Marlene Catteral, a Canadian MP and chair of the Canadian Heritage parliamentary committee has told (Quicktime format) a university audience that the government has delayed plans to introduce a much-criticized copyright proposal to establish a extended license for educational institutions. The proposal would have created a license for Internet materials that were not publicly available.
Latest Posts
Time for Canada To Cancel Crown Copyright
My weekly Law Bytes column (full hypertext version with background links or Toronto Star version, homepage version) focuses on Canadian crown copyright, which provides that the government retains the copyright associated with any work that is prepared or published by or under its direction, creating an enormous and unconscionable barrier to Canadian film making, political advocacy, and free speech.
P2P Goes to the Movies
The Vancouver Sun ran a story over the weekend on the growing popularity of downloading movies on P2P networks. The article notes that movie swapping is still tiny in comparison to music, but that it may grow in the future.
Canadian Security Companies, Heritage Committee MP Concerned Over Copyright Reforms
A group of Canadian security firms have released a public letter also expressing concern over potential Canadian copyright reforms. The companies note the negative impact of the DMCA on security research and urge the government to avoid criminalizing technology. I'm quoted in the Toronto Star's coverage of the letter, noting that the potential rules may render illegal what sits the core of legitimate security research.
Ontario Court of Appeal Hears Bangoura Appeal
The Ontario Court of Appeal heard arguments yesterday in an appeal of the Bangoura v. Washington Post decision. The case raises significant Internet jurisdiction issues, citing leading cases such as Gutnick. The decision has attracted considerable global attention, with dozens of major media companies intervening in support of the Post. I appeared on CBC's As It Happens to discuss the case (and I wrote about the trial decision when it was first released last year).
Recent Posts
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 211: Carlos Affonso Souza on the Unprecedented Brazilian Court Order Blocking Twitter/X and VPN Use to Access the Service 
New Academic Year Requires New Approach to Combat Campus Antisemitism 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 210: Meredith Lilly on the Trade Risks Behind Canada’s Digital Services Tax and Mandated Streaming Payments 
Abandoning Institutional Neutrality: Why the University of Windsor Encampment Agreements Constrain Academic Freedom and Freedom of Expression 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 209: Peter Menzies on Why the Canadian News Sector is Broken and How to Fix It
