On April 24th the Minister of Industry, Tony Clement, tabled a government bill with the aims of protecting consumers and businesses from dangerous forms of spam and regulating activities that are believed to discourage the use of electronic means of carrying out commercial activities. Bill C-27, the Electronic Commerce Protection Act, contains provisions that prohibit […]
Liberal MP Marlene Jennings has taken it upon herself to re-table her lawful access bill, called the Modernization of Investigative Techniques Act (MITA). Bill C-285 proposes to facilitate lawful interception of information transmitted via telecom service providers (TSP). The purpose delineated in the Act is: “… to ensure that [TSPs] have the capability to enable […]
A proposal to impose a levy on Internet Service Providers (ISPs) like Rogers and Shaw Communications Inc. to fund the creation of new media content in Canada is harmful, according to recent arguments heard by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). The proposal of a three percent levy on Canadian ISP revenues has the stated purpose […]
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission began hearings on February 17th in Gatineau to gain a better understanding of the “New Media” environment, to determine whether there should be some sort of regulation of online media. Though there are currently Canadian content requirements for broadcasters of traditional media, it is unlikely that the CRTC will […]
The rise of broadband internet for home-users within the last 10 years has caused important changes to the internet. Users of broadband services are able to consume and produce large amounts of internet content at very high bit-rates for a modest flat fee. At the same time, the number of ISPs serving broadband internet to […]
Over the past year, authoritarian governments have been cracking down on “subversive” Internet activity, attracting disapproval from human rights groups. However, U.S. technology companies have played an important role in such incidents. In the case of Chinese dissident Shi Tao, Yahoo! surrendered identifying information that allowed the Chinese government to arrest and jail him. To […]
Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Google wanted service providers to give preference to their content, so that it would be transmitted to consumers faster. According to the WSJ: Google Inc. has approached major cable and phone companies that carry Internet traffic with a proposal to create a fast lane for its own […]
The 2008 meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) was held in Hyderabad, India from December 3rd to 6th. This year’s central theme was ‘Internet for All’ and the meeting focused on three main discussion areas: reaching the next billion, promoting cyber security and trust, and managing critical internet resources. These were followed by sessions […]
E-mail emerged as an informal and humble means of electronic global communication. Now ubiquitous in business communications and transactions, e-mail is on the verge of becoming a key mover and shaker of modern day contract law. One of the most important features of a contract is offer and acceptance, which is often referred to as […]
The buzz around ‘net neutrality’ has started again. ‘Net neutrality’ is a term that became widely used and debated in the early 2000s. Simply put ‘net neutrality’ means ‘absolute non-discrimination’ against any site or content on the net. In particular, the term suggests that users should have equal access to the internet and that broadband […]