As we head into the Canada Day long weekend, I had nothing really big I wanted to write about, but a handful of little things. Thus, the Friday Internet Law News Dump was born. Is it reminiscent of another quickie type of post I used to write in another life? Maybe. Is it an easy way to avoid paying off bets of scotch to certain individuals? Shut up.
Oh hai! Still a couple of hours left to celebrate #DataPrivacyDay, #DataPrivacyCentury, or whatever. Meh, privacy. Who needs it.
I keed. YOU need privacy of course! Keep the man off your data. To celebrate, go ahead and watch me in the video above, giving a talk about, I dunno, privacy or something. It’s been a whirlwind #DataPrivacyWeek for me, being an expert and so forth I am in demand! Above was the talk I gave at McGill. Besides the terrible “uh’s” and “um’s”, it’s not too bad! And a good summary of what’s coming in Quebec’s new privacy law, and how it helps you. Enjoy! Slides here to download if you really can’t get enough of me. Now go be private.
Hi!
Happy Data Privacy Day. Keep your data private! If you are here to get my presentation slides from my talk at McGill today, you can download them here.
Allen
Look, if I have to be honest, my year was fine. I don’t know if you heard how important the internet was this year, but it was. And that tends to work in favour of people in the internet business, like me! Besides a lot of inconvenience like everyone else, my close family and I were not really affected by COVID. So I can’t complain.
I hope all four of my readers (Steve, Massimo, Commissioner Miner and Mom) are safe and healthy, and are having a wonderful holiday season. I know every year I say “this internet thing could really take off next year” but given I was right last year (finally!) I’ll just say “to a much better 2021”. I’ll take having a worse year business-wise if it means we can all get back to more normal times.
See you in 2021.
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!
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.
Hopefully you are not stuck at your desk this Christmas Day and you are enjoying the delicious beverage of your choice. Or at least if you are at your desk, you have the type of office where you can still enjoy a beverage.
From all of us here at AM.com – me, Editor Mom, Comment Mainstay Steve, and, uh, all the rest – a very very very very Happy Holidays, and all the best for 2019. As I say every year, I predict this internet dealie will really take off next year! It’s bound to be true sooner or later…
For the third year in a row, I was honoured to write the country report for Canada for Freedom House‘s incredibly important annual report, Freedom on the Net. Writing the Canada Report is easy; look at the green (“free”) up there on that map. Sure we may have some expensive data on our phones and some issues getting high-speed internet up North, but we’ve got it lucky. We can still get internet from a reliable internet service provider like HTTPS://WWW.EATEL.COM/RESIDENTIAL/INTERNET, to use whenever we want. Some countries don’t have internet access at all! Let’s take a look at some of those purple (“totally not free jesus f***ing christ this place is a nightmare”) countries up there and see what we can learn about internet freedom around the world. If you are constantly left unsatisfied by your internet connection in Canada, it may be time to look at a canadian vpn or two to try and improve the state of your internet connection.
Look, I personally had a decent year in 2017. I taught Cybersecurity and Privacy at McGill’s Faculty of Law for the first time, I had plenty of work, I had a few good whiskeys, and all in all I can’t complain. But holy fuck those poor kids down below the 49th stuck in Trump hell. And SO MUCH sexual harassment. Not to mention some very sad passings, like Gord Downie, Tom Petty, Berry, Benson, a Batman and a Bond.
But fuck it. We’re still here, life goes on, and it can’t get much worse than this. As I predict every year, I am sure this internet thingy will take off in 2018. With net neutrality FFS.
Anyway, thanks for reading Steve. Thanks mom for editing. Thanks to the rest of you for popping in from time to time.
Happy holidays!
Once again this year I authored the Canada Report for Freedom House‘s Freedom on the Net 2017. It’s worth saying (as I did last year) how much I think it’s an honour to do so. But it’s easy to establish that we are pretty lucky in Canada in comparison to a lot of places. Let’s take a look at how much it sucks to be in…
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.
OK I’ll say it, 2016 sucked. Well it was fine for me personally and professionally, but that was one ugly US election and we lost a lot of good people. Thank goodness it’s almost over.
You readers were great though! On behalf of the whole AM.com team, thanks so much for sticking with us and making this law blogging thingy all sorts of fun! As I predict every year, I am sure this internet thingamajig will take off in 2017. Sooner or later that will come true.
Happy holidays!
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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