 10, 2010 19 comments News

Google To Launch 1 Gig Fibre Broadband Network

Google has unveiled plans to launch experimental fibre broadband networks in several U.S. cities offering one gigabit connections, far beyond what ISPs in North America currently offer.

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February 10, 2010 4 comments News