Last month I blogged about the new Coldplay CD and consumer frustrations over copy-protection that limits the ability to listen to the CD on an iPod. I've since heard from several people who have been directly affected and found that retailers even refused to offer a refund when they brought […]
Latest Posts
Bill C-60 and Search Engines
Concern is mounting over the potential impact of Bill C-60 on Internet search engines. Soon after the bill was introduced, I raised concerns that the search engine provisions effectively create a notice and takedown system for search engines that could result in the removal of content from the search engine […]
Privacy Commissioner on Secondary Marketing
The Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner yesterday issued a noteworthy decision involving the ability of consumers to opt-out of secondary marketing that is included in monthly banking statements. Banks routinely pack the monthly statements with an assortment of marketing materials. When a customer asked to have the marketing materials […]
Harry Potter and the Right to Read
My latest Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, freely available hyperlinked version) brings together two Canadian copyright stories from last week that demonstrate the damage that can occur when copyright law goes awry. The first is well known: the very disturbing Harry Potter court order which barred Canadians from reading […]
CBC for the Internet Age
I am a fan of the CBC. I think the radio programming is excellent and I like much of what their website offers. With respect to radio, I also think they have done a good job of making content available to Canadians through multiple channels (though unfortunately largely in proprietary […]