The Google IO developer conference has just finished up, with one of the major announcements being the new Chrome OS laptops, such as the Samsung Series 5 seen in this Engadget video:

The feature list is intentionally short, but the prices are comparable to the sub-$450 laptop market — a little high, honestly, since the chromebook doesn’t look all that superior to current netbook trend. If you’ve used Google’s Chrome browser with apps, you already know about the user experience. The lack of the ability to install executable files has caused some speculation that the antivirus industry may be impacted . . . [more]

The University of Toronto is hosting a cyber-surveillance event this week that includes the typical academic workshops, as well as an artistic component. The event and the workshop are part The New Transparency: Surveillance and Social Sorting, a research project funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council.

From the press release:

Digitally mediated surveillance is an increasingly prevalent, but still largely invisible, aspect of everyday life. As we work, play and negotiate public spaces, on-line and off, we produce a growing stream of personal digital data of interest to unseen others. CCTV cameras hosted by private and public

. . . [more]

With the globalization of world markets, competition is consequently rampant. The emergence of the new global village means that nations around the world are looking for ways to be more competitive and more open to foreign investments. It creates a denationalisation of economic conflicts. Alternative dispute resolution and supranational organizations became the two legal solutions to the new economic needs. Nations began coupling the two and many trade treaties have been signed. The most well-known system is the European Union, which promotes a unified continent. As in Europa, several African countries, most of them being former French colonies, joined forces . . . [more]

I don’t know how many lawyers outside of Quebec know about this cause célèbre in plagiarism. Claude Robinson, a screenwriter and illustrator, has been fighting for the last 16 years against the television production company Cinar and others for plagiarizing his ideas and depriving him of his copyright on the television series Robinson Sucroë. So far this case has cost Robinson $2.4 millions dollars in lawyers’ fees. However, Mr. Robinson’s law firm, Gowlings Lafleur Henderson, has agreed to postpone their honoraries until the end of the legal proceedings.

Robinson Sucroë is an animated Franco-Québécois television series, created by . . . [more]

The High Court of England and Wales recently decided, in Southwark London Borough Council v IBM, [2011] EWHC 549 (TCC), that the provision of a licence of software was not a sale of goods, so the implied warranty of fitness for purposes contained in the Sale of Goods Act did not apply to the contract. (See paragraphs 94 – 98.)

The court went on, in obiter, to find that software could be a ‘good’ within the meaning of the Act, but in this case it was not sold (paragraphs 96 & 97). Providing the software on a . . . [more]

by Ryan Mattinson*

To begin, we need to briefly clarify some geek speak. ‘War-driving’ is the act of driving around with a laptop, antenna and often a GPS transceiver, in order to search for and record information about Wi-Fi access points such as SSID (name), BSSID (MAC address), signal strength, etc. and associating this information with GPS coordinates. War-driving requires only the passive collection of information contained in Wi-Fi beacons. These are signals transmitted at regular, frequent intervals by both secure and open access points, even when configured to hide their network name. This is necessary to . . . [more]

Law firm technology is experiencing pressure brought about by the success of consumer-oriented products. As the wave of iPad-toting lawyers begins to wash into the larger law firms, we’re seeing the logical result of the first law students arriving with their personal laptops at schools at the turn of the century. Some law schools initially identified a specific hardware for the students to purchase but that eventually gave way to the creation of systems that could be adapted to whatever technology the students presented.

Now law firms are beginning to adapt to these same consumerization challenges. They are not new . . . [more]

No, I’m not the seller. I only recently found a copy of my own. I’ve “had” to use my firms’ copies, for years.

It’s not only the first edition, it’s the ONLY edition (g).

The original price was $39.99. I thought it was a bargain, then. . . . [more]

Bob Dylan's lyrics have been quoted 186 timesin judicial decision and court briefs, at least according to a study done by law professor Alex Long.

The long, slow slog towards equality for same-sex couples continues — with a victory, this time, in the European Court of Justice regarding status for employment benefits. The city-state of Hamburg declined to give a retired former employee supplementary retirement payments at the same tax rate as that due a married person. The plaintiff appealed the decision to the Labour Court of Hamburg, which referred a complex set of legal questions to the Court of Justice.

The Court [Jürgen Römer v Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg (URL imprecise) Case C‑147/08] made the following observation:

38
As a preliminary point, it

. . . [more]

We use a lot of technology today that is – to borrow a term from Steve Jobs – magical. Consider tablet computing, cars that respond to voice commands or even drive themselves. Calling an ipad2 or an Android Tablet or a Playbook magic is not a huge exaggeration in historical terms. An iPad2 would have been on a list of supercomputers rivalling a Cray as recent as 1996.

But we don’t get to this level of technology without experimentation and failures along the way. The important thing is to use those failures to lead to new insight and better . . . [more]

I’ve been staring at the horizon again. It’s not hard to see that change to our legal system is on the way. Everywhere we turn we encounter reports of things broken or in disarray. 

For instance, access to justice is a pressing concern. Chief Justice McLachlin speaks about it frequently, as does British Columbia’s Chief Justice Finch (see here). They do important work identifying that access to justice has become a privilege of the wealthy. They applaud the pro bono work of the legal profession, and encourage us to work towards innovative solutions.

Meanwhile, legal aid coverage is shown . . . [more]