Canadian Secure Electronic Signature Regulations Now in Force Canadian Secure Electronic Signature Regulations Now in Force

Information Technology
March 9, 2005March 9, 20052015-07-08
On the advice of the Treasury Board Secretariat on February 1, 2005, the Canadian Cabinet brought into force the Secure Electronic Signature Regulations (SOR/2005-30). The Regulations define secure electronic signature for the purposes of both the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and the Canada Evidence Act.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/canadian-secure-electronic-signature-regulations-now-force

Federal Government Acts to Blunt USA PATRIOT Act Federal Government Acts to Blunt USA PATRIOT Act

Privacy
February 23, 2005February 23, 20052015-07-08
Canada will adopt measures intended to blunt the unwanted potential 'long-arm' effects of the USA PATRIOT Act. The initiative comes on the heels of recommendations by the federal Privacy Commissioner of Canada and her provincial counterpart in British Columbia. The federal Privacy Commissioner had recommended that the government re-examine the circumstances under which it allows personal information about Canadians to be processed outside Canada. The BC Privacy Commissioner had published a study on the potential impact of the USA PATRIOT Act on personal information outsourced to US-linked companies by governments in Canada (E-TIPSâ„¢, Vol 3, No 11, November 10, 2004).
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/federal-government-acts-to-blunt-usa-patriot-act

Microsoft and Pfizer Target Viagra Spam and Cross-Border Sales Microsoft and Pfizer Target Viagra Spam and Cross-Border Sales

Information Technology
February 23, 2005February 23, 20052015-07-08
In a collaborative effort, Pfizer Inc (Pfizer) and Microsoft Corp (Microsoft) have launched parallel lawsuits against two "international pharmacy spam rings" designed to promote and sell illegal versions of Pfizer's blockbuster drug, Viagra.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/microsoft-and-pfizer-target-viagra-spam-and-crossborder-sales

Norway Looks to Canada for eGovernment Guidance Norway Looks to Canada for eGovernment Guidance

Information Technology
February 23, 2005February 23, 20052015-07-08
The online news service IT-Business.ca reports that, Canada, having ranked first in the Accenture report "eGovernment Leadership: High Performance, Maximum Value" for the fourth year in a row, is being courted by 15th ranked Norway for guidance in egovernment implementation.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/norway-looks-to-canada-for-egovernment-guidance

Alberta Privacy Commissioner Finds Three Businesses Failed to Protect Information from the Reach of Identity Thieves Alberta Privacy Commissioner Finds Three Businesses Failed to Protect Information from the Reach of Ident...

Privacy
February 23, 2005February 23, 20052015-07-08
Following an investigation triggered by police discoveries of business and personal information under suspicious circumstances, the Alberta Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) has found that three local businesses failed to protect personal information in their custody.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/alberta-privacy-commissioner-finds-three-businesses-failed-to-protect-information-from

Coming Soon in the US: Paper Records to Back Up Electronic Voting Machines Coming Soon in the US: Paper Records to Back Up Electronic Voting Machines

Information Technology
February 23, 2005February 23, 20052015-07-08
Electronic voting machines have been the centre of controversy in US politics since their introduction - the controversy stemming primarily from the potential risk of result tampering and a lack of paper records.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/coming-soon-us-paper-records-to-back-up-electronic-voting-machines

Remedy Ordered by Federal Court of Appeal in the Englander v Telus Case Remedy Ordered by Federal Court of Appeal in the Englander v Telus Case

Litigation
February 23, 2005February 23, 20052015-07-08
In a decision reported in an earlier issue of E-TIPSâ„¢ (Vol 3, No 13, December 8, 2004), the Federal Court of Appeal ruled that a phone company (Telus) had infringed federal privacy law (PIPEDA) by failing to inform first-time telephone subscribers of ancillary uses that would be made of their personal information. The Court has now issued its remedy in the case, Englander v Telus Communications Inc.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/remedy-ordered-by-federal-court-of-appeal-englander-v-telus-case

Ontario Health Privacy Law to be "Substantially Similar" to PIPEDA Ontario Health Privacy Law to be "Substantially Similar" to PIPEDA

Privacy
February 9, 2005February 9, 20052015-07-08
Ontario's Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA) came into force on November 1, 2004 (E-TIPSâ„¢, Vol 3, No 11, November 10, 2004). It regulates the collection, use and disclosure of personal health information by health information custodians within the Ontario health care system.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/ontario-health-privacy-law-to-be-substantially-similar-to-pipeda

Living Rooms Are Not Public Spaces Says the Supreme Court of Canada Living Rooms Are Not Public Spaces Says the Supreme Court of Canada

Litigation
February 9, 2005February 9, 20052015-07-08
More than 30 years after Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau pronounced that the state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation, the Supreme Court of Canada has found that it has no business in its living rooms either.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/living-rooms-are-not-public-spaces-says-supreme-court-of-canada

Open-Source Movement Gets Boost Open-Source Movement Gets Boost

Information Technology
February 9, 2005February 9, 20052015-07-08
The open-source software movement has received some substantial boosts recently.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/opensource-movement-gets-boost

IBM-Lenovo Transaction Faces Extended Review in the US IBM-Lenovo Transaction Faces Extended Review in the US

Information Technology
February 9, 2005February 9, 20052015-07-08
The Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS) has decided on national security grounds to extend its review of IBM Corp's proposed $1.75 billion deal with Lenovo Group Ltd (Lenovo), China's largest PC manufacturer.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/ibmlenovo-transaction-faces-extended-review-us

Ontario Smart Systems for Health Moving Forward Ontario Smart Systems for Health Moving Forward

Information Technology
February 9, 2005February 9, 20052015-07-08
Ontario's Smart Systems for Health Agency (SSHA) has welcomed a new framework for coordinating the province's electronic health activities.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/ontario-smart-systems-for-health-moving-forward

The Blogger in the Workplace: When is Online Out-of-line? The Blogger in the Workplace: When is Online Out-of-line?

