Search Results for "Law Bytes" : 862

Tech Law Research Hurt By Budget Cuts

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version , homepage version ) examines last week's announcement that the Conservative government plans to cut funding for the Law Commission of Canada. I cite a series of important technology law research projects, noting that the common link is that the LCC, an independent law reform agency that advises Parliament on how to improve and modernize Canada’s laws, has provided the necessary financial support.

Government has limited capacity to conduct comprehensive research analysis on its own, leaving it increasingly dependent on outside contractors or academic studies to support its policy work.

October 2, 2006 — 2 comments — Columns

Industry Minister Should Put Spam Law Back on Agenda

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) highlights the failure of the Canadian government to follow through on a task force report that recommended new anti-spam legislation. Industry Minister Bernier was recently asked about his efforts in combating spam, an ongoing nuisance that costs Canadian business millions of dollars while harming the consumer confidence needed to support emerging businesses. Bernier indicated that he had just received the 2005 National Task Force on Spam report (I was a member of the task force) and would respond to its recommendations in the coming weeks.

While he acknowledged that a "big group of experts" had called on the government to do something, he seemed to foreshadow a rejection of the Task Force's legislative recommendations, commenting that "the question is, what can we do? And I'm not sure right now. Maybe the market will decide in the end." I argue that should the Minister take the time to carefully read the report, he will find that a broad cross-section of Canadians representing Internet service providers, marketers, and the public, do not share his doubts about the role of government.

Moreover, the Minister's claim that he only recently received the Task Force report is contradicted by documents recently obtained under the Access to Information Act. They reveal that just days after Bernier was sworn in as Canada’s Industry Minister, department officials delivered a briefing titled "Building Business Confidence and Consumer Trust Online."

September 25, 2006 — 3 comments — Columns

Canadian Libel Law Raises Net Free Speech Chill

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, BBC international version, homepage version) places the spotlight on this week’s fundraiser in support of P2Pnet.net, a British Columbia-based website that is being sued for defamation for comments posted on the site by its readers. The importance of the Internet intermediary liabilty issue extends well beyond just Internet service providers – corporate websites that allow for user feedback, education websites featuring chatrooms, or even individual bloggers who permit comments face the prospect of demands to remove content that is alleged to violate the law.

The difficult question is not whether these sites and services have the right to voluntarily remove offending content if they so choose – no one doubts that they do – but rather whether sites can be compelled to remove allegedly unlawful or infringing content under threat of potential legal liability. The answer is not as straightforward as one might expect since Canadian law varies depending on the type of content or the nature of the allegations.

July 31, 2006 — 4 comments — Columns

LSAT Fingerprinting Tests the Limits of Privacy Law

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) examines the growing controversy over the mandatory fingerprinting of students taking the LSAT. There has been swift reaction to the thumb-printing story, with the federal, British Columbia, and Alberta Privacy Commissioners joining forces in a combined privacy investigation. Moreover, the Canadian Council of Law Deans, which represents law schools across the country, has expressed concern over the practice, acknowledging that the data could be subject to a USA Patriot Act request. The Council raised questions about whether the practice might violate federal and provincial privacy statutes.

February 19, 2006 — 5 comments — Columns

Crystal Ball Gazing At The Coming Year in Tech Law

Predicting the future of Canadian technology law is challenging at the best of times, but during an election campaign prognostications are admittedly likely to be about as accurate as a coin flip. With that caveat in mind, my weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, freely available version) offers up […]

January 9, 2006 — 1 comment — Columns