GoAccess

Hello Folks! GoAccess is a great tool for web server log analysis. That’s what we use here at LegalBeaver. goaccess access.log -o output.html --log-format=COMBINED --ignore-crawlers --anonymize-ip --geoip-database=/path/to/geoip/GeoLite2-City.mmdb This is an example of what I run to generate web server analytics, and it’s great because it doesn’t require the website visitor to run scripts. Why? It’s better for you and it is better for the user to just use the raw logs and anonymize the IPs to be GDPR compliant. ...

September 11, 2024 · 1 min

Effects Doctrine

A doctrine, developed mainly by the American courts in anti-trust cases, asserting jurisdiction over acts of foreign nationals committed abroad but having effects in the American marketplace; an extended form of the objective territorial principle. Source: Irwin Law The effects doctrine is a principle enabling a forum to assert jurisdiction over parties not present within a state but whose conduct outside the state’s territory affects the local market. The effects doctrine is frequently mistakenly equated with extraterritoriality. However, extraterritoriality is a wider concept. It also includes situations when part of the conduct in question occurred within its territory or when piercing of the corporate veil enables to assert jurisdiction over a foreign parent due to the local presence of a subsidiary. Source: Concurrences Dictionary ...

September 10, 2024 · 2 min

Transgender Rights - OHRC Policy

The Ontario Human Rights Commission has put together a excellent policy guidebook a number of years ago. I wanted to share some passages from it which I feel will help illustrate most of what I discuss on this site on the topic of transgender human rights law. First, it provides some definitions: Discrimination happens when a person experiences negative treatment or impact, intentional or not, because of their gender identity or gender expression. It can be direct and obvious or subtle and hidden, but harmful just the same. It can also happen on a bigger systemic level such as organizational rules or policies that look neutral but end up excluding trans people. Friends, family or others who face discrimination because of their association with a trans person are also protected. ...

June 25, 2024 · 5 min

Website Success

In my last post I mentioned that I migrated the site to Hugo. I had previously relied on a Wordpress plugin for website statistics so I could tell who was coming to the site. Well, GoAccess just blows that plugin out of the water. It analyzes your logs directly and outputs a handy html file. That’s not the only good news. I ran it on the logs for wordpress. ...

June 17, 2024 · 1 min

Migration to Hugo

I migrated the blog from Wordpress 6.5.x to Hugo. It was actually fairly quick and simple thanks to a tool called wp2hugo. While I was doing the migration, I converted all the image files to AVIF. Now LegalBeaver.ca is lightweight and modern. Wordpress was great and I had a lot of great experiences with it. Hugo is just a lot better and generates static html without the requirement of having an SQL database and PHP running. This should reduce the attack surface of the server and boost security. ...

June 12, 2024 · 1 min

Emotional Support Falcon

I once joked with a friend about getting an emotional support Falcon. It might seem a tad on the ridiculous side but what about from a legal standpoint? “Falcon Punch!” I decided to try and find out if this was possible. Since I live in Ontario, I tailored my google search to find the laws in my area. I found a website about certifying your pet as an emotional support animal (ESA). You usually do this if you have a disability where the support of an Animal can help you out. ...

June 2, 2024 · 2 min

Legal Jurisdiction and the Internet

One might be thinking that they are immune to the laws of another country online but that is not always the case. If you break the law in another country online, like Gary McKinnon, who hacked numerous US Government systems to look for evidence of UFO cover-ups, you might have to deal with extradition. In Gary’s case, the US attempts to get him extradited failed. Julian Assange is also dealing with a similar set of circumstances for leaking government documents. ...

April 25, 2024 · 2 min

International Women's Day #InvestInWomen

In a world facing multiple crises that are putting immense pressure on communities, achieving gender equality is more vital than ever. Ensuring women’s and girls’ rights across all aspects of life is the only way to secure prosperous and just economies, and a healthy planet for future generations. One of the key challenges in achieving gender equality by 2030 is an alarming lack of financing with a staggering USD 360 billion annual deficit in spending on gender-equality measures. ...

March 8, 2024 · 2 min

Does the Ministry of Labour have the final say?

Disclaimer: This is not legal advice and you should consult an employment paralegal or lawyer. This is presented as legal education only. It is your responsibility what you do with this information. Let’s say you’ve worked as an Independent Contractor. Many employers have an incentive to treat their employees as if they were not employees. They can save money on taxes, they don’t have to give you any rights and they can withhold vacations, breaks, T4s, etc. ...

March 7, 2024 · 3 min

The Death of FactoryDirect.ca

This is a slight deviation from our typical posts but the topic does sort of fit. I’m going to talk about Factory Direct. It started off in 1995 as an electronics retailer and evolved into a merchant of everything refurbished. It turns out that they are going out of business. Once, they were a popular place to buy products cheap that were liquidated from other stores. Now they are liquidating themselves. ...

February 28, 2024 · 7 min