Micropayment: Striking a Balance at the Crossroads of Information Policy

Over a decade ago, the seminal article, “The Digital Silk Road,” by Norman Hardy and Eric Dean Tribble[1] conceptualized the Internet as “a flee-market where cash and anonymity prevail.” This vision helped spark a flurry of activity and multiple attempts to develop a successful model for collecting payments for small online transactions. After numerous failed […]

Anything Under the Sun Made by Man

In June 2007, the BBC reported, that scientists from the J. Craig Venter Institute had applied to patent the method they plan to use to create their synthetic organism. According to the article, the Institute is claiming exclusive ownership of a set of 381 essential genes believed necessary to keep an organism alive and the […]

Verizon Communications, Inc. v. Vonage Holdings Corp: a Victory for Vonage or a Retreat by the Courts?

In March 2007, the district court in Alexandria, Virginia held that Vonage, a company which uses voice over IP technology, had infringed claims of three patents owned by Verizon Communications, and that those patents were not invalid as obvious. The judgement awarded $58,000,000 in damages and a royalty of 5.5% on any future infringing sales […]

Save Face or Facebook? Why You May Want to Think Twice Before Posting Private Information Online.

A recent CBC news story showed several Canada Border Service agents having posted damaging comments and pictures on their Facebook profiles. The pictures showed them partying and drinking while in uniform, and the remarks revealed an inability to discern between certain foreign passports. While the article will undoubtedly raise issues of national security, it should […]

Canada to Criminalize Identity Theft

Canada is getting serious on identity theft! Will sharpening the teeth of the criminal law be enough? To clarify the news headlines, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson’s has announced that proposed legislation intends to criminalize preparatory offences, such as gathering and/or trafficking confidential personal information for the purposes of deceit or fraud. While preparatory offences will […]

Who Cares about Copyright Infringement of Mp3’s Anymore?

The recent closure of AllofMP3 is coming to an end. The site that was closed in July 2007 has recently been reopened under another name and site location. The site that has users pay a flat rate to download music was thought to be in violation of copyright laws in Russia. However, a recent court […]

Tipping the Scale Too Far: User Versus Owner Rights in the iPhone Debate

Like many cell phone customers, you might be irritated that your service provider locks you in.  Shortly after Apple released its iPhone, hackers developed unlocking software so the popular phone could be used on networks other than AT&T.  Since it has not been made official that the iPhone is coming to Canada, many buyers are […]

Google’s Personal Databases: So Maybe Google Can Get Copyright Protection, but is it Warranted?

So Google, at the behest of the European Union, is compiling what could be the largest personal database the world has ever seen. Does this sound a little Orwellian to anyone? The privacy implications of Google’s actions should concern just about every user of the search engine and internet. As rightly pointed out by activist […]

Canada to Criminalize Identity Theft

The move to criminalize identity theft comes amid pressing calls to modernize current privacy laws that have be made irrelevant by rapidly evolving technologies. Identity theft, that is the unauthorized gathering, possessing of or dealing in identity information, is not caught by the existing Criminal Code. While several activities integral to the unauthorized use of […]

Olympic Mark Protection Overkill: One Step Removed From Official Mark Protection and Two Steps Removed From Standard Trademark Protection

In response to a request from the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) for additional trademark legislation related specifically to the Olympic and Paralympic 2010 Winter Games, the Canadian government proposed Bill C-47, The Olympic and Paralympic Marks Act, which received Royal Assent on June 22, 2007 and is now awaiting its coming into force by the […]