James Davis of Arent Fox LLP spoke about the new domain name system in Toronto recently.

A new system to create domain names and registries is about to be launched in January that could trigger trademark infringement concerns for large companies.

Illustration: Mick Coulas

Computer systems at law firms, governments, companies, courts, and high-profile organizations have been targets of increasing numbers of cyber attacks as perpetrators become more sophisticated in their ability to steal information. As recently as July, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency were targeted. The CIA’s web site was shut down for several days as a result, while the hackers who attacked NATO claimed they had infiltrated the organizations’ computers and obtained classified documents; the United Nations, law firms in Canada and the United States, and Ontario’s courts have been hacked over the last several months.

With recent Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission decisions that Internet service providers must meet the increasing needs of broadband users as well as provide accessible services for declining landline phone users, telecommunications sector companies are looking for ways to find a happy medium.

Many people associate client data protection (CDP) with large global transactions. Outsourcing-related deals in all likelihood contemplate some form of access to and transmission of, and possibly the retention, storage, and/or destruction of client data. But it is also true that if you have resources (people) supporting your projects from oversees (Europe or India) or you have servers outside the jurisdiction in which services are being delivered, you need to think about whether there are contractual provisions in place and laws that apply to you with regard to data (be it personal, health, relating to children, etc.) that isn’t yours.

On Dec. 15, 2010, Bill C-28, which is commonly but not officially called the fighting Internet and wireless spam act passed through both houses of Canadian Parliament and received Royal assent. It marks a first in Canada for legislation that regulates and prohibits various forms of electronic and online communications — in particular, spam.

Intellectual property is a business tool. We know it, and our client’s know it. Generally speaking, trademarks are associated with branding, patents with the protection of inventions and the right to a legal monopoly for a fixed period of time, and copyright with the rights associated with the creation of original, dramatic, musical, artistic, and literary works (including computer programs).

Of course I’m not nearly old enough to remember this movie when it came out, but most of us have at least heard of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. It was released in 1968 for those of you feigning being too young to have ever heard of it. And in case you haven’t actually heard of it, the story is set in space and revolves around a rogue computer, the HAL 9000, which was designed to speak and interact at a human level. Pretty fancy stuff (for 1968), but you’ll have to rent the movie to find out what happens.

 

I held out as long as I could, I swear, but like so many others who were deeply opposed to joining such a monolithic public forum, I caved — and now I have 233 friends on Facebook. I didn’t even know I had that many friends, but therein lies one of the many attractions of Facebook: an instant feeling of community.

I love my iPhone. It’s true. I don’t think I can live without it. Phone, music, Internet, e-mail, camera, calendar, GPS, a million applications . . . what isn’t to love?

In a country of 30 million-plus people, there can only be so many big players in the market right? From telecommunications to pharmaceuticals, most Canadians have some idea as to who is providing their goods and services.