The Cold War in Intellectual Property Law Policy: Russian Music Site Allofmp3.com to reopen

  Popular Russian online music store Allofmp3.com announced its plans to reopen following a ruling by a Moscow district court acquitting its former head of copyright violation. After persistent pressure and attempts by an angry U.S. recording industry to smother the site, the plug was finally pulled on the site earlier this year by the […]

Unfair Sacrifice of User Interests if Unlocking iPhone is Illegal

The murkiness of the legality of unlocking the iPhone was highlighted recently by an AppleInsider article which suggested that actions of the ‘iPhone Dev Team’, hackers who are offering the solution to unlocking the iPhone for free online, may be illegal. The iPhone is locked to one service provider, AT&T, meaning another wireless carrier‘s SIM […]

Digital downloads widen Warner’s loss

Warner Music Group’s (WMG) third-quarter loss widened this year, to US$17 million. Warner is one of several major players in the global music industry being hit hard by the seismic repercussions the internet has held for the music business. Indeed, virtually every industry that distributes their product through traditional media has seen market changes like […]

When the Solution Turns into the Problem

In an unexpected move, the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) filed documents in the Federal Court of Appeal recently in a fight to eliminate the application of the private copying levy to MP3 players. The irony of this is apparent as the CRIA has advocated for the private copying levy for many years and makes […]

“Get off of my … patent?”

A patent is a bundle of exclusive rights. This allows an inventor to make, use, and sell a novel invention, without the threat of competition. It may seem odd, then, to acquire a patent without any intention of using or making that patented invention. But a new breed of company, the conspicuously named “patent troll”, […]

ICANN’T Believe That Domain Name

In the article “ICANN’t Believe That Domain Name,” Wired’s Oscar S. Cisneros details some of the issues and concerns surrounding the current process of resolving disputes between trademark holders and the owners of Internet domain names. This comment will briefly outline the dispute resolution process described in the article before arguing that the current system […]

Prince Fights for his Right to Distribute

According to several media sources recording artist Prince (a.k.a., formerly known as The Artist Formerly Known As Prince) is prepared to sue YouTube (as well as eBay and Pirate Bay) for copyright infringement of his works. Prince is not alleging that Youtube is itself infringing on his copyright. Youtube only provides a forum for people […]

Copyright piracy and the Robin Hood justification: are we missing the point?

The events of early October, 2007 may herald a new age of respect for intellectual property (IP) rights. The first trial on peer to peer music file sharing pits the major record companies against a woman accused of copyright infringement, an act for which the U.S. Federal Court awarded a $220,000 judgment against her. The […]

An End To Microsoft’s Dominance? Unlikely.

For many years, the gold standard in word processing has been Microsoft’s Office software. Indeed, Microsoft Word is so entrenched as the word processing software of choice that its name has practically become synonymous with its function - as Kleenex has with facial tissue. But I.B.M., arguably Microsoft’s biggest contender for computer-related supremacy, is gearing […]

Google’s Street View may violate Canadian Privacy Laws

Several months ago, web giant Google unveiled the latest feature of their popular mapping website, Google Maps. Street View allows users to get a panoramic view of selected locations around major cities in the United States. Now it’s being suggested that Canada is next on the list for this feature, and there is controversy brewing. […]