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If Facebook were truly committed to protecting privacy, it would start with the assumption that people want less access to their information, not more
Read moreRobot Law Is Taking Over
Amazon's ironic decision to delete Kindle users' copies of 1984 shows the old rules about copyright, ownership and privacy don't apply to today's technology
A little over a year ago, in one of the most important privacy cases ever heard by the Supreme Court of Canada, Justice Ian Binnie sought to allay concerns that we are sleepwalking into a surveillance society with the following remark: "On these occasions, critics usually refer to 'Orwellian dimensions' and 1984, but the fact is that 1984 came and went without George Orwell's fears being entirely realized, although he saw earlier than most the direction in which things might be heading."
Like most judicial pronouncements with staying power, I still haven't quite figured out what he meant by this. Was the judge simply saying that the worries expressed by privacy advocates are sometimes overblown? Or was his clever, lawyerly use of the word "entirely" a tongue-in-cheek expression of genuine concern?
Read moreMy Submission To The Canadian Copyright Consultation 2009
What I do know is that copyright 101 is forever changed. Copyright law in the age of the Kindle is no longer merely about ownership of the means of (re)production. It is also about access to knowledge, personal privacy, the citizen’s right to read anonymously and the consumer’s right to control the devices that she owns.
When the Ministers complete their copyright consultation on September 13th and begin to draft new laws projected for the spring of 2010, I hope that they recognize the power of the laws of robotics, reject an approach that would enable The Ministry of Truth, and offer-up a legislative regime that truly balances the copyright owners interests with the rights of citizens, as twice promised.
Read moreThe Components Of Health
The following is an mp3 recording of a lecture I gave at the 2009 National Health Law Conference in Montreal, Quebec. The conference, organized by the Université de Sherbrooke, was held October 2nd & 3rd, 2009 and focused on the theme of grand challenges in health law and policy.
My lecture “The Components of Health” was part of the panel entitled “Grand Challenges Regarding Privatization and Commodification”. You can listen to or download the mp3 recording of the lecture here.
New Privacy World
Ever since I moved to ottawa, I have been a huge fan of CBC Radio. So I was thrilled yesterday to be invited for the 3rd time to appear on to talk about our new book, Lessons from the Identity Trail. Below is the text of Nancy Wilson’s introduction followed by a link to the podcast of our interview…
Read moreLessons From The Identity Trail Launched
Last week, members from ID Trail gathered for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada‘s Privacy Lecture Series to launch their new book Lessons From the Identity Trail. The event, which enjoyed an over-capacity turn out, resulted in extensive media coverage across Canada, including an opinion editorial by Ian Kerr and Valerie Steeves in the Ottawa Citizen and broader coverage by the National Post, CBC, CTV, the Edmonton Journal, the Montreal Gazette, the Ottawa Sun and the Ottawa Citizen.
Well deserved shout-outs are owed to Amanda Leslie, Anne-Marie Hayden and Jill Pyle for organizing an impressive event!
Special thanks to the very talented Mark Blevis for providing a podcast of the event, which can be downloaded below