News

2016

• Karen Eltis promoted to the rank of Full Professor

  Posted on Monday, September 19, 2016

  The Centre for Law, Technology and Society is proud to announce that Professor Karen Eltis, one of its faculty members, has been promoted to the rank of Full Professor at the Civil Law Section, Faculty of Law of the University of Ottawa.

• Jane Bailey and Chidi Oguamanam Inducted into Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists

  Posted on Tuesday, September 13, 2016

  Professors Jane Bailey and Chidi Oguamanam, faculty members of the Centre for Law, Technology and Society, have all been selected as new members of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists.



• CIPPIC and Citizen Lab publish the "Gone Opaque?" report on IMSI Catchers

  Posted on Tuesday, September 13, 2016

  CIPPIC, the Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy & Public Interest Clinic, and Citizen Lab are releasing a report, "Gone Opaque? An Analysis of Hypothetical IMSI Catcher Overuse in Canada", which examines the use of devices that are commonly referred to as ‘cell site simulators’, ‘IMSI Catchers’, ‘Digital Analyzers’, or ‘Mobile Device Identifiers’, and under brand names such as ‘Stingray’, DRTBOX, and ‘Hailstorm’. IMSI Catchers are a class of of surveillance devices used by Canadian state agencies. They enable state agencies to intercept communications from movie devices and are principally used to identify otherwise anonymous individuals associated with a mobile device and track them.

• Expanding the Debate: A Licensing Scheme for Traditional Knowledge

  Posted on Monday, August 22, 2016

  Author: Chidi Oguamanam and Chris Koziol

  Traditional knowledge (TK) often helps researchers to locate, understand, and usefully apply genetic resources extracted from plants and animals. In some cases, TK provides the basis for cartographic insights and data on a wide range of otherwise inaccessible information. However, one of the sources of disquiet about TK is the perception that it is sometimes taken without permission, or when permission is given, TK may be used in a manner inconsistent with the expectations or wishes of the community. Even when researchers are working with Indigenous communities in good faith, there remains the risk of a misunderstanding or unintended misuse of the knowledge that can damage trust, build suspicion, and even cause economic, environmental, or other harm to the community.

• Mobile applications and the changing face of legal services

  Posted on Friday, July 15, 2016

  A new legal application, Legalswipe developed by University of Ottawa Faculty of Law graduate Christien Levien, is changing the face of the administration of justice.

• Drawn out battle over genetic resources dampens Africa’s hopes

  Posted on Monday, April 25, 2016

  Author: Chidi Oguamanam

  The global South is full of significant, diverse biological and genetic resources. It’s also home to most of the world’s indigenous communities. This is why developing countries are sensitive about protecting their genetic resources and traditional knowledge.

• University of Ottawa wins the Oxford International IP Moot again

  Posted on Monday, March 21, 2016

  University of Ottawa wins the Oxford International IP Moot again
  
  For the 2nd time in 5 years, students from the University of Ottawa have won the prestigious top prize at the Oxford International Intellectual Property Moot. Fred Wu was the competition’s 1st best speaker, Tracey Doyle placed 2nd and Laura MacDonald 6th, giving the team 3 of the top 6 speaker prizes. uOttawa also took honours as the top-ranked team after all preliminary rounds.
  
  

• Two Members Recognized in the 2016 Faculty Excellence Awards

  Posted on Wednesday, March 16, 2016

  I am delighted to announce the results of our first Internal Awards competition.

  The recipients were recognized in a special ceremony based on the recommendations of the Selection Committee which included Dean, Nathalie Des Rosiers, VD Research Droit civil, Marie-Ève Sylvestre, VD Research Telfer School, Wojtek Michalowski, VP English of the Common Law Student Society, Rob Kivlichan, Member of the Common Law Honour Society, Al D’Silva, and Research Facilitator, Cintia Quiroga.

• Reflections on Bruce Schneier's talk, titled “Security and Privacy in the World-Sized Web”,

  Posted on Tuesday, March 1, 2016

  Author: Salahuddin Rafiquddin

  On Feburary 17, the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law and the Centre for Law, Technology and Society welcomed Bruce Schneier to give the 9th annual Deirdre G. Martin Memorial Lecture on Privacy.

• R. v. Jarvis: Cyberviolence against women – can criminal law respond?

  Posted on Saturday, February 13, 2016

  Author: Carissima Mathen and Jane Bailey

  R. v. Jarvis:  Cyberviolence against women – can criminal law respond?

  In 2011,Ryan Jarvis, aLondon Ontario high school teacher, used a pen camera to surreptitiously record brief videos of students engaged in various activities around the school without their permission. After reports from another teacher, the school principal personally witnessed Jarvisrecording two female students, and demanded that he turn over the camera.  Police analysis of the device revealed 17 active videos, 2 videos which had been deleted but subsequently recovered and other videos that were not recoverable.  Of the 30 individuals depicted in the videos, 27 were female students; five of the images focused specifically on their breasts.  Some days later, police searched Jarvis’ home and found that most of the files on a hard drive located in Jarvis’ room had been placed there after the pen camera was seized. This article discusses the scope of application under the Criminal Code.