Hudson N. Janisch
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt
Professor of Law and Technology
Faculty of Law
University of Toronto
| Organizer: IEEE Toronto Section, IEEE Communications Society |
| Title: Crossing the Law-Engineering Divide |
| Speaker: Hudson N. Janisch Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt Professor of Law and Technology Faculty of Law University of Toronto |
| Abstract: The purpose of this talk will be to suggest that far from being two solitudes, law and engineering have a highly synergistic relationship. For instance, shifts in preferred long distance transmission technology from wire (copper) to wireless (satellite, microwave) and then back to wire (optical fiber) demand reciprocal shifts in legal regime. While law has often been used to defend the status quo and the privileges of incumbency thereby perpetuating legacy networks, recently it has acted as a facilitator of change by opening up new market sectors to competition thereby undermining incumbency. The talk will proceed by way of a discussion of a series of examples of how the adoption of new technology has undermined established legal rules (e.g. by greatly reducing barriers to entry) and how engineering solutions have been resorted to overcome restrictive regulation (e.g. by AT&T to circumvent the Baby Bells). The presentation will draw on the speaker's more than thirty years of research and involvement in the legal regulation of telecommunications, and on his current experience teaching (with doctoral candidate Craig McTaggart) in the Master of Engineering in Telecommunications (MET) program at the Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Toronto. |
| Background of the speaker: Professor Janisch teaches torts, administrative and communications law at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto. From 1995 to 1998 he served as Associate Dean, Graduate Studies in the Faculty of Law. Born and brought up in Cape Town, South Africa, he was educated at Rhodes University, Cambridge University and the University of Chicago from which he received his doctorate, (J.S.D.). He was called to the bar of Ontario in 1971. His research focus has for some time been on telecommunications law and regulation and he has written extensively on emerging policy and legal issues in an information age. He has consulted widely for industry, users, regulators and government, both in Canada and abroad. In 1991 the Canadian Business Telecommunications Alliance (CBTA) awarded him its Honorary Award in recognition of his leadership and significant influence on the Canadian telecommunications environment. In 1992 Professor Janisch acted as counsel to the Senate Standing Committee on Transportation and Communications in its detailed pre-study of Bill C-62, which became the 1993 Telecommunications Act. In June 1997 he delivered the key note address at the Global Networking '97 Conference in Calgary, a joint conference of the International Telecommunications Society (ITS) and the International Council for Computer Communications (ICCC) hosted by TELUS. In July, 1997 he taught in the Summer Course of Universidad Complutense, "La Liberalization De Las Telecommunicaciones En Un Mundo Global" held at San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Madrid, and he has taught for a number of years in the Korea Telecom Management Programme at U.B.C. During 1998 Professor Janisch served on the Curriculum Committee in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto which designed the new Masters of Engineering in Telecommunications (MET) and he is now teaching the regulatory and legal component of a graduate course, "Design of Network - Based Services" ECE 1804. In February, 2000 Professor Janisch organized a national conference, "Breaking the Mould: Reconceiving Telecommunications Regulation," and in June, 2000 he participated in the International Symposium on Telecommunications Interconnection Rates held at Gakushuin University, Tokyo. |
| Time and Location: Friday, May 25, 2001 Light refreshments at 5:00pm, Talk beginning at 5:30pm Sandford Fleming Building, Room 1101 University of Toronto 10 King's College Road |
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers,
Toronto Section
E-mail sec.toronto@ieee.org
Send comments to tor.sect@tor.ieee.org