Look, if the alleged “President” of the United States wants to distract from COVID-19 by changing the subject who am I to argue? Gives me something more fun to write about. And to make many comments about the stupidity of the alleged leader of the free world and how he has no understanding about internet law. Right up my alley!
Please enjoy some crap I said on the radio earlier this month about COVID-19 and Zoom and privacy online and so forth. Audio courtesy (well I didn’t really ask, it’s just embeddable) of the Scott Radley Show.
Oh hiya! Before the days turn into weeks turn into months turn into years (too late?) I figured I should write something on this here bloggy thing about this topic that everyone is talking about. Now, as a caveat, I want to say we are dealing with a horrible and tragic situation where thousands of people are sick and dying, and I do not make light of that. Our essential workers are performing amazing work under horrible conditions while I sit typing safely in my home. I feel for everyone suffering, and support all those doing important things to keep society together, unlike me.
But will I continue to write the way I always write with sarcasm and bad jokes and swearing? I think you know the answer. Let’s talk privacy during a global pandemic. Just keep 6 feet away from me FFS.
If a tree falls in the forest can anyone hear it? Can you lose in court if you are not there and no one knows who you are? The answer to the second question at least is now a definitive yes, thanks to a court decision from a few weeks ago (ok ok almost a month ago, I’ve been busy) in Ontario. Let’s dive in anonymously. Who said that?
And belated Happy Holidays I guess? I was so busy writing actual posts over the holidays I forgot to post my annual holiday card. Though the theme this year is about the new year so it kind of makes sense to post it in the new year, right? Let’s go with that.
I just don’t like to end a year (or start one I guess) without thanking my readers (Steve and mom) and predicting, like I do every year, that I am sure this internet thingy will take off in 2020.
To 2020! To the internet!
Me I guess?
mmm, dusty
Oh, hai! Two very important things happened in Canada’s Federal Court over the last two weeks. Sure everyone is talking about only one of them, but I am a completist so I will talk about both of them. But one more than the other. Because the people demand it.
Hey, I have now hit double figures in the number of posts about the right to be forgotten! That might be a record around here. I’m too lazy to check. But a case from the past week has got me writing, so it must be important? Let’s find out!
[/checks date of last post] Oh hello. You probably thought I was dead. I am not! I was celebrating my annual “dark” period where I get writer’s block and / or lazy. But I was recently called out on Twitter for my silence, and I realized my many two fans needed to hear from me. Not only do you get words of wisdom written down, you get words spoken out loud, with me talking out of my ass (my favourite way to speak) in that clip up there. Lemme explain.
Mmm, that’s good irony
I first used that image up there on this little legal blog back in 2011. It’s incredible how still useful it is. My Facebook tag of posts is pretty much the biggest font in that tag cloud somewhere over there on the right. But the last week has really been bad for Facebook. Even Canada is pissed! Oh wait, Facebook’s stock jumped 4% after a very good earnings quarter. Maybe not such a bad week after all.
Hello! Let’s try something new today – me talking out of my ass. Shut up, my other posts are not me talking out of my ass. They are a combination of me recapping an important court decision or newsworthy item AND me talking out of my ass. This post will just be that second part. Fun! But there is some context, lemme explain.
So in the spirit of catching up on things from last year, here is an interview I did on CBC Homerun last, oh I dunno, October or something? I was reminded of it because today I am sitting on a panel discussing cannabis, hosted by McGill’s Centre for Intellectual Property Policy. There’s just no ending the pot discussions around here. Duuuude. With so many products like ice wreck on sale in Canada, there’s just so much to talk about. As expected, the use of cannabis for recreational purposes became legal across the country on 17 October 2018, under the Cannabis Act which “creates a legal and regulatory framework for controlling the production, distribution, sale and possession of cannabis in Canada”. This meant that Canada became the second nation (after Uruguay) to legalize the drug and it is now possible to purchase from sites like https://getkush.io/ and similar.
As expected, the use of cannabis for recreational purposes became legal across the country on 17 October 2018, under the Cannabis Act which “creates a legal and regulatory framework for controlling the production, distribution, sale and possession of cannabis in Canada”, according to a Government of Canada web site
So click below and have a listen! It’s actually a pretty interesting topic, about buying weed online and if your data is going to the U.S. and if you maybe should not do that as a result.
So I must have had a busy December or something? I guess I was grading papers and getting drunk. ANYWAY, December brought an important privacy & computer & internet case from the Supreme Court, so before it gets way too far in the past, let’s take a look!
I am a lawyer specializing in internet law working out of Montreal, though sometimes I do it in front of the U.S. Capitol. That should tell you what you need to know about internet law in Canada. I also warp young legal minds at the Faculty of Law at McGill.
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