The blog
Writing & notes
Essays, notes and reflections on technology, law and life.
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Email Still Most Frequent Net Activity
A new poll of questionable methodology and magnitude reports that internet users engage, on average, in email-related activities more frequently than web searching. However, web searching occupies a higher proportion of users’ time than in previous editions of the survey. The manner in which these polls are hyped by PR-hungry research groups and journalists is… Read more →
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eBay Removes Infringing Auctions
eBay’s liability for auctions of pirated and other illicit material has long remained a point of contention among pundits. Now it seems the company is finally taking matters into its own hands, proactively working with Microsoft to prevent and detect pirated software being listed. Microsoft claims that already more than 21 000 auctions have been pulled… Read more →
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National Geographic Authors not Entitled to Online Royalties: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States has declined leave to hear a case brought by authors against National Geographic. The authors claimed to be entitled to additional royalties as a result of the magazine’s republication in CD-ROM format and online. This case has significant repercussions for authors and content publishers. Publishers are increasingly distributing… Read more →
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Life as a Summer Clerk
With the university semester finally completed, it is with mild curiosity that I plunge headlong into the world of corporate law. For four weeks, I will metamorphose into a memorandum-producing, file-juggling, coffee-brewing automaton. Hopefully, not too many of these stories will eventuate: The two weeks before the summer program[me] starts is always a whirlwind of… Read more →
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Sony DRM is Spyware, say Computer Associates
According to this Associated Press article, the copy-protection software used by Sony on its consumer audio compact discs is secretly sending usage data from internet-connected computers when a disc is played: The software transmits the name of the CD being played to an office of Sony’s music division in Cary, NC. The software also transmits… Read more →
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Law Notes and Examinations
Well, it’s that time of year again: examinations and other such unmentionables are upon the Australian law student populace once more. I find myself cursed with a rather unfortunate timetable: system design, property, constitutional and administrative law on consecutive days. One week from now, I will be opening my constitutional law paper and writing as… Read more →
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Crown Courts Embrace New Technology
According to this article on CNET News, ‘The Xhibit (‘eXchanging Hearing Information By Internet Technology’) system, now rolled out to 50 Crown courts in England and Wales, allows court clerks to update information about hearings as they happen. The system enables police, prosecutors and witness groups to get case details in minutes rather than days.… Read more →
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Do Not Call: Telstra Sues Telemarketer Spammer
Telstra has initiated proceedings against Orion Group, a Tasmanian telemarketing corporation and reseller of wholesale telephony services. Telstra alleges that Orion has harassed its customers, transferred users to its services without permission, and misrepresented Orion’s relationship with Telstra. “Telstra alleges the sales representatives have been unduly harassing customers in their telemarketing activities and have been… Read more →
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Reflecting on Appellate Decisions
The Sydney Morning Herald has published a fascinating review of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, with reference to the number of their decisions subsequently overturned by the High Court of Australia: If the NSW Court of Appeal was a batsman it would not even have an average this… Read more →
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On the Significance of Stevens v Sony
Michael Geist has posted an analysis of the outcome in Stevens v Sony, recently handed down by the High Court of Australia. Professor Geist articulates several themes underlying the Court’s treatment of the issues: The case goes to the heart of anti-circumvention provisions that create very contentious proposals in Bill C-60 here in Canada. At… Read more →