Balancing the rights of trademark holders and registered web-domain owners is a complicated process. Understandably, trademark holders wish to protect their intellectual property rights and prevent cyber-squatters from acquiring valuable domain names for an illegitimate purpose. Conversely, domain owners argue that corporations should not be granted the automatic right to acquire any domain that can […]
A recent decision (Julie Does II v. MySpace Inc.) by the Second Circuit Court of Appeal in California held that MySpace could not be held liable for sexual assaults on minors that started with a meeting online. The court found that MySpace was protected under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA). I believe […]
Despite the ominous verdict from the Swedish court which sentenced The Pirate Bay (TPB) operators to a year in prison and a penalty of US $3.6 million for facilitating copyright infringement, TPB may soon have new life breathed into the service. Global Gaming Factory X, a Swedish software company, has offered to purchase TPB for […]
The principle of Net neutrality refers to the idea that data packets on the Internet should be moved impartially, without regard to content, destination or source. In essence, it means that all Internet traffic should be treated equally and implies that an information network such as the Internet is most efficient and useful to the public when […]
In a recent article in the National Post, Ronald Deibert and Rafal Rohozinsky discussed the need for Canada to plan a strategy for dealing with the cyberwar that many states will undoubtedly be dragged into. They argued that increased security threats, such as the recently discovered GhostNet spy system that attacked ministries and embassies across […]
In this post I will focus on the ongoing debates regarding Deep Packet Inspections in Canada. I will also point out its extreme use in countries such as Iran and China. Canada A recent debate in Canada revolves around Internet Service Providers (ISPs) use of Deep Packet Inspections (DPI) technology. DPI provides a mechanism for […]
If you were looking for information on Jay Leno's talk shows, what would you type into the browser's URL bar? There are a number of possibilities, but odds are many people might try TheJayLenoShow.com as it is the name of his new show and the common name of his old show. It makes sense but […]
A recent article written by Colin Campbell from Maclean's discussed the unfortunate fact that Canada is usually far behind other nations when it comes to adopting new technologies that have been developed in the United States and abroad. His discussion begins with a reference to the Kindle DX. This is the new, wireless e-book reading […]
Click fraud is one of the largest problems faced by the online advertising industry, yet many ad vendor companies have largely remained content to fight it quietly. This may be about to change. Microsoft has recently announced that it will begin to actively pursue legal action against perpetrators of click fraud. The first attempt came […]
Virgin Media and Universal Music Group have taken the plunge into an ISP and digital music collaboration to provide customers in the UK with unlimited access to MP3 downloads and streaming of Universal label artists. Although the exact monthly fee for this service has yet to be determined, Virgin plans to provide the service for […]