I mentioned in the previous post on the earthquake how useful it was to be able to get automatically updating reports more or less as soon as they were posted, thanks to Google’s real-time search results. You’ll likely know that all you need to do, once your Google search results are returned, is click “latest” in the menu to the left, to get time-ordered results that are dynamically refreshed, i.e. with no need to reload the page in the browser.

Even easier is to use the bookmarklet created by Marshall Kirkpatrick, the lead writer at ReadWriteWeb.com. You can find . . . [more]

From the U.S. Geological Service:

click image to enlarge

I have to say that this is where Google’s real time updates comes into its own. I searched for [earthquake], hit “latest”, and the reports roll in at one a second. . . . [more]

Wikipedia records the event, before the mainstream or electronic media.

Quake hit at 13:45 EST

Twitter feeds start reporting 13:50

Wikipedia entry for Ottawa edited to show quake 13:51

Globe and Mail reports quake 13:56 . . . [more]

One of the most common complaints I hear from partners – especially those in the boomer generation – is that younger associates today are not willing to work as hard as partners. This leaves many partners frustrated at not getting the support they need and working even longer hours to ensure that the client’s work is completed on time.

When I talk to younger lawyers about this, they are equally frustrated by what they see as unreasonable demands from senior lawyers and a lack of acknowledgement about how hard they are working. So what is contributing to this generation gap? . . . [more]

First year property law profs everywhere are surely revising their casebooks as a result of Barclays Capital et al. v. Theflyonthewall.com, a case decided in March by the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, particularly now that Google and Twitter have filed amicus briefs in the on-going matter. The nub of the story, which is nicely expounded in a series of Ars Technica Law and Disorder columns (1, 2, 3), is that The Fly, in the business of promulgating market information and rumours, would as a matter of routine obtain and . . . [more]

I’m on a panel tonight at the Ivey Business School talking about trends and opportunities in social media. I’ll be talking about legal and privacy issues.

Some of the risks that come with social media arise from its newness. There seems to be two opposing (and apparently inconsistent) factors at play whenever anything new arises. 

First, when something new comes along, people often don’t put it in the proper context, and forget all the old rules. For example, people might make a comment on a blog or facebook that reveals something confidential, even though that same person would never have . . . [more]

The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and the Canadian Civil Liberties Union (CCLU) are in court today seeking an injunction against the police from using LRADs (Long Range Acoustic Devices), also known as sound cannons, against G8/G20 protesters in Toronto.

The police claim that they will be used for broadcasting messages, but they are also capable of emitting loud noises for crowd dispersal.

A press release from the CLC can be found here, and the factum by Paul J. J. Cavalluzzo and Michael D. Wright of Cavalluzzo Hayes Shilton McIntyre & Cornish is available here through the CCLA.

The factum . . . [more]

Maritime Law Book is proud to have been part of the development of the only provincial bilingual law reporter in Canada. Namely, the New Brunswick Reports (2d).

Here is how that development took place. 

New Brunswick has a population of approx. 750,000. And approx. 35% of New Brunswickers speak French as a first language.

In 1969 New Brunswick enacted its first Official Languages Act, making it Canada’s first and only officially bilingual province.

In 1969 the province’s statutes, regulations, by-laws, etc., were in English only. In the courts, pleadings and trials, both civil and criminal, were in English only; in . . . [more]

HBR’s blog post “How Cloud Computing Can Transform Business” (June 4) provides a clear brief overview of cloud computing and its benefits to organizations. It argues that cloud computing’s low cost and agility allow it to deliver real business value. The post goes on to provide the definition of cloud computing and its five main characteristics according to the National Institute of Standards and Testing, part of the US Department of Commerce:

• On-demand self service.
• Broad network access, mobile and multi-device.
• Resource pooling.
• Rapid elasticity.
• Measured service.

It illustrates how Silicon Valley Education Foundation’s use of cloud computing . . . [more]

The Amendments

I recently had an opportunity to speak with a representative in the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta in connection with Alberta’s new obligations surrounding notification and disclosure of outsourcing arrangements involving personal information. On May 1^st, Alberta’s Personal Information Protection Amendment Act, 2009 amended the provincial Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). Now, while I’m not an Alberta lawyer, it’s clear to me that the amendments impact all organizations that collect personal information from residents of Alberta. I have worked from time to time with my firm’s Alberta office when PIPA privacy issues . . . [more]

This week in biotech, regulators ran amok.

On the plus side, the FDA approved two new drugs this past week, including one — prostate cancer drug Jevtana — months ahead of the FDA’s deadline.

The FDA also moved this week to regulate LDTs (laboratory developed tests) more closely. Most direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests fall into this category, and a series of letters from the FDA to DTC manufacturers last week is evolving into broader action.

Health Canada also took action this week, with the goal of soliciting reports of adverse drug reactions directly from patients. Unfortunately, the benefits . . . [more]

This is simply too good not to pass along.

The website ThinkGeek (“Smart Stuff for the Masses” — robots, zombie blood, all edges brownie pan, and more ejusdem generis) — got a 10-page Cease & Desist letter from the 475-lawyer firm, Faegre & Benson, on behalf of their clients, the U.S. National Pork Board (delightfully at pork.org). Seem ThinkGeek had made use of the phrase “the new white meat,” and the NPB took the view, through their lawyers, that this trespassed on their registered trademark, “The Other White Meat.”

The only catch? The page that the NPB . . . [more]