The Evolution of the Online Revolution and How the Egyptian Government Stopped It

Leslie Chong is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. As protests continued in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s regime had prepared to wage a cyber counter-attack in an attempt to forestall an imminent rally. As the authorities prepared themselves for a day of anticipated mass protest, the government made an unprecedented […]

Update on Usage-Based Billing

Pauline Wong is the Assistant Director of IP Osgoode. The CRTC is not the only one reconsidering the question of usage-based billing for internet service.  Further to last week’s statements by its Chairman, Konrad von Finckenstein, the CRTC has announced the approach it will take to reviewing its decision.  Meanwhile, Bell has acknowledged that its […]

Licence to Kiss? Harlequin Files Application to Patent Kissing

Dan Whalen is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. It’s no secret that Valentine’s Day has become as much, if not more of, a holiday for marketing and merchandising profiteers as for lovers. With the big day approaching, one such company has made the rather unusual move of seeking to patent the kiss. […]

Consumers’ Rights in Copyrighted Works: A Play Back for Balance on Bill C-32 “Trio Provisions”

Pascale Chapdelaine is a PhD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School and a member of IP Osgoode. Her current research seeks to define and substantiate consumers’ rights with respect to copies of copyrighted works that consumers lawfully access. In a Brief submitted to the Legislative Committee on Bill C-32, I offered some comments on the […]

‘Global Repertoire Database’ Proposed as First International Copyright Compendium

Leslie Chong is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. Deloitte, a global consultancy firm, has recently begun putting together a global copyright database that is aimed at simplifying the current system being used to calculate and distribute royalties in the music industry. Formally referred to as the “Global Repertoire Database” (GRD), it has […]

Venture Lab debuted at Markham Convergence Centre

Mark Kohras is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. On Thursday February 3, 2011, Ontario’s Minister of Research and Innovation, Glen Murray, announced the launch of Venture Lab at the Markham Convergence Centre (MCC) as a part of the Ontario Network of Excellence (ONE). Venture Lab is designed to bring together partners in […]

Data Privacy Day 2011 at Dalhousie University

Matt Lonsdale is a JD candidate at Dalhousie University. On January 26, 2011, Dalhousie University hosted its 4th annual Data Privacy Day. The half-day conference featured presenters from a wide variety of backgrounds, running the gamut from journalism to computer security to law. They spoke on topics ranging from browser security to compliance with the Personal Information […]

CRTC Blasted for Usage-Based Billing Decision

Ivy Tsui is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. With the increasing popularity of streaming videos on Netflix, downloading music on iTunes, and gaming on Steam, internet usage soars. Major communication providers such as Rogers Communications and Bell Canada have been restricting internet usage by charging additional fees when their customers exceed a […]

Dating Site Plans to Take Facebook Profile Information

Stuart Freen is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. In one of the sleaziest moves to hit the internet in a while (and that is a very low bar), online dating site Gotham Dating Partners Inc. announced this month that it plans to take the information from up to 340 million public Facebook […]

On Air, On Sale, Off Piracy

Mark Kohras is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. Universal Music and Sony Music UK have both announced that they will soon deploy a new business strategy for downloaded music. The strategy (termed "on air, on sale") will see new albums available for download the same day they debut on the radio. Previously, […]