Canadian Business Groups on Anti-Spam Jurisdiction: It's a Problem Unless It Involves Our Spyware |
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Thursday February 07, 2013
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Yesterday's post
on the coalition of business lobby groups support for a spyware
provision in the Canadian anti-spam law attracted considerable
attention, with many shocked at the breadth of the proposal. While the
post focused on how the provision could be broadly interpreted to permit
spyware to track copyright infringement, block websites, or to stop
attempts to access wireless networks without authorization, it did not
discuss yet another serious concern involving the jurisdictional scope
of the provision. As noted in the post, the lobby groups, led by the
Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Canadian Marketing Association, the
Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association and the Entertainment
Software Association of Canada, have asked the government to create an exception for the express consent requirement on software installation for: a foreign state; The last five words of this provision could prove to be the most important, since they permit the installation of computer programs without express consent based on the belief of a contravention of the law of a foreign state. After years of fighting for a made-in-Canada copyright approach, this provision would create the prospect of enforcement of U.S. or other foreign laws through surreptitious installation of computer programs. Beyond copyright law, the same provision could presumably be used to justify Chinese spyware supposedly seeking to prevent violation of Chinese laws (perhaps involving groups targeted by that government). What makes this provision particularly ironic is that elsewhere in the business lobby group document, the organizations complain that the law: applies to computer programs that are installed on computers anywhere in the world by or acting on the direction of a person located in Canada. This wide extra-territorial reach runs counter to CASL's stated objective to promote the efficiency and adaptability of the Canadian economy. In response to this concern, the groups call for an exception for all computer programs installed on a computer system outside of Canada. Leaving aside the potential for this loophole to turn Canada into a base for spyware activities (so long as they avoid installing on Canadian computers), it is incredible to find these groups arguing against applying the law for Canadian-originated spyware outside of the country but simultaneously arguing for a provision to allow for the installation of such programs in Canada to enforce foreign laws. As for who these groups are, a reminder that the group of 13, led by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, consists of:
Comments (4)
Calvin
said:
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... Presumably, by the same token, it would be okay for a consumer/employee to place spyware on their computers to monitor their activities? (Canadian Bankers Association?!). Do these lobby groups think these things through before making their presentations or do they just oppose for the sake of opposing? I guess they do have to justify their existence to their members. All those premiums have to amount to something. Ask for 10 things and if you get 6, scream "victory!" Now if only we had 14 consumer lobby groups to challenge their assertions! |
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It's that tactic "Do these lobby groups think these things through before making their presentations or do they just oppose for the sake of opposing?" It's the infamous "I want a Pony" tactic. Aim to get a dog off your parent by demanding a pony and "compromise" on the dog. They do this all the time (SOPA et al) |
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... I arguably and reasonably believe that some of the members of some of the mentioned organizations are involved into an illegal activity commonly known as price fixing, would this law make it legal for me to install spyware and viruses on their computers in order to further "investigate"? |
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... Caroline. if you, thought Marie`s article is unimaginable... on wednesday I got a great Saab 99 Turbo after I been earnin $9561 this - four weeks past and in excess of $10,000 last month. without a doubt its the nicest-job I've ever done. I actually started four months/ago and pretty much straight away made at least $70, per hour. I use the details on this web-site, http://www.bit90.com |
We want to enhance competition and investment in this country, and this is why we adopted this policy back in 2008 for the AWS spectrum. Let me say that the price went down by an average of 11% since then, and we will continue this way with the 700 megahertz spectrum. We launched consultation with the industry to make sure that we enhance competition and provide better choice and better rates for our consumers.
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