Welcome to Gahtan’s Technology and Internet Law Blog

The Court of Appeals for Ontario recently ruled that Ontario courts do not have jurisdiction to hear a $10 million damages claim by a Guinean national who recently moved to Ontario in respect of articles published by The Washington Post in 1997 but still available online.

Read more…

One of the benefits of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has been to focus attention on security. However, for many companies, security is not a new worry introduced by SOX. Security has been a legal obligation for EU companies since the early nineties.

See EU legislation related to security and Sarbanes Oxley in the European Union as referenced in
Security as a legal obligation. Sarbanes Oxley in the European Union

The Wall Street Journal has a great article about how a growing number of countries (including China, Brazil, India and Cuba, as well as the European Union) are questioning U.S. control over the Internet.

The Internet is currently managed by a nonprofit private organization called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) which was set up by the U.S. Department of Commerce in 1998. However, the U.S. government retains veto power over all decisions (such as the creation of new Web domains). But now a number of countries argue that since the Internet is a global tool, no one country should control it.

Interestingly, the issue increased in importance last August over a new proposed domain for pornographic sites that Icann had tentatively approved several months earlier, but which ran into problems after the Department of Commerce withdrew its support. Although not necessarily taking issue with the outcome, the incident illustrated the unilateral control that the US Government could exert.

EU, Developing Nations Challenge U.S. Control of Internet (October 25, 2005)

Although I prefer using multi-platform instant messaging clients such as Trillian, word has it that Microsoft will be included targeted sponsored ads in its new instant messaging client. Intial reports are that Microsoft plans to use demographic information about users who have signed up for MSN products such as Hotmail to target the ads more effectively. Such democraphic information can allow ads to be filtered based on characteristics such as gender, age and other general information about a user.

Hopefully Microsoft will stay away from targeting ads based on the instant messages being exchanged (text, or even voice for that matter!). I can just imagine: boy asks out girl, girl says no, out pops up an ad for an online dating site. Now that’s targeted advertising. I’ll be sticking with Trillian for now.

Motola filed a lawsuit against Nortel after Nortel hired Mike Zafirovski, its ex-president and COO, as CEO. Motrola’s aim to Motorola wants to stop Zafirovski from working at Nortel for two years in order to ensure that he doesn’t reveal any of Motorola’s technology secrets.

Read more…

Last week, Microsoft backed done on plans to preclude manufacturers of portable media device players (e.g., iPod type devices) who bundle its software from also bundling software of its competitors. According to Microsoft, the plan was circulated in draft form for feedback and had not yet received a full legal review.

Read more…

There is a battle underway for control of the Internet. A shift in that control, should one occur, could result in the transfer of decision making on top-level domains, spam control, consumer protection and maintenance of the Internet root servers. One idea being considered is to merge ICANN into the International Telecommunication Union. There are hints that a transfer to an international body could even include the levying of taxes on e-mail and domain names.

Read more…

Google has run into a trademark problem in the UK. It seems that another company is claiming rights in the GMAIL name. So as of October 19, 2005, Google has stopped issuing @gmail.com accounts. It will instead issue @googlemail.com addresses for new email accounts for people in the UK. This illustrates the importance of clearing product names is all relevant markets before launching.