Michael Geist

Latest Posts

Stingray Launches Canadian Music Service

Stingray today launches a new online Canadian music service having addressed the major issue keeping services out of the country – the high cost of licensing. CRIA (Music Canada)’s Graham Henderson admits that high costs have been cited as one of the principal reasons services such as Pandora have stayed […]

August 16, 2011 — 2 comments — News

Telecom Giants Lure Ex-Cabinet Ministers to their Boardrooms

Telecom policies, particularly Internet and wireless issues, have generated enormous public interest over the past year. Politicians have evidently taken note with all political parties expressing concern over Internet data caps, net neutrality, and the competitiveness of Canadian wireless services.

The political shift toward consumer-focused telecom concerns has unsurprisingly attracted the attention of the large incumbent telecom providers such as Bell and Telus, who have found their regulatory plans stymied by political intervention and the admission by some Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission commissioners that the current policy environment has failed to foster sufficient competition.

My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes the incumbent telecom providers recently served notice that they are gearing up to fight back, with Bell adding former Industry Minister Jim Prentice to its board of directors and Telus doing the same with former Public Safety Minister and Treasury Board President Stockwell Day. The addition of two prominent, recently departed Conservative cabinet ministers makes it clear that Bell and Telus recognize the increasing politicization of telecom policy.

August 16, 2011 — 12 comments — Columns

Coalition Protests Government Lawful Access Plans

A coalition of advocacy groups and professors (myself included) have written a public letter expressing concern over the government’s plans to reintroduce lawful access legislation. The letter generated coverage from the CBC here and here.

August 10, 2011 — 6 comments — News

Ontario Court of Appeal Rules Domain Names Are Property

The Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled that domain names are property. The decision marks a shift in judicial thinking on the issue, which previously treated domain names as licenses.

August 10, 2011 — Comments are Disabled — News

Dot-ca Domain Dispute Rules Changes Coming This Month

Domain name disputes emerged as one of the first Internet legal issues in the mid-1990s as speculators recognized the value of domain names and the potential to resell them to the highest bidder. The growth of “cybersquatting” led to several unsuccessful attempts to establish a dispute resolution system. Finally, in 1999, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the agency responsible for administering the domain name system, created the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), which has since resolved tens of thousands of disputed domains.

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA), which manages the dot-ca domain, adopted its own dispute resolution policy, the CIRA Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (CDRP) in 2002. My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes that using the UDRP as a model, CIRA developed a Canadian version that borrows much of its structure and content from the international approach, yet reflects Canadian law and policy.

August 9, 2011 — 5 comments — Columns