The Internet Taxi: Collective Management of Copyright and the Making Available Right, after the Pentalogy

Just after the adoption of Bill C-11,[1] the Supreme Court of Canada handed down five decisions, which are now referred to as the “pentalogy”, to follow the heretofore famous trilogy.[2] The pentalogy, like its three-legged predecessor, marked a significant shift in Canadian copyright policy. The five cases dealt in one form or another with collective […]

Technological Neutrality: (Pre)Serving the Purposes of Copyright Law

In the realm of law, neutrality is widely hailed as a fundamental principle of fairness, justice and equity; it is also, however, widely criticized as a myth that too often obscures the inevitable reality of perspective, interest or agenda. It should come as little surprise, then, that the principle of technological neutrality, recently employed by […]

The Future is Unfriendly for Mobilicity Acquisition by Telus

The Federal Government recently announced it would not allow Mobilicity to transfer the wireless spectrum it owns to Telus, effectively blocking a deal for the incumbent to acquire the smaller new entrant. Many see this as a victory for consumers and a bolstering of the Government's initiative to spur competition in the wireless market, while others are concerned about the immediate future of […]

New Book - The Copyright Pentalogy: How the Supreme Court of Canada Shook the Foundations of Canadian Copyright Law

In the summer of 2012, the Supreme Court of Canada issued a series of rulings in five major copyright cases (referred to as the “copyright pentalogy”). A new book has just been released that examines the possible long-term impact of these decisions.

The Reference to the CJEU in Case C-466/12 Svensson

The European Copyright Society (ECS) was founded in January 2012 with the aim of creating a platform for critical and independent scholarly thinking on European Copyright Law. Its members are renowned scholars and academics from various countries of Europe, seeking to promote their views of the overall public interest.

IP Osgoode Speaker Series Videos

IP Osgoode would like to thank The Honourable Justice Marshall Rothstein and The Honourable Mr. Justice Roger T. Hughes for being a part of our speaker series. They both provided thought provoking commentary on intellectual property litigation from a judicial perspective.  For those who were unable to attend our speaker series events in person, analysis […]

The Stalkers in our Computers - Online Ad Tracking + Privacy

On 17 February, 2012 the Wall Street Journal published a story claiming that Google had bypassed Safari web-browser security settings on Mac and mobile devices in order to track users that did not wish to be tracked. This information led to an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission deemed “Safari-gate”, resulting in the largest FTC […]

Pornography, Privacy and Professional Computers

The Supreme Court has ruled on a case that began with nude student photos on a teacher’s work computer, but opened the larger question of an employee’s reasonable expectation of privacy when using office technology.

Bonsai This Is Not: ICANN and the Internet Governance Landscape

Internet Governance may be one of the most understated, under-recognized issues today, relative to its impact on Internet-using society as we know it. And as far as landscapes go, the current one sits slightly closer to that of an asteroid belt than a Japanese rock garden.

Sunny with a Chance of Chill: Forecasting EU's New Cloud Computing Strategy

At the risk of raining on the EU's cloud parade, the European Commission's recently unveiled report, “Unleashing the Potential of Cloud Computing in Europe”, also threatens to unleash a legal storm of international regulatory ordeals, multi-jurisdictional issues, privacy and security battles, and commercial liability. Alas, that is the price of technological ambition: one is always waiting for […]