About Us2
CIPPIC's inaugural internship group:
(clockwise, from lower left)
- Marcus Bornfreund
- Prof. Michael Geist
- Rob Dupelle
- Michael Yang
- Warren Yeung
- Sukesh Kamra
- Alex Cameron
- Milana Homsi
- Sue Gemmell (Admin Support)
- Philippa Lawson (Director)
- Jason Young
- Prof. Jennifer Chandler
About the Clinic
The Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) was established at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law in the fall of 2003. It is the first legal clinic of its kind in Canada. In 2007, technology innovator and entrepreneur Dr. Robert Glushko and his wife, Professor Pamela Samuelson, made a large donation to CIPPIC, allowing the clinic to continue its student-centered research and advocacy on technology-related policy and law reform.
Upper year and graduate law students assist clinic lawyers in researching issues and drafting reports and submissions to government, commenting on proposed legislative reforms, providing legal advice to individuals and organizations, and developing online resources for the public on legal issues arising from new technologies.
Each term, student interns are assigned to current cases and projects, thus ensuring a real world experience on cutting edge issues involving law and technology. CIPPIC also runs a full-time summer fellowship program during twelve weeks each summer.
The clinic represents consumer and other public interests in such areas as intellectual property, consumer protection in e-commerce, domain name governance, personal information protection and privacy.
Mission
CIPPIC has a dual mission:
- to fill voids in public policy debates on technology law issues, ensure balance in policy and law-making processes, and provide legal assistance to under-represented organizations and individuals on matters involving the intersection of law and technology; and
- to provide a high quality and rewarding clinical legal education experience to students of law.
Case and Project Selection
While its mandate is broad, the Clinic cannot take on every case that comes to it. Projects and cases are selected by the Clinic Director based on a number of considerations including clinic resources, in-house expertise, appropriateness for student work, implications for public policy, and need for pro bono representation.
Funding
CIPPIC was established in 2003 with the aid of a start-up grant from an Amazon.com Cy Pres fund, received by Prof. Michael Geist. This grant was matched by the Ontario Research Network for Electronic Commerce (ORNEC), a public-private e-commerce research initiative. Since then, the clinic has been funded by a variety of research grants and contracts as well as individual donations, most notably from Dr. Robert Glushko and Pamela Samuelson, patrons of a number of technology law clinics in North America. The University of Ottawa provides further support for the clinic.
The Clinic is seeking additional funding in order to maintain, and if possible expand, its operations. To discuss funding opportunities, please contact the Clinic Director or Prof. Michael Geist
External Advisory Board
CIPPIC's external advisory board is made up of the following eminent scholars, activists and experts in the field of technology law:
- Diane Cabell, Director, Clinical Program in Cyberlaw, Harvard University
- Cindy Cohn, Legal Director, Electronic Frontier Foundation
- Lawrence Lessig, Professor of Law, Stanford University
- Marc Rotenberg, Director, Electronic Privacy Information Centre
- Pam Samuelson, Professor, University of California at Berkeley.
Internal Advisory Board
CIPPIC also benefits from guidance from an internal advisory board made up of the University of Ottawa Technology Law Faculty and selected alumni and associates.
Clinic Staff
David Fewer is the Director of CIPPIC. David is an intellectual property and technology lawyer, and brings a decade of practice experience to CIPPIC’s advocacy on intellectual property and technology files. Prior to joining CIPPIC, Mr. Fewer practised intellectual property and technology law with national firms in British Columbia and Ontario, and clerked with the Federal Court of Canada. He completed an LL.M. at the University of Toronto, where he wrote on intellectual property policy and the application of the Charter to copyright law. He has taught and written extensively on intellectual property and technology law issues, and is a frequent commentator in the media on such issues.
Tamir joins the Clinic after spending a year as CIPPIC's articled student (2008-2009).
Oline is CIPPIC's Articling student for 2010-2011.
In addition to clinic staff and faculty advisors, CIPPIC has a number of students and associates working on cases and projects involving law and new technologies:
CIPPIC Associates
CIPPIC Students
Check out the links page to see a number of great online resources for finding out more information regarding the intersection of law and technology.