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Subway v. Budway, 2021 FC 583
Earlier this month, Subway scored a legal victory in a trademark infringement claim against Budway Cannabis Store who didn’t bother showing up at trial (blame it on the “bud”, I guess). https://decisions.fct-cf.gc.ca/fc-cf/decisions/en/498525/1/document.do The court based its analysis on a previous ruling Toys R Us v. Herbs R Us, 2020 FC 682 flowing from very similar facts. The fact that “budway” is not itself a word means that it would tend to be read in a manner to connote the common word “subway.” (at para. 20) The two logos displayed in this post are distinguishable from one another by one single element, a cannabis plant. Is it enough to avoid likelihood…
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Teksavvy Solutions and Bell Media, 2021FCA10
The Federal Court of Appeal confirmed a site blocking order that was touted as the “first ever” in Canada back in 2019. The Federal Court of Appeal is right. Courts should issue site blocking orders more often and on an interlocutory basis. IP defendants are routinely allowed to allege some bogus defenses left unresolved till trial and facilitating unfettered infringement in the meantime. The order can be accessed here. ISP-blocking should be available at an interim stage and even before. There should be a presumption in favor of blocking, to protect consumers, improve access to justice, or stifle the floodgates of litigation brought by powerful copyright holders, etc. Moreover, the…
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Sherman Estate and Donovan 2021 SCC 25 – Breakdown
The facts of this case revolve around the unexplained double homicide of a billionaire couple in Toronto. The estate trustees felt uncomfortable to administrate the Sherman estate under intense public scrutiny and incidentally feared for their life due to the perpetrator being unknown and still at large. The application judge sealed the probate files to protect the privacy and safety of the trustees. The Ontario Court of Appeal lifted the sealing orders concluding that the privacy interest advanced lacked a public interest quality and that there was no evidence of a real risk to their physical safety. Finally, Justice Kasirer for a unanimous Supreme Court confirmed the lifting of the…
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The Supreme Court Of Canada Confirms Privacy As Ground For Sealing Orders
In its decision in Sherman Estate v Donovan 2021 SCC 25 (Sherman), the Supreme Court of Canada recognized on Monday that the public interest in protecting individuals’ dignity is sufficiently important that a sealing order preventing disclosure of personal information may be granted. However, Sherman sets the bar for granting a sealing order protecting personal information very high. Only information that “reveals something intimate and personal about the individual, their lifestyle, or experiences,” such as sexual orientation or potentially stigmatizing medical information will likely support the granting of a sealing order. This is the first SCC judgment of its kind to give us a definition of dignity in the context of privacy and technology. Judicial…
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Indica Records Zip File Phishing Spam Of The Day
Over the last couple of years, I have received several spammy emails appearing to be sent from a record label employee asking me to open a zip file with my name on it, or a Word doc where I need to activate macros. Today the cyber-fraudster has replaced their name with a bogus email address to hide the actual email address. When isolating the contact, you can see that the domain of the originating email has nothing to do with Indica Records. The ljcvelmonte.cl is likely a domain from South America set up for the purpose of stealing data or attempting ransom.
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India Ends Twitter’s Immunity For 3rd Party Content
Section 79 of India’s IT Act appears to be the equivalent of s.230, Communications Decency Act. The provision protects online service providers from liability flowing from unlawful content posted on their platforms. Twitter is so far the only American platform to have lost this safe-harbor in India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/twitter-loses-legal-shield-in-india-for-3rd-party-content
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What Is A Honeypot?
The latest buzzword in cybersecurity sounds delicious but it is also a preventive mechanism against hacking and can save time and resources in forensic analysis of cyber-breaches. Honeypots are hacker traps and they come in many forms and sizes adapted to your needs. Our tech expert Roman Blake is developing a comprehensive guide for creators and small businesses on how the strategic deployment of honeypots can place you many steps ahead of potential hackers. I am looking forward to this collaboration. In the meantime I recommend the following draft: https://cybersecuritynews.com/what-is-a-honeypot/
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Clearview au Canada: les résultats de l’enquête ne surprennent pas
Tel qu’on s’y attendait à la suite de l’enquête lancée plus tôt cette année, l’utilisation par 600 corps policiers au Canada du logiciel de reconnaissance faciale Clearview enfreint les droits des Canadiens. Selon le commissaire à la protection de la vie privée, l’utilisation de la technologie de reconnaissance faciale par la Gendarmerie royale du Canada pour effectuer des recherches dans d’énormes dépôts de données de Canadiens qui sont innocents de tout soupçon de crime présente une grave violation de la vie privée. https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1800449/clearview-rapport-enquete-commissaire-canada-vie-privee-grc
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Desjardins Phishing Cyberfraud Of The Day
The consequences of yesterday’s data dump begin materializing. I just received an email from “Desjardins” asking me to re-activate my account due to a connection error during my last login attempt. I specifically isolated the url link to see how it behaves, so I can report it to the RCMP. Desjardins surprisingly doesn’t give you a way to report fraud if you are not already prejudiced as a victim (i.e. when it is too late). The whole point is not to become a victim as it can be a tremendous waste of time and you may never recover. As expected, the phishing link redirects three of four times from the…
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8.5 Billion Passwords Leaked On Hacker Forum
A massive 100GB TXT file that contains 8.4 billion entries of compromised passwords found its way on a popular hacker forum. The leaked password compilation is dubbed RockYou2021 and has presumably been built from previous data leaks and breaches. This is the time to change passwords. What to do if your password was leaked? If you suspect that one or more of your passwords may have been included in the RockYou2021 collection, we recommend taking the following steps in order to secure your data and avoid potential harm from threat actors: Use a personal data leak checker and leaked password checker to see if your data has been leaked in…
