Ottawa law students file complaint over Facebook

Josh Visser, CTV.ca News Staff

A group of University of Ottawa law students have filed a complaint with the privacy commissioner of Canada against the social networking website Facebook.

The 35-page complaint alleges 22 separate violations of Canadian privacy laws by the California-based company under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).

"To boil it down simply, it's an issue of honesty and an issue of consent," Lisa Feinberg, a University of Ottawa law student who has just completed her first year, told CTV.ca. "Facebook isn't being completely honest with its users. It presents itself as a social utility site . . . but they are actually involved in a lot of commercial activities."

Feinberg is part of a team of University of Ottawa law students who filed the complaint as part of a project developed while they were interns with the university's Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, led by Philippa Lawson.

Read the whole article here.

Good on these guys. I happen to hate Facebook. I'm on it, due to some distinct family pressure, and an innate desire to track down some specific friends, but I always worry about people knowing a bit too much about me and my family.

Billions of dollars hang on Canada court's BCE hearing

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's top court has the potential on Tuesday to create several billion dollars in shareholder value for investors of BCE Inc. (BCE.TO: Quote, Profile, Research)(BCE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) when it considers whether to let the world's largest leveraged buyout proceed.

I would just love to be a junior lawyer in this case. It would be fascinating, I'm sure.

Queen's law grads to receive new designation

Bachelor of Laws degree will no longer be issued by the university

Posted By BY JANE SWITZER, FOR THE WHIG-STANDARD

What's in a name? that's what students and alumni of the Queen's Faculty of Law are asking themselves.

This April marked the last graduating class of students from the Queen's Faculty of Law who had a choice between choosing a Bachelor of Laws (LL. B) or a Juris Doctor (JD) designation on their diploma.

Controversy surrounding the change in designation has been building since William Flanagan, dean of the Queen's Faculty of Law, made the announcement that all future graduating classes in the Faculty of Law will have their LL. B designations replaced with JD designations in 2007.

Read this informative article here, and post your comments on this blog.

LLB VS. JD - As it Happens - CBC

LLB VS. JD

Duration: 00:05:23

MA. B.Sc.. MD. Ph.D. Those are just some of the letters graduates get to put after their name once they've completed a certain level of education. Well a certain set of letters are causing quite a controversy at the Queen's University Law School in Kingston, Ontario. Currently, law school graduates complete their LL.B. But Bill Flanagan, the dean of the law department, is urging that law graduates should actually receive a JD, or Juris Doctor, designation. Is it all just a bunch of BS? We reached Bill Flanagan at his office at Queen's University. My wife heard this little story on the radio this morning. Might be worth listening to. I understand Calgary recently voted to adopt the JD rather than the LLB. I am still waiting for Alberta to follow suit so that I can exchange my degree...

Law grad goes the distance

Read this nice story about the Gold Medalist at UVic Law School (Meagan Lang). Nice! Way to go Meagan! I especially like the part about running a marathon!

Doctoral student bestowed with award from Trudeau Foundation

Irvin Studin’s gamble to leave a lucrative career as a foreign policy specialist with the Privy Council office to become a doctoral student at Osgoode Hall Law School has paid off in dividends. Read more here.

This guy sounds like he's priming up for the office of PM!

I couldn't understand whether he was a lawyer or not. Perhaps just an academic? Why would you get a PhD in law if you hadn't received a law degree or Master of Laws?

Laurentian studies law school

Laurentian University is examining the potential of a Northern Ontario law school in an attempt to attract students and professionals north. Read more here.

Career shift offers fresh start for federal prosecuter

This is a nice little story about New Peterborough federal prosecutor Mauro DiCarlo, whose legal career does not fit the usual mold.

Isaac Lidsky to Become First Blind Supreme Court Law Clerk

I tried to get to this article, but no such luck. Isaac Lidsky to Become First Blind Supreme Court Law Clerk. It sounds really inspirational, so if you know where I can find the article, please let me know.