My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, HTML backup article, homepage version) examines the battles over municipal wireless Internet access initiatives. Adam Beck, a provincial cabinet minister from London, Ontario, introduced a bill that created the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario. Adopting Power for the People as his slogan, Beck vigorously fought corporate interests who wanted to keep electricity in private hands. He pushed for a public utility that could provide all Ontario cities and towns with affordable electric power generated from Niagara Falls. His vision led to the worlds largest public utility and dramatically changed the lives of rural Ontarians by bringing electricity to thousands of farms and villages.
Columns
Copyright and Faith in the Free Market – Now in the Ottawa Citizen
The Ottawa Citizen features my column which focuses on the Canadian recording industry's rejection of alternative compensation systems on the grounds that it prefers to rely on the free market. The column notes that the industry has been a leading proponent of government involvement, consistently seeking both financial support and legislative intervention.
Copyright and Faith in the Free Market
My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, HTML backup article, homepage version) in the Toronto Star focuses on the Canadian recording industry's rejection of alternative compensation systems on the grounds that it prefers to rely on the free market. The column notes that the industry has been a leading proponent of government involvement, consistently seeking both financial support and legislative intervention. It concludes that as Canada heads toward yet another round of copyright reform, policymakers and politicians should be mindful that they have already used legislative intervention to establish many rights and protections that have tilted the copyright balance heavily toward creators at the expense of users.
Privacy Breaches Shouldn’t Stay Private
Professor Geist’s weekly Toronto Star column (Toronto Star version, HTML backup article, homepage version) calls on Canadian lawmakers to follow the California lead by adopting a law that requires organizations to publicly disclose privacy breaches to their customers. It argues that privacy breaches, including instances of misused personal information or […]
The Battle over Canadian Internet Pharmacies
Professor Geist’s weekly Toronto Star Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, HTML backup article, homepage version) assesses the current battle over Internet pharmacies. The column argues that the Canadian and U.S. governments, supported by PhARMA, have relied on a series of demonstrably false premises to stir fear among the Canadian […]
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
