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Globe Then Says Fear the Pirates

This morning the Globe and Mail has published a story on its front page on the first arrest under the new anti-camcording provision.  The same arrest (arrest, not conviction) that was reported and blogged about two weeks ago. Update: Appropriation Art files a complaint over similar coverage at CTV, while […]

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November 28, 2007 2 comments News

Globe Says “Don’t Fear the Pirates”

The Globe and Mail on why the music industry may "claim that downloads are destroying the business, every indication is that they're wrong."

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November 27, 2007 Comments are Disabled News

Verizon To Offer Open Network in 2008

Verizon Wireless has announced that it plans to open its network next year, offering consumers the ability to use any product and any application that meets certain technical standards. A huge development that highlights how fast this market is changing and how far behind Canada will fall unless there are […]

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November 27, 2007 2 comments News

The Legal Battle over QuebecTorrent

While Demonoid has attracted much of the attention, it is the legal battle over QuebecTorrent that is the real story.  QuebecTorrent is a BitTorrent tracker that facilitates links to content, both authorized and unauthorized. It does not host any of the content. The site is facing a legal fight on […]

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November 27, 2007 9 comments News

Private Email Not Always Hush Hush

My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, The Tyee version, Ottawa Citizen version, homepage version) begins by recounting that this past September, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency launched "Operation Raw Deal", an initiative that targeted people purchasing raw steroid materials through the Internet from China and repackaging the steroids as drugs for domestic sale.  Tyler Strumbo, a 23-year old California resident, was among the 124 people arrested. The Strumbo case is of particular interest because of an important Canadian connection. The foundation of the DEA's case rested on hundreds of encrypted emails stored on the computer servers of Hush Communications, a company based in Vancouver.  A British Columbia court ordered the company to decrypt the emails and to send them to the U.S. law enforcement officials.  Faced with a valid court order, the company complied, shipping 12 CDs filled with unencrypted personal email to investigators in California.

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November 27, 2007 6 comments Columns