Last week, Simon insisted that he wouldn’t be getting an iPhone when it’s introduced this week to Rogers’ lineup. Turns out he’s not alone – 52,000 people have signed a single online petition, and there are more petitions out there. There were rumours – now debunked – that Rogers was blocking access to the petition site.

The rumour mill has really started to spin out of control, though, with stories about Apple’s response. First, there were stories that the company was limiting Canada’s supply to punish Rogers – leading to thousands of job cuts among Rogers temp staff who . . . [more]

bit.ly (that’s the whole URL) is a new URL shortening service. What may set it apart from the current faves, such as TinyURL, or any of the nearly 70 alternatives, are some special features such as your ability to use your own keywords, the fact that they show you your latest 15 shortened URLs when you visit their site, and the (promised) fact that they will save every page you shorten, and not just the URL, forever.

The URLs here at Slaw aren’t too bad: they’re typical WordPress links. But from time to time you may want to shrink . . . [more]

Ann Sherman has presented a study on self-represented litigants in the Supreme Court of P.E.I. to the Community Legal Information Association of that province. The executive summary is available here, and a PDF file of the whole report can be had here. . . . [more]

Les lecteurs du journal du Midi La Provence s’amuseront par le cas d’un criminel accusé qui est invité à servir de juré dans sa propre procès:

Un Aixois doit comparaître en septembre devant la cour d’assises, il est suspecté d’avoir commis un meurtre . . . [more]

Small footnote to the SCC’s recent decision in Simpson v. WIC and Mair.

LeBel J’s concurring judgment mentions blogs:

[73] This is all the more true in an age when the public is exposed to an astounding quantity and variety of commentaries on issues of public interest, ranging from political debate in the House of Commons, to newspaper editorials, to comedians’ satire, to a high school student’s blog. It would quite simply be wrong to assume that the public always takes statements of opinion at face value. Rather, members of the public must be presumed to evaluate comments

We’ve mentioned Carall’s ((Note that the website at http://www.carallnet.org/ appears to be defunct and isn’t operating)) annual conference before but they’ve scored a coup at their Jamaica conference this year in getting both the Attorney General and Minister of Justice Senator Dorothy Lightbourne and the Chief Justice of Jamaica Zaila McCalla to speak about the importance of law librarians, as well as difficulty attracting graduates to the legal system.
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A ruling released July 1st in the copyright infringement case Viacom v. Google has created a stir in the online world. Judge Louis L. Stanton in the U.S. federal New York Southern District Court ordered Google to produce to Viacom:

all data from the Logging database concerning each time a YouTube video has been viewed on the YouTube website or through embedding on a third-party website

I recently came across the site for the International Seabed Authority, an autonomous organization formed under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. From their “about” page:

The Authority is the organization through which States Parties to the Convention shall, in accordance with the regime for the seabed and ocean floor and subsoil thereof beyond the limits of national jurisdiction (the Area) established in Part XI and [the 1994 Agreement relating to the Implementation of that part of the Convention], organize and control activities in the Area, particularly with a view to administering the resources

Those interested in the work of the European Court of Justice, might like to subscribe to the ECJ Blog. Allard Knook, a lecturer in law at the Institute of Constitutional and Administrative Law, University of Utrecht, has regular postings in English on cases decided by the Court. . . . [more]

Want to build a successful career or business? Start with your strengths. We all come into this world with a unique set of talents, and over our lifetime with the addition of experience and learning we establish a foundation of knowledge, skill, and ability. The winning strategy is on maximising your strengths.

Harold Weinstein, Chief Operating Officer of Caliper Corporation, notes that “over the years our research has shown that there’s a strong correlation between performance and motivation. People who are working in roles that are consistent with their personality, values and interpersonal characteristics generally outperform those who are less

Do we have a silly season here at Slaw? Earlier this week, when I saw that our intricate system of laws, rules and regulations had entered into hallowed territory, I knew I could finally, legitimately make a post about the Halifax Donair on a legal blog!

It seems that we in Canada have something entitled the: Federal/Provincial/Territorial Donair Working Group. Which came together to effect “A Consultation with Stakeholders on the Recommended Guidelines for Management of the Risks Related to the Consumption of Donairs and Similar Products.” You laugh, but Donairs are no small matter in Halifax. The Halifax . . . [more]

An article in yesterday’s The Globe and Mail “Ontario Schools Compete for Law Faculties” outlines the efforts of three Ontario universities in trying to set up the first Canadian law school in almost thirty years. New law faculties are being planned by Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Wilfred Laurier University in Waterloo, and Laurentian University in Sudbury. The article goes on to discuss the debate surrounding whether Ontario or Canada actually needs more law schools. . . . [more]