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Daniel Daniele (CA)

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In June of 2021, Canada’s Parliament passed Bill C-10: An Act to amend the Broadcasting Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts (Bill C-10). Bill C-10 was drafted in response to recommendations made by the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review Panel suggesting reforms of Canada’s broadcasting system to account for digital media. Although Bill C-10 received its third reading, the Senate did not provide approval before Parliament’s dissolution following the 2021 snap election.

In February of this year, the Federal Government revived the contents of Bill C-10, by introducing Bill C-11: the Online Streaming Act (Bill C-11, or the Act).

The metaverse is the answer to escaping your couch without actually leaving it to do whatever you want in a paralleled virtual universe – hangout with friends, drive race cars, shop designer brands, buy digital land, or do just about anything else you can imagine. The metaverse may seem far-fetched, but so did smart phones when everyone was talking on their corded landlines not too long ago.

The metaverse parallels social media with concepts of engagement and world-wide connection, for both users and business. Both spaces allow for users and businesses to expand outside of their geographical area and establish a strong online presence. However, social media and the metaverse are not the same thing. Our current interactions on social media are engaged on a ‘push’ basis. Information, such as comments and likes, are pushed to us with notifications. We are also ‘pushed’ video and image ads. However, the metaverse will be less ‘push’ information and more of an embodied interaction with information and our environment. The metaverse will offer an immersive digital world that feels physical and tangible in nature. Interacting with metaverse has the opportunity to shift the internet in a new direction and pose new intellectual property rights for developers, contributors, and users.

Social media contests, sweepstakes, and giveaways have grown increasingly popular in the past few years and have become a common marketing strategy for businesses. From “like and share this post” to “tag five friends for extra entries,” contests allow businesses to promote their brand, generate leads, and engage with current and new customers. While it may be fun and games for the entrants, businesses need to be mindful of the rules regulating promotional contests.

In late June of 2021, Members of Canada’s Parliament passed Bill C-10: An Act to amend the Broadcasting Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts. The Bill proposes to subject social media platforms and streaming services, collectively described in the Bill as ‘online undertakings’, to requirements similar to those imposed on traditional television and radio broadcasting companies in Canada. For example, this proposal could include requiring these companies to contribute financially to the production of Canadian cultural industries. The proposed changes aim to harness the explosive popularity of social media and streaming sites to support Canadian content online.

Whether you are a crypto guru or not, you have likely heard about NFTs. The three-letter acronym, NFT, stands for “Non-Fungible Token”. NFTs are the centre of attention right now because of high-profile sales, such as $70 million for digital artwork, $2.5 million for Jack Dorsey’s first tweet, and more than $230 million spent buying and trading digital collectibles of NBA highlights. Copyright issues are emerging as some artwork and tweets are being tokenized into NFTs without the copyright owner’s consent. To explore copyright in the digital space of NFTs, a basic understanding of NFTs is first required.

Self-isolation, stay-at-home orders, and lockdowns have changed the way we live during the COVID-19 pandemic. As many of us work remotely, limit face-to-face interactions, and stay indoors, we are reaching for our smartphones more and increasing our mobile app use. Mobile app usage increased by 40% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2020, hitting an all-time high of over 200 billion hours of app usage in April. The average user is spending 4 hours and 20 minutes per day on their smartphones, frequently on social media.

Apps for games, entertainment, photo and video sharing, business, health and fitness, shopping, digital payments, and medical based apps all saw app usage growth since the pandemic started. As our app usage increases, so does our information sharing. We share our game scores on one social media platform. We share photos and videos on another social media platform . We even share the distance we ran or biked, and how many calories we burned. But we don’t share things such as banking information, passwords, and our medical information, or do we? As we increase our app use we need to think about the risks to privacy.

Social media platforms have revolutionized the way people receive and deliver their news and information. Industry players, legislators, and consumers of social media have all had to adapt to this new medium of speech. While having the permanence and public nature of traditional forms of news, such as newspapers, social media posts are not subject to the same kinds of editorial review and control. The sheer volume and pace of social media posts has made it impractical for social media companies to maintain a similar amount of content review as newspapers or television broadcasts.

Although this new environment has provided a robust avenue for free speech, it also creates legal risks as it becomes difficult to protect against illicit forms of speech. Social media companies face both business and legal risks in Canada where their platforms are used by consumers to spread illicit speech. To thwart this risk, social media companies may need to consider monitoring and removing illicit content without taking on undo expense or undermining the benefits of the platform.

As the second wave of COVID-19 spreads across Canada, the use of COVID-19 tracing apps is on the rise. For example, the Government of Canada released COVID Alert – an app using Bluetooth technology to help people report positive diagnoses, and control the spread of the virus. The success of the app depends on a high quantity of users, but concerns over privacy and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in analyzing the data may hinder that objective.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a large effect on our entertainment consumption. Some entertainment industries have taken significant hits, while others have been more fortunate in their rise. Videogame streaming is one such industry on the rise. During the pandemic, the global viewership of popular streaming platforms Twitch and YouTube Gaming increased by 10% and 15%, respectively. This increase in viewership appears to be directly correlated with the local severity of the pandemic. For instance, when Italy was experiencing the worst outbreak in Europe, the hours of live gaming content streamed in that country increased by an estimated 66%.

It is clear that the business of videogame streaming is increasing. And like other big businesses, videogame streaming is subject to complex legal issues. Because videogame streaming is a relatively nascent industry, many of its legal issues have yet to be decided in a court of law.