My weekly Law Bytes column (homepage version) highlights several potential Canadian policies that may create a very different Internet. They include ubiquitous network surveillance through the lawful access initiative, ISPs that engage in packet preferencing as in the two cases last week involving Vonage and Telkom Kenya, a new extended license that would require schools to pay millions of dollars for content that is currently freely available on the Internet, and rules that make it far easier to remove an allegedly infringing song than to remove dangerous child pornography. It concludes by riffing on an old Nortel ad campaign by asking whether this is really what we want the Internet to be?
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Pot. Kettle. Black.
Today's National Post Magazine carries a feature (subscription required) on Canadian Recording Industry Association President Graham Henderson. I'm quoted as saying that Henderson is a smart, tenacious guy but that CRIA doesn't represent the views of the entire industry nor of the public interest. Henderson responds with this priceless quote:
The Battle over Municipal WiFi (Or Sir Adam Beck’s Internet)
My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, HTML backup article, homepage version) examines the battles over municipal wireless Internet access initiatives. Adam Beck, a provincial cabinet minister from London, Ontario, introduced a bill that created the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario. Adopting Power for the People as his slogan, Beck vigorously fought corporate interests who wanted to keep electricity in private hands. He pushed for a public utility that could provide all Ontario cities and towns with affordable electric power generated from Niagara Falls. His vision led to the worlds largest public utility and dramatically changed the lives of rural Ontarians by bringing electricity to thousands of farms and villages.
World Bank Says Digital Divide Is Closing
The World Bank says that the digital divide between rich and poor nations is closing fast. Last week it issued a draft report that found that telecommunications services to poor countries were growing at an explosive rate. s
The Continuing Saga of Internet Jurisdiction
The Financial Times runs a story on the continuing saga of Internet jurisdiction with a particular focus on the Yahoo! France case, which the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently agreed to rehear. While the business community argues that the case could have a devastating effect on e-commerce, I'm quoted as saying that the world has moved on since the case was brought and most big companies now understand that they risk foreign judgments based on their web presence.
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The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 199: Boris Bytensky on the Criminal Code Reforms in the Online Harms Act 
AI Spending is Not an AI Strategy: Why the Government’s Artificial Intelligence Plan Avoids the Hard Governance Questions 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 198: Richard Moon on the Return of the Section 13 Hate Speech Provision in the Online Harms Act 
Tweets Are Not Enough: Why Combatting Relentless Antisemitism in Canada Requires Real Leadership and Action 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 197: Divest, Ban or Regulate? – Anupam Chander on the Global Fight Over TikTok
