Search Results for "Law Bytes" : 862

Do-Not-Call List Undermined By Loopholes in the Law

Appeared in the Toronto Star on October 12, 2009 as Do-Not-Call List Undermined By Loopholes in Law This month marks the one-year anniversary of the launch of Canada's do-not-call list. Over the past 12 months, millions of Canadians have registered their numbers on the list and filed hundreds of thousands […]

October 13, 2009 — Comments are Disabled — Columns Archive

Lawsuits Put Online Free Speech At Risk

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) focuses on the defamation lawsuits launched in British Columbia by Wayne Crookes against a who's who of the Internet, including Yahoo!, MySpace, and Wikipedia. Those companies are accused of defaming Crookes not by virtue of anything they have said, but rather by permitting their users to post or link to articles that are allegedly defamatory.

The lawsuits could prove to be critically important to the Internet in Canada, because they cast the net of liability far wider than just the initial posters. Indeed, the lawsuits seek to hold accountable sites and services that host the articles, feature comments about the articles, include hyperlinks to the articles, fail to actively monitor their content to ensure that allegedly defamatory articles are not reposted after being removed, and even those that implement the domain name registrations of sites that host the articles.

The common link with all of these targets is that none are directly responsible for alleged defamation. Rather, the Crookes lawsuits maintain that Internet intermediaries should be held equally responsible for such content.

April 30, 2007 — 18 comments — Columns

Privacy Breaches Expose Flaws in the Law

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) focuses on the need for Canadian privacy reform in light of last week's security breaches involving CIBC and retailer giant Winners. I note that these two incidents highlight the fragility of sensitive, personal information that is entrusted to Canadian businesses as well as the inadequacy of current Canadian privacy legislation. Business groups have cautioned against privacy law reforms, yet as the risk of identity theft grows, the calls for change are likely to become more vocal.

While the U.S. pushes forward with security breach disclosure legislation, Canadian business has argued strongly against similar reforms. The Information Technology Association of Canada, which features representatives from companies such as BCE, Telus, Rogers, Microsoft, Nortel, and Research in Motion on its board of directors, warned against mandatory notification legislation in an appearance before a parliamentary committee last month.

January 22, 2007 — 3 comments — Columns

The Letters of the Law: The Year in Canadian Tech Law

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) features my annual review in law and technology with a particular emphasis on Canadian developments. This past year in law and technology has been marked by a series of noteworthy developments including the explosive interest in user-generated content (culminating in […]

December 18, 2006 — Comments are Disabled — Columns

Government Docs Highlight Lawful Access Strategy

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) reports on government documents obtained under the Access to Information Act that provide some insight into how officials view, and have managed, Internet surveillance legislation. It uncovers a clear recognition of the negative public reaction to the lawful access proposals, a divide-and-conquer strategy for managing that reaction, and lingering internal doubts about the effectiveness of Canadian privacy legislation to address Internet privacy threats.

The negative public reaction is no secret to anyone who has followed the issue through the media. Indeed, a Department of Justice memorandum drafted just after the last federal election acknowledges that "although the public generally responds positively to the idea of 'getting tough on crime', proposals to introduce new investigative tools raise concerns about the surveillance powers of the state and the public’s underlying anxiety is heightened by the media and statements of privacy and civil liberties advocates." The memorandum continues by noting that "in the past, media coverage (albeit based on inaccurate and misleading interpretations) was highly critical and alarmist. Almost all stakeholders indicated generally that the lawful access proposals seemed to be moving ahead without the government having provided a convincing justification for the new measures."

With internal discussion focusing on public anxiety and critical media coverage, the issue may be well be viewed as a political liability that is best avoided by a minority government.

Should lawful access legislation be reintroduced, officials will be armed with detailed analysis of how stakeholder groups are likely to react.

October 30, 2006 — Comments are Disabled — Columns