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All Your Internets Belong to US, Continued: The Bodog.com Case

Imagine a scenario in which a country enacts a law that bans the sale of asbestos and includes the power to seize the assets of any company selling the product anywhere in the world. The country tests the law by obtaining a court order to seize key assets of a Canadian company, whose operations with hundreds of employees takes a major hit. The Canadian government is outraged, promising to support the company in its efforts to restore its operations.

That is the opening of my technology law column this week (Toronto Star version, homepage version) which continues by noting this scenario became reality last week, though the product was not asbestos and the Canadian government has yet to respond. The case involves Bodog.com, a Canadian-owned online sports gaming site and the country doing the seizing was the United States. Supporting online gaming operations will undoubtedly make governments somewhat squeamish, but the broader implications of last week’s seizure touch on millions of websites and Internet companies who now find themselves subject to U.S. jurisdiction.

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March 6, 2012 30 comments Columns

Canadian Music Industry Wants Its Own Lawful Access: Subscriber Disclosure Without a Court Order

Last week I wrote about the astonishing demands of the Canadian music industry as it seeks a massive overhaul of Bill C-11, the copyright reform bill. The Canadian Independent Music Association is seeking changes to the enabler provision that would create liability risk for social networking sites, search engines, blogging platforms, video sites, and many other websites featuring third party contributions. If that were not enough, it is also calling for a new iPod tax, an extension in the term of copyright, a removal of protections for user generated content, parody, and satire, as well as an increase in statutory damage awards.

CIMA and ADISQ, which represents the Quebec music industry, appeared before the C-11 committee last week and the demands only seemed to increase.  For example, ADISQ is asking the government to add a requirement for Internet providers to disclose customer name and address information to copyright owners without court oversight. Conservative MP Paul Calandra rightly noted the obvious parallels to Bill C-30, where the government wants similar disclosures to law enforcement. In this case, however, ADISQ wants the information disclosed to a private party based on nothing more than an allegation of infringement. Calandra’s comments suggest that the government recognizes the dangers of such an approach.

The proposed lack of due process is not limited to the disclosure of subscriber information. During its appearance, CIMA said it wanted a takedown system without any due process.

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March 5, 2012 45 comments News

Catching Up on Lawful Access Columns

With so much focus this week on Bill C-11 and ACTA, I’ve neglected to post two recent columns on lawful access. The first piece (Ottawa Citizen version, homepage version) focuses on the potential for compromise in the legislation, with particular attention to the issue of maintaining court oversight for subscriber […]

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March 2, 2012 4 comments Columns

CRTC Uncovers New Rogers Net Neutrality Violation

The CRTC has written to Rogers Communication following the identification of yet another violation of the Commission’s Internet traffic management policy. Rogers has announced plans to drop its traffic throttling practices, but the CRTC wants the new issue addressed immediately. I discussed the role of the CRTC in putting an […]

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March 2, 2012 1 comment Columns

IsoHunt Responds to CRIA’s Copyright Infringement Claims

IsoHunt has submitted its response to CRIA’s copyright infringement claims, arguing that it operates lawfully under Canadian law. The filing helps advance the long-delayed case and confirms yet again that the Canadian music industry legal position in court is that isoHunt is liable for millions in statutory damages under current […]

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March 1, 2012 1 comment News