The European Court of Justice rendered another decision today protecting users’ online freedoms.  The decision in SABAM v. Netlog arises out of a dispute between a Belgian copyright collective and an operator of a social network.  This is an important ruling when legislators around the world consider various initiative that would grant governments and private entities increasing powers to monitor and control content and online communications.  The circumstances of the case also bear some resemblance to the contested relationships between Access Copyright and Canadian universities.  Indeed, in defence of its disputed decision to sign an agreement with the publishers’ collective, …

EU Court of Justice Rules Out Private and Automatic Censorship (and Lessons for UofT) Read more »

In a report published last week, members of the United Kingdom Parliament concluded that the Internet plays a major role in the radicalization of terrorists and called on the government to pressure Internet Service Providers in Britain and abroad to censor online speech. The Roots of Violent Radicalisation places the Internet ahead of prisons, universities, and religious establishments in propagating radical beliefs and ultimately recommends that the government “develop a code of practice for the removal of material which promotes violent extremism” binding ISPs.  Read more.