The Uniform Law Conference has asked for model legislation to implement the UNCITRAL Convention on the use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts (the E-Communications Convention, or the ECC). In order to prepare this legislation, one needs to answer a number of policy questions — and then some drafting questions.

I have done an issues paper outlining the questions that have occurred to me. I would very much like your views on the right answers.

Here are the questions, to pique your interest:

1. Should Canada accede to the Convention?

My proposed answer is Yes. Each province and territory can . . . [more]

Lawyers are asking the wrong question when they wonder whether to upgrade their operating system (OS) to Microsoft Windows 7 or stay at Windows XP or Vista. If you’re upgrading, the question should be what are ALL my options? Now that Microsoft issues its operating system in so many versions that you need a score card to keep track of which does what – did you know that Windows 7 Starter for netbooks even locks down your wallpaper – you might as well compare them to other alternatives. The legal technology world has changed a lot since you installed that . . . [more]

Simon Fodden already mentioned Avvo, a website that rates lawyers which was ironically sued soon after its launch.

I’ve noticed some traffic recently from one of their pages for Top Legal Blogs. Slaw ranks quite well at #26, which is rather impressive when you consider the size of our American counterparts (there aren’t many other Canadian sites in the listing).

Their methodology is based on Alexa Rankings, which do have significant flaws, and are subject to manipulation. The page might still serve as a useful resource for some of the top law sites out there, . . . [more]

We’ve introduced a new feature to the website: EasyReader. It’s essentially the ability to read any entry in much larger type and isolated from surrounding material. The link to enable you to do this is the small image of a page with a plus sign in the corner — — that will appear to the right of the title of an entry. Clicking on the image will cause an “overlay” containing the enlarged text to appear above the webpage; clicking anywhere outside the overlay or on the “close” button at the upper right of the overlay will cause the normal . . . [more]

On Saturday the Federal government released the terms of reference for the Iacobucci inquiry on Afghan detainees.

The report will include recommendations about what information should be disclosed in light of national security and international relations interests, and if any of the information is subject to solicitor-client privilege. The documents reviewed will include those listed in the December 10, 2009 motion by the House:

• correspondences between Richard Colvin and the Department of Foreign Affairs
• human rights reports to the Department of Foreign Affairs
• those listed in Amnesty International Canada and British Columbia Civil Liberties Association v. Chief of the Defence

I have a quintet for you today, five easy — and small — pieces, the first of which, fittingly, is Five Easy Pieces. There’s the 1970 movie, of course, made famous by the chicken salad sandwich scene. The title comes from an opening scene not actually used in the movie, in which, in the words of the script, there’s a:

CLOSE-UP of a program announcing a Dupea family
recital. The CAMERA SCANS down the bill . . .

The CAMERA COMES to rest on:
Five Easy Pieces – Grebner – Played by Robert Dupea.

But Grebner is fictitious. . . . [more]

India Code makes current versions of Indian Acts available for free:

India Code the India Code Information System contains all Central Acts of Parliament right from 1836 onwards. Each Act includes: Short Title, Enactment Date, Sections, Schedule and also Foot notes.

The Acts can be searched by “Short Title, Act Number, Act Year, Act Objective, Full Act Text, and FreeText Search.” The interface requires double clicks, and the results are not in a perfect form (click “download full act for best results), but the coverage is impressive (1834-2010), and on the left sidebar there are a couple useful tools, including . . . [more]

Mobility, Equality, Internet, Language? Which of these doesn’t fit? According to a recent BBC survey all of them fit. A sizable majority of nearly 28,000 respondents from 26 countries (79%) indicated that they feel that the Internet is a fundamental human right, BBC story. The data from the survey of 26 countries has other interesting results. The three countries who had the highest percentage who believed the internet was a fundamental right were: South Korea (96%), Mexico (94%), and China (87%). In Canada 77% of respondents felt that the internet should be a fundamental right of all people, while . . . [more]

I’d like to share a new website launched yesterday in the BC market by Dye & Durham: The BC Law Watch Blog.

The approach with this website is very focused on news within the BC legal community – from local associations, to government agencies, the LSBC, Law Foundation and the BC Courts, to name a few. And for those interested, I posted some additional comments on the monitoring tactics we’re using in a VLLB post yesterday.

Please drop by and have a look. . . . [more]

Over on 3 Geeks and a Law Library, Greg Lambert makes note that yesterday at the Law Marketing Association conference, Joe Calve, the new CMO of Morrison Foerster mentioned he had moved their Library department into the Marketing department. Lambert questions the change, but does say, “From what I’m hearing from the Librarians at MoFo, they are excited about the change and are looking forward to the transition.” MoFo is known for doing things a bit differently than everyone else, after all.

I do think it odd, but perhaps no odder than having the Library report to IT as in . . . [more]

A couple of days ago, the New York Times feature “Room for Debate” began commentary (“Attacking Lawyers From the Right and Left“) on a story involving a group called Keep America Safe. (I hate the power we give to “proper nouns,” letting them force us to say words that we’d never otherwise utter. But that’s another story.) This excerpt from their “about” page will give you the flavour:

The United States remains a nation at war. We face a growing threat from rogue regimes that seek or have already obtained nuclear weapons. America’s interests are

A recent case has tested Bill C-45, the amendment to the Criminal Code that attached criminal responsibility to an organization or corporation for negligence related to health and safety in the workplace, and broadened the range of individuals who are subject to charges under the Code. Since the inception of Bill C-45 on March 31, 2004, charges have been laid in just four cases, and only one resulted in a conviction. As a result, many are wondering if the enforcement of such provisions is even possible.

Moreover, Bill C-45 added Section 217.1 to the Criminal Code to impose a duty . . . [more]