Episodios

  • Episode 119: Canada's Zombie Policy Proposal - Christopher Parsons on the Never-Ending Debate Over Lawful Access

    Episode 119: Canada's Zombie Policy Proposal - Christopher Parsons on the Never-Ending Debate Over Lawful Access
    Feb 28 2022

    The political and policy battles over lawful access have been going on for decades, cutting across multiple governments both Liberal and Conservative. The so-called zombie policy proposal resurfaced again last summer as then Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault included elements of lawful access within his online harms consultation. Dr. Christopher Parsons is a Senior Research Associate at the Munk School’s Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, where his research focuses on third-party access to telecommunications data, data privacy, data security, and national security. He joins the Law Bytes podcast to talk about the history of the lawful access debate, the implications of warrantless access to subscriber data, and the recent revival of the issue.
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    42 m
  • Episode 119: Canada's Zombie Policy Proposal - Christopher Parsons on the Never-Ending Debate Over Lawful Access

    Episode 119: Canada's Zombie Policy Proposal - Christopher Parsons on the Never-Ending Debate Over Lawful Access
    Feb 28 2022

    The political and policy battles over lawful access have been going on for decades, cutting across multiple governments both Liberal and Conservative. The so-called zombie policy proposal resurfaced again last summer as then Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault included elements of lawful access within his online harms consultation. Dr. Christopher Parsons is a Senior Research Associate at the Munk School’s Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, where his research focuses on third-party access to telecommunications data, data privacy, data security, and national security. He joins the Law Bytes podcast to talk about the history of the lawful access debate, the implications of warrantless access to subscriber data, and the recent revival of the issue.
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    42 m
  • Episode 254: Looking Back at the Year in Canadian Digital Law and Policy

    Episode 254: Looking Back at the Year in Canadian Digital Law and Policy
    Dec 22 2025
    Canadian digital law and policy in 2025 was marked by the unpredictable with changes in leadership in Canada and the U.S. driving a shift in policy approach. Over the past year, that included a reversal on the digital services tax, the re-introduction of lawful access legislation, and the end of several government digital policy bills including online harms, privacy, and AI regulation. For this final Law Bytes podcast of 2025, I go solo without a guest to talk about the most significant developments in Canadian digital policy from the past year.
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    27 m
  • Episode 253: Guy Rub on the Unconvincing Case for a New Canadian Artists' Resale Right

    Episode 253: Guy Rub on the Unconvincing Case for a New Canadian Artists' Resale Right
    Dec 8 2025
    The creation of an Artists' Resale Right has been adopted in many countries to at best mixed reviews. They’re unsurprisingly widely supported by potential beneficiaries, but the data on who actually benefits raises real questions about the wisdom of the policy. Canada may be headed in the same policy direction as the government recently announced in its budget plans to introduce the measure. Professor Guy Rub is the Vincent J. Marella Professor of Law at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law and an expert in the intersection between intellectual property law, commercial law, the arts, and economic theory. Professor Rub has written critically about the Artists' Resale Right including as part of a submission to a House of Commons committee that studied the issue several years ago. He joins the Law Bytes podcast to discuss the policy measure and its drawbacks, including his view that it primarily benefits artists who are wealthy, old, or dead.
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    36 m
  • Episode 252: Len St-Aubin on the CRTC’s Plan To Modernize Canadian Content Rules

    Episode 252: Len St-Aubin on the CRTC’s Plan To Modernize Canadian Content Rules
    Dec 1 2025
    The CRTC recently released its much anticipated decision on Canadian content rules, the first of two decisions that could reshape broadcasting and film/TV production in Canada. The Commission promoted its Cancon approach as offering new flexibility into the system but the fine print matters as some changes may be more restrictive than they appear at first glance. To help make sense of the decision, Len St-Aubin, the former Director General of Telecommunications Policy at Industry Canada, joins the Law Bytes podcast. Len provided consulting services to Netflix until 2020 and has since been an active participant in the debate on Internet policy as part of the Canadian Internet Society.
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    41 m
  • Episode 251: Jennifer Pybus on the Debate Over Canadian Digital Sovereignty

    Episode 251: Jennifer Pybus on the Debate Over Canadian Digital Sovereignty
    Nov 24 2025
    Digital sovereignty is hot the digital policy phrase of the moment driving discussion on Canadian digital policy involving AI, digital infrastructure, privacy, and cultural policy among others. Yet despite its widespread use, its meaning remains opaque as it often used to frame – or reframe – longstanding policy positions. The government has begun to flesh out the issue with Treasury Board recently releasing a white paper on digital sovereignty that provides a useful starting point for discussion. Jennifer Pybus, the Canada Research Chair in Data, Democracy and AI at York University joins the Law Bytes podcast to discuss the white paper and Canada’s digital sovereignty debate.
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    38 m
  • Episode 250: Wikimedia’s Jan Gerlach on the Risks and Challenges with Digital Policy Reform

    Episode 250: Wikimedia’s Jan Gerlach on the Risks and Challenges with Digital Policy Reform
    Nov 17 2025
    I’m not quite sure how this happened, but somehow this is the 250th episode of the Law Bytes podcast. To mark this milestone, I’m joined by Jan Gerlach, Wikimedia’s Director of Public Policy, who leads its EU advocacy work, including efforts on UK Online Safety Act. This is particularly relevant in a Canadian context since this work has touched on issues such as user identification, platform regulation, and rules surrounding AI. Our conversation features a wide ranging discussion on these issues, providing insight into some of the risks and challenges associated with digital policy reform.
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    31 m
  • Episode 249: The Debate Over Canada’s AI Strategy - My Consultation Submission and Appearance at the Canadian Heritage Committee

    Episode 249: The Debate Over Canada’s AI Strategy - My Consultation Submission and Appearance at the Canadian Heritage Committee
    Nov 10 2025
    The government’s AI consultation concluded at the end of October with expectations that a strategy will emerge before the end of the year. I participated in the consultation with a brief submission and in an appearance as a witness before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage for its study on the effectiveness of technological advances in artificial intelligence on the creative sector. That study touched on many of the same issues as the AI consult with robust discussion on transparency, regulation, and navigating potentially conflicting policy objectives. This week’s Law Bytes podcast offer up a taste of both with the key issues raised in the submission and clips from the committee appearance including my opening statement and exchanges with multiple MPs.
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    49 m