Slaw’s RSS feed for comments hasn’t been working properly, for some people at least, for the last four or five days, for reasons that we don’t yet understand. We are working to fix the problem, of course, but in the meantime come on down to the website to see some good discussions.
UPDATE 11:25 ET: The comment feed appears to be working again now. Please let us know if you’re still experiencing difficulties. . . . [more]
Lawyers’ Weekly reports that the Law Society of BC is considering whether it should be able to insist on doing a complete copy of a member’s computer in the course of an investigation. Pros and cons are discussed in the article, along with the proposed policy.
Concerns raised have included the lawyer/member’s privacy, and solicitor-client privilege.
Could not however the Law Society have sent in an investigator who would have had physical access to all the same files? Is the concern that once the mirror image is made, it is accessible to more people, with unknown controls?
In Ontario, the . . . [more]
Out-Law.com reports today that the European Court of Human Rights upheld an English defamation case in which the publication had been online for more than the usual one-year limitation period for defamation suits. [Case of Times Newspapers Ltd (Nos. 1 And 2) v. The United Kingdom]
Though the limitation period runs from publication, each time a web site is accessed is considered a new publication. Thus the limitation period never expires for an online publication.
Does this make sense? (Out-law.com, a publication of the Pinsents law firm in the UK, does not think so.)
On the other hand, . . . [more]
Hawaiian legislators are working on a bill to ensure collection of state sales tax on goods and services bought online from out of state, while Idaho legislators have declined to do any such thing:
. . . [more]Hawaii Proposes To Collect Taxes On Internet Sales
Buying tax-free music, books and electronics over the Internet would be a thing of the past under legislation pending before Hawaii lawmakers. The measure being pushed by Senate Democrats is meant to force online shoppers of Amazon.com Inc. and eBay Inc. to pay the state’s 4 percent general excise tax, just like customers who buy the same items
I’m pleased to report that Jeremy Grushcow has joined Slaw as a regular contributor. Jeremy is a Foreign Legal Consultant (Illinois, New York) practising corporate law at Ogilvy Renault LLP in Toronto. He has a particular focus on life science and technology companies, and brings to bear a doctorate in molecular genetics and cell biology and a law degree from the University of Chicago. Jeremy already blogs at his Cross-Border Biotech Blog, together with Dani Peters and Beni Rovinski, and will provide us with regular updates on developments in his fields of interest.
Please welcome Jeremy Grushcow to Slaw. . . . [more]
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that taking someone’s picture without their consent (or in this case, taking a newborn baby’s picture without its parents’ consent) is a breach of fundamental human rights, whether or not the picture is ever published. The story is on OutLaw.com. [The judgment in Affaire Reklos et Davourlis c. Grèce is available only in French.]
. . . [more]“The Court reiterated that the concept of private life was a broad one which encompassed the right to identity,” said an ECHR press release about the ruling. “It stressed that a person’s image revealed his or
About three months ago there was a post on Slaw about a decision by a court in Kentucky to seize over 100 domain names used by Internet gambling enterprises, on the grounds that the domain names were illegal gaming devices. The decision has been contested by a number of different gambling websites, including Stranieri.com – Italy’s largest gambling online resource.
This decision has just been overturned by the Kentucky Court of Appeals, which prohibited the enforcement of the order. The reasons for decision (16 pages) are available from the Electronic Frontier Foundation site [PDF] (EFF was an intervenor). EFF’s preliminary . . . [more]
You will be pleased to learn that Simon Chester, with his uncanny sense of timing, has provided Slaw with its 5000th comment. That it’s on “jactitation of marriage” speaks volumes perhaps.
Thanks to everyone who reads Slaw and tosses their wisdom into the mix — time and time again. You make it satisfying and fun. . . . [more]
Just for fun I looked at how many pages Google throws up when you feed it “slaw.ca” in the search box. I’m wowed to be able to say the answer is a staggering 350,000 — or, to use Google’s more careful estimation “about” 350,000. Herewith the unaltered digital-image evidence:
Sure, there is a sprinkling of BBQ sites that got in somehow, but basically it’s turtles all the way down. . . . [more]
Turns out Slaw didn’t do so bad in the ABA blog awards Tech category. After a recount, we’ve placed second!
Now for the fun part… Google cache (while it lasts) shows a significant number of votes were removed from the system from the time the contest closed and the final numbers being released. (Hat tip to Bob Ambrogi)
Before the recount:
I’d like to update my thinking on the following question:
What is the responsible way to get rid of electronic information that one does not want, or that one has a legal duty to get rid of (like irrelevant personal information)?
Some of the alternatives:
Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner takes the view that the best way properly . . . [more]
I have to give it to you exactly as I saw it:
Dennis “who does this guy think he is?” Kennedy has chosen Slaw as the top blawg in his annual parade of awards known as the Blawggies, and all of us here are busting with pride.
Here’s our excellent company in this honour:
. . . [more]2. The Marty Schwimmer Best Practice-Specific Legal Blog – Evan Brown’s Internet Cases
3. Best Law Practice Management Blog – Bruce MacEwen’s Adam Smith, Esq.
4. Best Legal Blog Category – Canadian Law-related Blogs
5. Best Legal Blog Digest – Stark County Law Library Weblog