September ← 2010 ← Innovation Law Blog

Due diligence or pre-crime? 1

Sep

2010

The film Minority Report deals with the idea that pattern recognition, when applied to various behavioural indices, can be used to predict when someone is about to commit a crime–but the twist is that there is still an element of choice, a quantum of uncertainty, such that the actor can choose not to act. All ...

US led effort to regulate the internet through domain names

Adam Friedlan

Sep

2010

According a recent Toronto Star article, the US Senate is in the process of reviewing legislation which would force Internet Service Providers to block access to certain domain names in an effort to enforce its own domestic laws on the internet. The legislation dubbed the “Great Firewall of America” would amount to a very significant ...

Streaming music providers priced out of the market? 1

Susan Deefholts

Sep

2010

A recent piece in the Globe highlighted the challenges inherent in finding a sweet spot for allocating revenue. For streaming music providers like Pandora, it simply doesn’t make business sense to provide their services in Canada; in addition to the fees demanded by SOCAN for compensating songwriters and publishers, Re:Sound, which represents performers and recording ...

Eric Schmidt interviewed on Google and privacy

Billy Barnes

Sep

2010

It’s not entirely serious but last night’s Colbert Report interview with Google CEO Eric Schmidt condenses his position in a short and entertaining segment. He discusses his comment that children should consider a name change to erase their youthful indiscretions, Google’s approach to China, and whether Google is engaged in data mining.

Access Copyright proposes costly new licencing scheme

Matthew Derricott

Sep

2010

In a recent article for the Toronto Star Michael Geist reported that Access Copyright is proposing a new licencing scheme to cover copying and course packs at post secondary institutions. Access Copyright is a copyright collective licences copying and course packs across the country. The proposal would see the fee set at $45 per university ...

US court allows suit for video game addiction despite EULA

Billy Barnes

Sep

2010

A Hawaiian court is allowing a man to sue for mental harm caused by video game addiction. The End User License Agreement (EULA) contained clauses limiting liability and requiring that suits be brought in Texas. However, the court held that this did not prevent the man for suing in Hawaii for physical harm (including mental ...