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More on Harry Potter

The Harry Potter court order has generated global attention, leading to several misconceptions.  First, the books were not stolen or otherwise unlawful copies. Rather, the distributor apparently neglected to include an "embargo" label instructing the store (a grocery store in Coquitlam, BC) to only begin selling on Saturday. The store […]

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July 12, 2005 1 comment News

Court Orders Harry Potter Purchasers to Return Book

A British Columbia court has ordered purchasers of the new Harry Potter book to return it immediately and forbid anyone from discussing any elements contained in the book itself.  The latest instalment of Harry Potter apparently goes on sale on Saturday but at least one BC bookseller began selling it […]

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July 11, 2005 17 comments News

The High Stakes Battle for Control of the Internet

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, freely available hyperlinked version) assesses the recent round of Internet governance developments including (i) the U.S. statement which indicated that they no longer intend to transfer control over the root servers to ICANN, but rather to maintain their "historic role in authorizing […]

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July 11, 2005 Comments are Disabled Columns

The Price of Canadian Heritage

Last week I received a deeply troubling email from the Frontier School Division, which serves thirty-five communities and forty-one schools in remote/northern Manitoba.  The school division wrote to the National Gallery of Canada last October requesting a copy of a photograph taken in 1850 of a then-young artist named Paul […]

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July 10, 2005 Comments are Disabled News

Canadian Consultation Launched on Identity Theft

The Consumers Measures Committee, a committee comprised of federal, provincial, and territorial consumer protection representatives, has launched a public consultation on identity theft.  The background paper identifies several potential legislative solutions including a requirement for organizations to notify consumers affected by a security breach; the placement of a fraud alert […]

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July 10, 2005 1 comment News