My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version and non-reg hyperlinked version, homepage version) reflects on two major copyright events of the past ten days — last week's Grokster case and the recently announced Canadian copyright reforms. Of all the interesting anecdotes about the Grokster case, I found the fact that people began lining up at 2:30 p.m. the day before the hearing the most interesting. As I argue in the column, when people are willing to line up for nearly 24 hours to hear a copyright case, something far bigger than accessing free music is taking place.
Columns
The Real Story Behind Canada’s Copyright Plans
My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version or free hyperlinked Ottawa Citizen version, homepage version) provides some context for last week s announcement on the government s plans for Canadian copyright reform. The immediate spin from the recording industry was that they were delighted with the push toward copyright reform. While I am sure they are happy that the government is doing something, a closer look at the actual proposals suggest that they did not get much of what they wanted.
New Accountability Needed For ISPs
My weekly Law Bytes column (full hypertext version with background links or Toronto Star version, homepage version) focuses on a touchy subject — ISP accountability.
I argue that it is time to re-examine the self-regulatory, hands-off approach to ISPs. Content regulation is clearly unworkable and dangerous, however, I am of the view that increased accountability for ISP's carrier function may be needed.
Time for Canada To Cancel Crown Copyright
My weekly Law Bytes column (full hypertext version with background links or Toronto Star version, homepage version) focuses on Canadian crown copyright, which provides that the government retains the copyright associated with any work that is prepared or published by or under its direction, creating an enormous and unconscionable barrier to Canadian film making, political advocacy, and free speech.
What Do You Want the Internet To Be?
My weekly Law Bytes column (homepage version) highlights several potential Canadian policies that may create a very different Internet. They include ubiquitous network surveillance through the lawful access initiative, ISPs that engage in packet preferencing as in the two cases last week involving Vonage and Telkom Kenya, a new extended license that would require schools to pay millions of dollars for content that is currently freely available on the Internet, and rules that make it far easier to remove an allegedly infringing song than to remove dangerous child pornography. It concludes by riffing on an old Nortel ad campaign by asking whether this is really what we want the Internet to be?
Recent Posts
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 231: Sara Bannerman on How Canadian Political Parties Maximize Voter Data Collection and Minimize Privacy Safeguards 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 230: Aengus Bridgman on the 2025 Federal Election, Social Media Platforms, and Misinformation 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 229: My Digital Access Day Keynote – Assessing the Canadian Digital Policy Record 
Queen’s University Trustees Reject Divestment Efforts Emphasizing the Importance of Institutional Neutrality 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 228: Kumanan Wilson on Why Canadian Health Data Requires Stronger Privacy Protection in the Trump Era
