U.S. Ambassador David Jacobson appeared on CTV’s Question Period on Sunday and characterized last week as “one of the most extraordinary weeks in the history of the relationship between the U.S. and Canada.” Asked to justify the statement, he identified four developments: the Detroit bridge, Bill C-11, TPP, and the […]
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Big Pharma Spending Ratio on Canadian R&D Continues To Decline As IP Demands Increase
Now the same companies are lobbying relentlessly for a new round of patent reforms that they say will lead to further growth in research and development. However, a new report from government’s Patented Medicines Prices Review Board shows that RxD spending to sales ratio continues a decade-long decline, hitting its lowest level since the 1987 reforms.
Internet Domain Name Land Grab More Than Just “Fools Gold”
European Parliament’s INTA Committee Votes to Reject ACTA
The European Parliament’s INTA committee, the lead committee studying the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, has voted to reject ACTA. The 19-12 vote against the agreement means that all five EP committees that studied ACTA voted against ratification. I appeared before the INTA committee’s workshop on ACTA earlier this year and submitted […]
Canadian Privacy Gets Toews-ed Again: Why a PIA on Airport Eavesdropping Isn’t Good Enough
The toxic connection between Toews and privacy escalated over the weekend with a report that Canada Border Services has installed surveillance equipment in the Ottawa airport that will allow for eavesdropping on traveller conversations. The report led to immediate questions in the House of Commons with Toews defending the practices and even revealing that the eavesdropping activities may be more extensive than initially reported. A day later, Toews was backtracking, announcing that the eavesdropping plans were on hold pending a review from the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
That’s a start (the federal commissioner’s office expressed concern that no privacy impact assessment (PIA) has been filed), but frankly it isn’t nearly good enough to address the privacy concerns associated with this issue.