E-TIPS

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, an international, 30-county organization that promotes democracy and free trade, recently released a report (OECD Report) on the current information economy surrounding digital music.

A recent report by e-mail security specialist Pinpoint has found 63% of companies with 1000 or more employees either employ or are planning to employ staff to review company e-mail. The filtering policy, intended to ensure that corporate secrets or confidential financial information doesn't fall into the wrong hands, raises some privacy concerns for employees.

The governments of Canada, the US and Mexico announced on June 27 that they have signed a Framework of Common Principles for Electronic Commerce (E-commerce Framework). Resulting from the announcement of the Security and Prosperity Partnership at the leaders' summit in Texas on March 23, 2005, the goal of the E-commerce Framework is to maintain a predictable and secure online environment which, it is hoped, will foster the adoption of international Internet-based business solutions.

On June 20, the federal government introduced the long-awaited Bill C-60, An Act to Amend the Copyright Act, in the House of Commons. In some respects the language of the Bill proved predictable, but there were a few surprises.

On June 20th, the federal Government introduced a bill to amend the Copyright Act. According to the Government press release, Bill C-60 "fulfills the Government's commitment to address short-term copyright reform issues and to update the Copyright Act to meet the challenges and opportunities of the Internet."

Research in Motion Ltd (RIM) has filed a motion seeking enforcement of a $450-million settlement agreement allegedly reached with NTP (see an earlier issue of e-tips®, Vol 3 No 10, January 26, 2005, regarding the Canadian Government's amicus curiae brief in the litigation). NTP is arguing that the settlement agreement was not finalized. Perhaps bolstering its bargaining position, RIM says that it now has a patent workaround that will allow the use of all of RIM's wireless e-mail technology without infringing any of NTP's patents.

A trial judge in a high profile multiple murder case in Vancouver has imposed an innovative media ban in order to keep information from potential jury members.

Equifax Canada Inc (Equifax), a credit reporting company, has announced that it has suffered a security breach, the second in about a year, a breach that has given criminals access to personal information of several hundred Canadians.

In what may ultimately be a significant victory for consumers, the US Supreme Court ruled that pharmaceutical companies are entitled to the benefit of the research "safe harbour" exemption from patent infringement earlier than previously thought permissible. The decision sets aside a holding by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal District and sends the case back to the lower court for reconsideration in light of the Supreme Court's determination.

If your digital photographs look too professional, you may have a challenge in getting them printed by some photofinishers. Digital cameras and photo-editing software allow amateurs to produce more professional-looking pictures. However, digital photography has also made it easier to make unauthorized copies of professional photos.

US Congress is considering more protection for the high-tech industry from so-called "patent trolls" who buy patent rights cheaply, often with no expectation of practicing the patent, but hoping to later sue an alleged infringer if and when a possible infringement arises. A bill recently introduced in the House of Representatives (HR 2795) would raise the threshold for obtaining injunctive relief – an injunction would be stayed pending appeal "upon an affirmative showing that the stay would not result in irreparable harm" to the patent owner and that the "balance of hardships from the stay does not favor the owner of the patent".

In response to the recent Federal Court of Appeal decision in Procureur Général du Canada v Effigi Inc, 2005 CFA 172, the Canadian Trade-marks Office announced on May 19, 2005 that it will immediately change its practice in examining competing applications with reference to issues of entitlement. Contrary to its past practice, the Office will no longer consider the date of first use or making known when determining who should be entitled to registration of a trade-mark. When pending marks are confusing, the application with the earlier filing date or priority date will always be approved for advertisement over the later filed application.

In a recent decision of a single judge of the Federal Court, Trial Division (Apotex Inc v Syntex Pharmaceuticals International Limited, 2005 FC 480), Justice Finckenstein has clarified the scope of section 8 of the Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance) Regulations (Regulations).

On suspicion of spying on their competition using computer viruses, senior executives of several Israeli firms including YES satellite TV, Pelephone Communications and Cellcom have been arrested, together with 11 private detectives who allegedly infiltrated the computer systems. The Trojan Horse viruses allowed remote control of competitors' computers and the theft of many documents of significant commercial value, later sold to third parties.

In a decision released May 25, 2005, the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia (Commissioner) held that a store's return policy of requiring customers to provide their name, address, and telephone number complies with BC's Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA).

Tri-Vision International, Canadian patent holder for the V-chip parental control technology, has brought suit in the Federal Court of Canada against retailers Best Buy Co Inc, Best Buy Canada and The Brick for infringement of this technology. The V-chip allows parents to selectively block video signals based on a rating signal included with the video feed.

In four consolidated actions (Napster Litigation) against Napster Inc (Napster) and other parties, including Bertelsmann AG (Bertelsmann) (collectively, Defendants), plaintiffs in the media industry such as Capitol Records Inc have recently scored mixed success in a ruling by Justice Patel in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

Last week, the Federal Court of Appeal set an important test for disclosing the identities of Internet users accused of civil wrongdoing. The decision in the closely-watched music file-sharing appeal, BMG v John Doe, 2005 FCA 193, will have a far-ranging impact on privacy and freedom of expression, as well as on the continuing copyright reform debate in Canada.

The Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner (Commissioner) has criticized the federal government's recent attempts to give law enforcement new legal powers to catch criminals in cyberspace, warning that the proposal would allow the state to collect extensive electronic information and intelligence about individuals without appropriate privacy safeguards.

As expected, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) issued its decision on May 12, 2005, that it will regulate Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services only when they are provided as local telephone service by large, incumbent telephone companies. VoIP start-ups and communications that take place between computers on the Internet will not be regulated.