Having Skin in the Game – How Video Games are Entering the World of Gambling

Gambling has accompanied sports-watching for hundreds of years. In Canada alone, it was reportedly estimated that $500 million are spent annually on provincially-regulated sports gambling. Similar gambling activities are now prevalent in digital arenas. Popular strategy video games, such as Starcraft and Dota 2, have given rise to the massive industry of eSports, or professional competitive […]

Money Talk(s) and Competition Conflict: The CTS17 Regulatory Blockbuster

Earlier this month, I attended the 2017 Canadian Telecom Summit and covered the Regulatory Blockbuster panel. The Regulatory Blockbuster is an annual event where regulatory representatives from telecom companies (this year, TELUS, Rogers, Bell, and TekSavvy) and other representative stakeholders (this year featured the Public Interest Advocacy Centre) debate regulation, pricing, and future challenges to […]

As Netflix Goes Global, CanCon Must Broaden Its Appeal

Since the introduction of Netflix to the Canadian market in September 2010, online television distribution, known as “Over the Top” (OTT) services, have expanded rapidly at a rate of over 25% per year in Canada, becoming one of the main distribution systems for home entertainment. However a 2012 article by Michael Rimock in the Canadian […]

Affordable Access and the Pursuit of Inclusive Innovation

TORONTO – The Government of Canada is focussed on making high quality and affordable telecommunications services available to Canadians from coast-to-coast-to-coast. Speaking at the Canadian Telecom Summit[1], Navdeep Bains, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, stated that the Government of Canada intends to address the digital divide in Canada. According to Minister Bains, […]

Bringing Biologics in from the Cold: Does Canada’s IP Regime Need a Booster?

As ratification stutters for the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), the much-maligned free-trade deal between Canada and the European Union, debate continues as to whether the Canadian intellectual property (IP) regime will provide adequate protection for innovative biologic medicines in relation to subsequent-entry biologics (SEBs). Biologic medicines are complex molecules derived from living organisms […]

Professors and Leading Scholars Respond to the IPO's Request for Views on Modernising the European Copyright Framework

On September 14, the European Commission published draft legislation aimed at modernising the European copyright framework.  To ensure the draft legislation delivers the best outcomes for all those affected by it, the Intellectual Property Office made a call for views on the costs and benefits of the proposed measures, and suggestions for how the language […]

Pokémon Go: Augmenting Legal Reality

Even in 2016, it is tempting to treat the Internet as separate from the bricks-and-mortar world. As much as we might like to keep them apart, Augmented Reality apps like Pokémon Go will force the interaction between technology and more traditional areas of law.

EU-US Privacy Shield Adopted: Now What?

The re-posting of this article is part of a cross-posting agreement with CyberLex. On July 12, 2016, the European Commission formally issued its adequacy decision endorsing the EU-US Privacy Shield, following the approval of the deal by the Article 31 Committee on July 8.  Although the European adequacy decision has immediate effect, U.S. organizations will […]

Federal Privacy Commissioner Provides Submission on New Data Breach Notification and Reporting Regulations

The re-posting of this article is part of a cross-posting agreement with CyberLex. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (“OPC“) has provided its views on the data breach reporting and notification requirements that are soon to be prescribed by regulation under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, SC 2000, c 5 (“PIPEDA“).

Privacy Commissioner Seeks Public Input on Consent Model

The re-posting of this article is part of a cross-posting agreement with CyberLex. On May 11, 2016, Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien announced the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (“OPC”) would seek public input on the issue of how Canadians can give meaningful consent to the collection, use and disclosure of their personal information […]