The Privacy Commissioner of Canada has launched this year's contributions program, supporting both research and an NGO conference.
Latest Posts
The Year Ahead in Copyright
Howard Knopf provides a preview of what may lie ahead for copyright in Canada this year.
Inside Jobs
Rob Hyndman points to today's embarrassing Globe and Mail article on movie piracy ("Pirates of the Canadians"), noting that the article smacks of a planted public relations piece. I certainly agree that the article continues a build-up toward new copyright legislation. I have two further points. First, I'd have no […]
Reading Materials
There are two new European Commission-commissioned reports worth checking out. First, there is a lengthy study [PDF] on the economic impact of open source software that provides numbers that should get the attention of politicians and policy makers worldwide. The study estimates that it would cost 12 billion euros (over C$18 billion) to reproduce the same software code of current quality FLOSS applications. Moreover, the number of new software applications is doubling every 18 – 24 months. It further finds an 800 million euro voluntary contribution by software programmers. The industry impact is breathtaking with estimates that firms representing 263 billion euro in revenue and 565,000 jobs have invested 1.2 billion euro in FLOSS software that is then made freely available. In short, the direct and indirect economic impact is very significant and must surely form a more integral part of any national economic and ICT strategy.
The EC has also released a study[PDF] completed by the exceptional Institute for Information Law on the harmonization of European copyright law.
UK To Open Access to Legal Database
The BBC has the details on what is described as a "sea-change" in the way government information becomes available to the public.
Recent Posts
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 202: David Soberman on the Reality Behind Claims Canadian Wireless Prices Have Been Cut in Half 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 201: Robert Diab on the Billion Dollar Lawsuits Launched By Ontario School Boards Against Social Media Giants 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 200: Colin Bennett on the EU’s Surprising Adequacy Finding on Canadian Privacy Law 
Debating the Online Harms Act: Insights from Two Recent Panels on Bill C-63 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 199: Boris Bytensky on the Criminal Code Reforms in the Online Harms Act