Information Technology
February 9, 2005February 9, 20052015-07-08
When a former Delta Airlines flight attendant posted uniformed pictures of herself to the Internet, she had no idea that the penalty for such conduct would be her job. Unfortunately, her experience is hardly unique. From Iqaluit to Houston, from Edinburgh to Winnipeg, new information and communications technologies are blurring the lines between traditional notions of 'workspace' and 'personal space' and igniting renewed debate about the boundaries of employee freedom of expression and privacy. It's a debate that may seem one-sided to the individuals who have lost their jobs for reasons related to their blogging activities.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/blogger-workplace-when-online-outofline

US Copyright Office Seeks Submissions on "Orphan Works" US Copyright Office Seeks Submissions on "Orphan Works"

Copyright
February 9, 2005February 9, 20052015-07-08
The US Copyright Office is seeking submissions from the public on how the government should deal with "orphan works". Orphan works are copyrighted works whose owners are difficult or impossible to locate. As a result, the works effectively become inaccessible to the public, as permission to use them cannot be obtained. Where good faith attempts to locate the copyright holder are unsuccessful, the potential users are reluctant to make use of the work for fear of being sued for infringement in the future.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/us-copyright-office-seeks-submissions-on-orphan-works

Canadian Government Files an Amicus Curiae Brief in RIM's US Patent Litigation Canadian Government Files an Amicus Curiae Brief in RIM's US Patent Litigation

Patents
January 26, 2005January 26, 20052015-09-23
The Canadian Government has taken the unusual step of filing an amicus curiae brief with the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Appeals Court) in patent litigation involving an infringement claim by NTP Inc against Research in Motion Inc (RIM) of Waterloo, Ontario. At issue are alleged infringements involving RIM's ubiquitous BlackBerry® wireless platform.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/canadian-government-files-an-amicus-curiae-brief-rims-us-patent-litigation

No Expectation of Privacy in Data Collected by Vehicle "Black Box" No Expectation of Privacy in Data Collected by Vehicle "Black Box"

Privacy
January 26, 2005January 26, 20052015-09-23
A New York trial judge has ruled that evidence gleaned from a car's "black box" is admissible in a second-degree murder trial against two men involved in a fatal three-car collision in Nassau County, New York.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/no-expectation-of-privacy-data-collected-by-vehicle-black-box

European Patent Office Narrows the Scope of a Human Cancer Gene Patent European Patent Office Narrows the Scope of a Human Cancer Gene Patent

Patents
January 26, 2005January 26, 20052015-09-23
On January 21, 2005, the European Patent Office (EPO) held that the second of three patents in a series owned in part by Myriad Genetics Inc (Myriad) of Salt Lake City should be narrowed from the approximately 30 claims contained in its application to three. The patents cover different aspects of the human BRCA1 gene and relate to the diagnosis and of breast and ovarian cancer.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/european-patent-office-narrows-scope-of-a-human-cancer-gene-patent

Increased Data Protection Proposed for Canadian Drug Applications Increased Data Protection Proposed for Canadian Drug Applications

Food and Drug
January 26, 2005January 26, 20052015-07-08
The Canadian Government recently published proposed amendments to the Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance) Regulations and the Food and Drug Regulations dealing specifically with data protection.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/increased-data-protection-proposed-for-canadian-drug-applications

French Court Rules Google Cannot Use Trade-marks to Trigger Advertising — A Contrary Result in the US French Court Rules Google Cannot Use Trade-marks to Trigger Advertising — A Contrary Result in the US

Trademarks
January 26, 2005January 26, 20052015-07-08
In December, a court in Nanterre ruled that Google infringed the trade-mark rights of the hotel chain Le Meridien by allowing Le Meridien's competitors to bid on keyword advertising. The ads placed by the winning bidder were triggered by a user of the search engine employing the Le Meridien trade-marks in a search. The French court ordered Google to cease its practice, failing which it will face a fine for each day that it fails to comply with the order. A Google representative indicated that it will appeal. In a previous court case in France brought by Louis Vuitton, the plaintiff was also successful against Google.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/french-court-rules-google-cannot-use-trademarks-to-trigger-advertising-%E2%80%94-a-contrary-result

Microsoft Fails to Suspend EU Antitrust Ruling Microsoft Fails to Suspend EU Antitrust Ruling

Information Technology
January 12, 2005January 12, 20052015-07-08
On December 22, 2004, the European Court of First Instance (Court) ordered Microsoft Corp (Microsoft) to comply with the penalties previously imposed by the European Commission (Commission) in its landmark antitrust ruling of last March.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/microsoft-fails-to-suspend-eu-antitrust-ruling

Disclaimer: This Newsletter is intended to provide readers with general information on legal developments in the areas of e-commerce, information technology and intellectual property. It is not intended to be a complete statement of the law, nor is it intended to provide legal advice. No person should act or rely upon the information contained in this newsletter without seeking legal advice.

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