Columns

CRTC Radio Review Needs to Dial In New Frequency

My weekly LawBytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) focuses on the CRTC's Commercial Radio Review. I argue that missing from the debate is any real vision about how public policy goals to promote Canadian artists and encourage a diverse, financially successful commercial radio market can be adapted to an […]

May 15, 2006 — 5 comments — Columns

Canada’s Top Court Tips Hand on Privacy

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) focuses on the recent Supreme Court of Canada Heinz decision which sheds light into how Canada' s top court regards the importance of privacy. I argue that the decision can be read as an indirect endorsement of the Privacy Commissioner […]

May 11, 2006 — Comments are Disabled — Columns

Spam Not Gone, But Increasingly Forgotten

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) takes stock of the battle against spam one year after Canada’s National Task Force on Spam submitted its report. The column notes that while filtering has become more effective, first impressions can be deceiving. Global spam volume continues to increase, with recent surveys indicating that 80 percent of all e-mail is now spam. Spam has also become far more dangerous as many messages secretly contain viruses or other hidden programs that can unwittingly turn ordinary Internet users with broadband connections into large-scale spammers.

Unfortunately the Canadian legal framework has failed to keep pace with the new spam-related concerns.

May 3, 2006 — 3 comments — Columns

Industry Associations Not Immune to Tech Effect

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) examines the recent resignations of six leading Canadian independent record labels from the Canadian Recording Industry Association as part of a larger trend of pressure on longstanding industry associations. In that regard, the column discusses the CCTA's decision to disband […]

April 24, 2006 — Comments are Disabled — Columns

The Legal Limits of Government Tinkering With Technology

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) uses the recent French Parliament law involving interoperability and Apple's DRM as the basis for a discussion of governments that tinker with technology through regulation. The law should be understood as a logical reaction to mounting consumer frustration with technological limitations on their purchases and a desire for balance in copyright.

Although the French law may appear to be unique, many governments regularly tinker with technology through regulation. For example, the Liberal government last year introduced "lawful access" legislation that would have required Internet service providers to dramatically overhaul their networks by inserting new surveillance technologies. Similarly, the U.S. established "broadcast flag" requirements that would have mandated the inclusion of copy-controls within a wide range of electronic devices (a court struck the requirements down as unconstitutional).

Moreover, experience demonstrates that the private sector may not respond to consumer demands to offer compatible products. The satellite radio market provides a recent example, with the two major providers – XM and Sirius – steadfastly refusing to offer a device that supports both services despite the fact that they have jointly developed just such a product.

With government intervention looming as a possibility and the private market unlikely to resolve compatibility concerns, what principles should regulators adopt to provide all stakeholders with greater certainty about the appropriate circumstances for lawmakers to tinker with technology?

April 18, 2006 — 3 comments — Columns