Canada has a well-earned reputation for some of the highest wireless prices in the world with numerous comparative studies finding that consumers pay relatively high prices for low amounts of data. Rewheel Research, a Finland based consultancy, has been at the forefront of pricing comparisons with extensive analysis of mobile data pricing in countries around the world. Its reports have often called out Canada, recently noting that prices are “a world apart” from more competitive markets. With Canadian telco giant Telus commissioning a study to critique the Rewheel research, I’m joined this week on the Lawbytes podcast by Antonios Drossos, managing partner of the firm, who talked to me from Helsinki about their findings, what lies behind Canada’s wireless pricing, and the Telus-backed study.

Technology transfer in the university context has emerged as significant policy issue with governments seeking to maximize the benefits of public investment in research at Canadian universities. But what if maximizing commercialization opportunities does not mean prioritizing patents? Professor Richard Gold from McGill University’s Faculty of Law joins the podcast to discuss the failure of patent first strategies and why open science may offer a better path for commercialization success.

New creators leveraging online platforms don’t typically participate in government consultations, but that doesn’t mean their voice and experience should be ignored. Ryerson’s Irene Berkowitz recently released Watchtime Canada, a report on the role YouTube plays in fostering opportunities for creators. The study found an eco-system that provides thousands of Canadians with full-time employment opportunities and export strategies that outshine the traditional creative sector.  She joins me on the podcast this week to discuss the report and what it might mean for Canadian cultural policy.

Open banking, which is designed to allow customers to easily share data held by their banks with third parties, has been attracting considerable attention in recent months. The Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce conducted a study on open banking this spring with a report released in late June. I was invited to appear before the committee to discuss regulatory concerns, particularly with respect to privacy and data protection. Given that it is a holiday week in Canada for Canada Day, this week’s podcast adopts a different approach with excerpts from that appearance, including my opening statement and the ensuing discussion with several senators on the need for regulatory reforms.

What to do about Huawei?  The Chinese telecom giant has emerged as one of Canada’s most challenging policy issues, raising concerns involving competition, communications, security, and trade not to mention kidnappings and arrests of corporate personnel. The government has repeatedly promised to articulate a policy on the use of Huawei equipment in Canada’s next generation wireless networks only to regularly delay doing so. Dr. Christopher Parsons, a senior research associate at the Citizen Lab, the world-famous cyber-security lab located at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto, joins the podcast to help sort through fact from fiction when it comes to Huawei.

In December 2017, the Canadian government launched its much-anticipated and much-lobbied review of Canadian copyright law, tasking the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology to lead the way. After months of study and hundreds of witnesses and briefs, the committee released its authoritative report with 36 recommendations earlier this month. Carys Craig, a law professor at Osgoode Hall Law School and one of Canada’s leading copyright law experts, joins the podcast to help sort through the report and to consider what it means for the future of Canadian copyright law.

The new NAFTA - dubbed the USMCA or CUSMA depending on where you live - took a significant step forward recently with the introduction of Canadian legislation designed to ratify the treaty. The economic implications of the agreement are enormous, particularly with respect to digital issues and intellectual property. Myra Tawfik, a law professor at the University of Windsor and Senior Fellow with CIGI, joins the podcast to discuss Canada’s longstanding history of facing external pressure on copyright, the role that trade negotiations now play with that pressure, and the implications of the USMCA.

The debate over big data, privacy and its implications for democracy came to Ottawa last week as the International Grand Committee brought together the world’s biggest technology companies, politicians from around the world, and leading thinkers. Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, the Vice-Chair of Canada’s ethics and privacy committee, joins the podcast to reflect on the three days of hearings, the prospect for global reforms, and what comes next for the committee.

Years of public consultation on Canadian digital policy hit an important milestone last week as the Canadian government released its Digital Charter, which touches on everything from universal Internet access to privacy law reform. Professor Teresa Scassa, the Canada Research Chair in Information Law and Policy at the University of Ottawa, joins the podcast to discuss its contents and consider whether the new policy initiative is more chart than charter.

The free and open access to law movement is committed to providing free and open online access to legal information. This includes case law, legislation, treaties, law reform proposals and legal scholarship. This week’s Lawbytes podcast highlights perspectives on free and open access to law from Australia and Canada, featuring conversations with Professor Graham Greenleaf, the co-founder of AustLII, the Australasian Legal Information Institute, and Xavier Beauchamp-Tremblay, the current CEO of CanLII, the Canadian Legal Information Institute.