2012 Grafstein Lecture: ”Books, Libraries & The Digital Future”

This year’s 2012 Grafstein Lecture in Communications was delivered last week by Robert Darnton, the Carl H. Pforzheimer University Professor and University Librarian at Harvard University. His lecture, titled ”Books, Libraries & The Digital Future” discussed the digitalization and commercialization of public knowledge. He promotes the creation of a Digital Public Library, which will make the collections of research libraries available free of charge.

The webcast of Prof Darnton’s lecture can be found here.

“Do Not Track” – Recent Developments in Internet Privacy

Fresh off successful efforts to quash the Stop Online Piracy Act, a number of internet companies are turning to consumer privacy issues. Web giants like Google and Facebook have been facing mounting political pressure and popular demands for greater user choice and control over privacy settings. In the forefront of the debate is the proposed Do Not Track mechanism to restrict the tracking of user data. In the hands of web service providers and advertisers, information relating to consumers’ online activities –  such as browsing history, search terms and geographical location –  are pieced together to form a digital fingerprint of interests and preferences. This knowledge enables the delivery of personalized content and targeted behavioural advertising. The industry fears that strict privacy measures could negatively impact advertising revenue, a substantial component of corporate growth. Read the rest of this entry »

Google’s New Privacy Policy: Going Too Far?

Anyone who uses one of Google’s multitudes of services recently has been confronted with Google’s new Privacy Policy, which was implemented on the 1^st of March. Internet privacy is obviously a major concern for users and governments alike, and this new policy has been met with mixed reaction. Canadian reaction has suggested that it is a step in the right direction, whereas American lawmakers have asked for changes, and this week the European Union has suggested that the changes are in breach of European law. The multiplicity of reaction means it is important to understand what the changes are and why so many have come to their unique positions about it.

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TIP Conference Day 3: Pharmaceutical Patents

Today was Day 3 of the TIP Conference, which focused on the topic of Pharmaceutical Patents. As today’s panel moderator, Geoff Mowatt from Dimock Stratton noted, the pharmaceutical space is where all the big patent litigation is happening in Canada right now. $22.3 billion is spent annually by Canadians on prescription drugs, of which 58% are patented. The developing case law in this area is therefore very lucrative and high-stakes. This year, about 64% of all Canadian patent litigation will be dedicated to pharmaceuticals alone.

Today’s panel featured three seasoned patent litigators, Don Cameron from Bereskin & Parr LLP, Andrew Shaughnessy from Torys LLP, and Yoon Kang from Smart & Biggar. Read the rest of this entry »

SCC: ISPs are not “Broadcasters”

In a short ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada today (Reference re Broadcasting Act, 2012 SCC 4), it was held that Canadian Internet Service Providers are not “broadcasters” under the Broadcasting Act, S.C. 1991, c. 11, and therefore not subject to broadcasting regulations.

The Court upheld the Federal Court of Appeal ruling (2010 FCA 178) which answered a question by way of reference from the CRTC:

Do retail Internet service providers (“ISPs”) carry on, in whole or in part, “broadcasting undertakings” subject to the Broadcasting Act when, in their role as ISPs, they provide access through the Internet to “broadcasting” requested by end-users?

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Apple v Samsung: This Time It’s Global

“The United States district court is a public institution, and the workings of litigation must be open to public view,” Justice Alsup wrote in an October order in Oracle America, Inc v. Google Inc. Yet this is not the approach of U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh and U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal, who have not only granted many of Apple and Samsung’s sealing motions, but in some cases have gone even further. During an October hearing on the proposed injunction, Koh was unprompted when she asked Apple and Samsung if they wanted to seal the courtroom.

This level of secrecy prevents academics, lawyers, and other curious bystanders from the cottage industry of prognosticating the results of the trial. Perhaps the best alternative is to look at the recent decision by the German courts applying EU law in an effort to draw some conclusions that could apply to the American ruling. Read the rest of this entry »

Google Announces New Privacy Policy

Last week, Google announced its new privacy policy, which will take effect on March 1. Google is doing away with the over 60 different existing privacy policies for its various products and replace them with one single shorter and simpler privacy policy.

Those who are most affected by this change are people with Google accounts. Under the new privacy policy, if a user is signed in to the Google account, Google will be able to collect and combine user information from across its various products and services. For example, Google will be able to collect and analyze your search terms on the Google search engine and suggest related videos when you next go onto YouTube. This will enable Google to form fuller and more comprehensive user profiles. As Google emphasized in its announcement, this change will allow it “to create one beautifully simple and intuitive experience across Google.” Read the rest of this entry »

SOPA and PIPA: The White House Changes Its Stance

The explosion in major names denouncing  SOPA and PIPA (including giants of the internet like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and the Wikimedia foundation, who are all considering an unprecedented ‘blackout’ on January 18th) now has a new supporter in the name of the White House and the Obama administration.  Read the rest of this entry »

Carrier IQ faces lawsuits over controversial tracking software

Last week, a furor was caused by software developer Carrier IQ, who develop software used to track mobile phone usage in diagnostic and network monitoring purposes. A researcher, Trevor Eckhart, reverse-engineered his HTC Evo Android phone and found that Carrier IQ’s software tracked his keystrokes, search queries and text messages with no ability to turn it off. He posted his results in a YouTube video showing ostensibly how his information was recorded and transmitted to carriers in the background on his phone. The video attracted massive attention, gathering 1.5 million hits in a week, and evoked a cease-and-desist letter from Carrier IQ’s legal team which they subsequently withdrew and apologized for after the Electronic Frontier Foundation stepped in.

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The End of the Internet?

Tension between the interests of copyright holders and the accessibility and openness of the Internet is not a new phenomenon – Napster anyone? However, a potentially game-changing new development in online intellectual property and copyright law is currently making its way through the United Stages legislature. The Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in October of this year. The Act was given hearing in front of the House Judiciary Committee on November 16, 2011; its counterpart in the Senate, the PROTECT-IP Act, was introduced in May of this year and has since been passed. Read the rest of this entry »