In which we begin to try to catch up on [/checks date] 9 months of internet law developments. How does this writing thing work again?
Topic Copyright
TekSavvy keeps fighting for you and losing
Never gets old. Go Habs Go.
Oh, hai. [/checks date on last post]. Ooh, boy. Been a while! Maybe I only blog in months starting with the letter J? Yeah, let’s go with that. ANYWAY, a huge case came out [/checks date] about a month ago. Ooh, boy. I really should be better at this blogging thing. Maybe blame COVID? Yeah, let’s go with that. Or maybe I should just stop checking dates. On to the month-old case!
Site blocking! Reverse class actions! It’s the internet and copyright law jurisprudence last two weeks in review
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.
This was a bad month to be an internet pirate in Canada
Arrrrrghh you a pirate? It’s all bad news from here.
Notices! Online Pics! YouTube! It’s the Canadian internet law jurisprudence month in review
mmm, dusty
The month of May 2017 will go down in the annals of internet law history for having not one, not two, but five (three, sir!) three cases of note about internet law in Canada. Well, maybe not “of note”, but noteworthy. Oh crap, I just looked and one of the cases is actually from April. Well this is starting poorly.
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Dispatches from the world of internet law for March 2017
I’m still thinking about what to write!
Sometimes you have have a lot to write about and sometimes you have nothing to write about. This is one of those times. So let’s write about all of it. And none of it.
Hear the dulcet tones of my voice talking Notice and Notice
Do you enjoy a lawyer repeatedly saying “you know”? Do you enjoy the line “the Barreau du Quebec would have my butt”? Well then do I have audio for you!
Last week I was on CBC Daybreak with the always excellent Mike Finnerty. We had a really good interview about the 2-year old news story of copyright notices for illegal downloading. It was in the context of a story of a woman who received a notice and paid up. Big mistake! Anyway, I managed to sneak into the Rad-Can building late at night to get my hands on the audio which you can hear above (j/k, they were actually quite nice about it, hat tip to them).
Here’s a true story. I went into the studio at 6:30 AM for the interview, no shower, no shave, my hair was a mess and I was wearing a hoodie. Because it was CBC Radio. Well, as it turns out the 6-7 hour of Daybreak is on CBC TV! A fact i did not know as I am not normally awake at that hour. As a result, I have destroyed all copies of the video in existence. As far as you know.
Enjoy the audio.
Illegal set-top boxes – a multimedia extravaganza post
Audio! Words! Internet cat fights! This post has it all.
The Supreme Court does some technology things
“Broadcast-incidental copies” does not sound like a major jumping off point for a huge case about copyright and technology, but apparently it is. And now I have to figure out what the hell it means, in light of the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in CBC v. SODRAC from a couple of weeks ago. Goddammit.
We have a notice! Let’s rip it to shreds.
The entire editorial team and staff here at AM.com have been anxiously waiting for someone to forward them a notice that they received through their ISP under the new notice and notice regime. Well, jackpot! We received one about a month ago, and since then we have received several more. A very kind person has allowed me to reprint it here, as a public service. And I will be ripping it apart.
Internet law expert says things on TV
This morning noted internet law expert Allen Mendelsohn (who?) appeared on CTV’s Canada AM to opine about the update to the Copyright Act that came into effect today. It’s called the “notice and notice regime” and I’ve written about it before. Wow, 3 years ago! Everything I wrote is still valid though, as the government did not change or add one word to the law since then. Lazy government.
Anyway, god forbid CTV should have an embeddable video player, so here are some links:
Actual news story with quotes from somebody you know (plus the video)
My new year’s resolution is to media whore like it’s 1999. So far so good. I’ll be on CJAD tomorrow at 7:10 AM, CKNW on Sunday at 4:30 PM (EST) and on other radio stations Monday morning. Just waiting on The National. Call me, CBC!
Rough waters for the Pirate Bay this week
You know an internet law story is real news when the national media calls me. I’m obviously the most important and telegenic internet law expert in Canada. While my CTV Canada AM appearance was cancelled at the last minute, CBC online contacted me yesterday for a comment on the Pirate Bay raid and torrents in general for an article that should be up soon (update – voilà). Is the Pirate Bay sunk? Let’s review. And speculate wildly! My specialty!
Allen
Mendelsohn
is me.
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.
More about me