Is Linking To Defamatory Statements The Same As Publishing Defamatory Statements?

The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear the case of a former political campaign manager who claims that links to defamatory content on other sites is the same as publishing the content on your own site. The case was heard by a judge at the British Columbia Supreme Court and was struck down, but the Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear the appeal.

David Fewer, director of the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic at the University of Ottawa, said:

"To import liability in those circumstances is to impose just a tremendous burden of liability on all participants in the internet,".

"Not just hosts, not just websites, not just bulletin boards, not just ISPs, but also individual participants, commenters on blogs, commenters in newspapers, newspapers themselves, other publishers who allow anybody to speak on the internet.

"You can just imagine the chilling effect that would have."

This is scary stuff!

Source: CBC

And I Thought My Wi-Fi Detector T-shirt Was Cool!

Some time ago, I purchased this T-shirt from Think Geek and it was the hit of the company pot luck! I do believe however that I've been trumped... well done Chris Ball!

From github.com

"How's it work?
==============

There's a Python script (gmail.py) to be run on any Bluetooth-enabled
device with Python installed (I use an Android phone, you could use a
laptop). The script simply downloads your Gmail RSS feed to see how
much unread e-mail you have, and sends that number over a serial port
every two seconds. I use /dev/rfcomm0, which is the serial device that
connects my phone to the Bluetooth dongle on my Lilypad.

There's also a C program (lilypad.pde) that runs on the Lilypad, reads
a number over the serial port, and renders that number on a set of LEDs
(I use seven LEDs). That's it."

A Dual View Of The iPad

This morning I read David Pogue's NY Times review of the Apple iPad with great interest, amusement, and to be quite honest, joy! What a refreshing take on a product review! David looks at the device from two perspectives and highlights the features and detractors from both points of view. You see, to many consumers this is a wondrous device that is going to change computing forever, but to the hardcore techie it's not that at all. So rather than attempting to reach out to either camp and offend the other, David has written a review for each. This might be viewed by some as a cop out, but to me it makes perfect sense. The way that I might want to use such a device, or the opinion that I might form of it after having it for a time, is quite likely vastly different than say, my wife's view. We are after all on opposite ends of the techie scale.

You be the judge... refreshing or the Switzerland of tech reviews?

A Look At Robotics

The Globe and Mail | Technology section is running a 5 part piece on robots with excerpts from the book Sex, Bombs and Burgers, by technology journalist Peter Nowak. It's worth a peek if you are as smitten with robotics as I am. Part 2 published today, looking forward to the rest of the week!

New iPhone Rumoured For This Summer

According to this article in the Globe and Mail, the Wall Street Journal is citing unnamed sources as responsible for rumors surrounding an upcoming new iPhone from Apple and in particular a version designed specifically for the Verizon network. Currently AT&T is the only authorized carrier of the iPhone in the U.S.

Both Apple and Verizon are refusing to comment.

Court Ordered Publication Ban Broken By Social Media Users

Rules in place to protect victims of crimes and, in many cases, minors are being inadvertently undermined by bloggers and social media site users. The concept of publication bans by the courts has been around for years, at least here in Canada, and have kept journalists from publishing details of certain cases that the court deems necessary in order to protect some or all of the parties involved. While journalists are well aware of the consequences of reporting on these details, it appears as though the general public is ill informed, ignorant, or oblivious to the concept of publication bans. Case in point, a judge in the case of a man involved in a recent abduction case in Moncton New Brunswick has placed details of the incident under a publication ban. Yet the writings of a social media user clearly ties the victim of the case to the incident. It will be interesting to see how the court reacts to this regardless of whether or not the unfortunate remarks have since been removed.

Source: CBC

iPad Turns Out To Have Superbowl Like Advertising Appeal

It looks as though the big advertisers are lining up for ad space in iPad apps and the platforms launch is drawing Superbowl like numbers! The New York Times is reporting that:

"iPad advertisements on print publishers’ applications cost $75,000 to $300,000 for a few months with some exclusivity, said Phuc Truong, managing director of Mobext U.S., a mobile-marketing unit at Havas Digital."

All the while developers are trying to figure out how to make the most of the opportunity and the hype. It's interesting that it has taken Apple to make this happen, I guess the advertisers are counting on the larger format of the iPad and the magic of Apple to make tablets / e-readers a mainstream consumer product and the publishers are doing a good job selling the launch.

French Arrest Hacker Who Targeted Obama Twitter Account

A 25 year old Frenchman who used the online persona HackerCroll has been arrested after hijacking US President Barack Obama's twitter account.

“This individual spread information about a dozen American personalities, notably Barack Obama, on specialist blogs,” Adeline Champagnat, head of the French office against online fraud, said.

HackerCroll appeared to be driven by the challenge and apparently acted alone in his quest to gain access to the accounts. No sensitive information was allegedly targeted.

“He thinks he is good at this, and he is,” Ms. Champagnat said.

The French were tipped off by the FBI according to this Globe and Mail article.

Offer-Based Ads In Your Mobile Apps?

Here is something to be on the lookout for! GIGaom is speculating a wave of in app offers as the result of the acquisition of Tapjoy by Offerpal Media.

Offerpal specializes in the kind of pitches that have quickly become very popular on social networking sites such as Facebook as a way to generate revenue and enable users to enhance the gaming experience. A casual gamer who accepts a trial offer from Netflix, for instance, could be rewarded with extra levels, while a fan of a mafia game could get a weapons upgrade by taking a survey.


Tapjoy delivers a related service for mobile developers looking to monetize their apps. The company offers free content or in-game upgrades to users who agree to download additional applications.

 I suppose it was inevitable, I just hoped it wouldn't happen so soon.

Is Voice Recognition Back? For Real This Time?

CNN technology writer John D. Sutter has compiled a case for why we should be taking voice recognition seriously. It's a story that has been written many times over the past few decades, but Sutter or at least some of the sources he's tapped believe that this time it might really stick. I'll admit that that it's a technology that has always been of interest to me and that the phone systems that I've used of late seem to be excellent at recognizing numbers and specific commands. The advancements of voice recognition technology. in particular applications that are aimed at cell phones and smartphones, is really looking like we may finally have a keeper.

"If you compare us to human performance, we are rapidly closing the gap," said David Nahamoo, IBM's chief technology officer for voice research.

Check out Sutter's article!