Latest Posts

The Rise of the Clip Culture

My weekly Law Bytes column (homepage version, Toronto Star version, international BBC version) examines the rise of the "clip culture" which has driven the remarkable growth of video sharing sites such as Youtube.com. The column highlights the different types of clips and discusses the legal and business implications that video sharing is beginning to generate. 

Read more ›

March 20, 2006 Comments are Disabled Columns

CRIA’s Own Study Counters P2P Claims

While CRIA regularly trumpets commissioned studies as evidence for the problems posed by P2P, this week it released a major study without any fanfare whatsoever.  Conducted by Pollara last month, the study serves as part of CRIA's submission to the CRTC's Commercial Radio Review.  What makes this particular study interesting […]

Read more ›

March 17, 2006 44 comments News

CIRA’s Public Letter to ICANN

Late this afternoon, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority, which manages the dot-ca domain, issued an important public letter to ICANN.  As a CIRA board member for the past five years, I'm particularly proud of this letter as the organization has publicly called on ICANN to follow accountable, transparent, and fair […]

Read more ›

March 17, 2006 1 comment News

Federal Ct Issues Nearly Million Dollar Fine For Failing to Pay Levy

A federal court judge has fined Vortek Systems, a Montreal-based electronics retailer, nearly one million dollars for failing to pay the private copying levy.  The company was ordered to turn over the unpaid levy amounts ($1.65 million plus interest) along with a penalty of just over $900,000.  Vortek denied that […]

Read more ›

March 17, 2006 1 comment News

Commercial Radio Review Comments Roll In

Rob Hyndman has a great posting on the CRTC’s Commercial Radio Review. With more than a hundred groups and individuals commenting so far (the overwhelming majority of which are not posted online, at least for now), I get the sense that the May hearings will be pure theatre with each […]

Read more ›

March 16, 2006 3 comments News