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Friday February 22, 2013 |
In a surprising and troubling decision, the Ontario Court of Appeal has permitted
a police search of a cellphone that was not password protected or
locked during the course of an arrest. The court found that the police
had a reasonable belief that the phone might contain relevant evidence
and it was acceptable to undertake a "cursory" examination of the
contents of the phone. The court noted that "if the cell phone had been
password protected or otherwise 'locked' to users other than the
appellant, it would not have been appropriate to take steps to open the
cell phone and examine its contents without first obtaining a search
warrant."
The decision raises serious concerns given the increasingly
blurry line between smartphones and personal computers (the court found
that this particular phone was not a "mini-computer") and the suggestion
that the contents on a phone without password protection is "readily
available to others." Canadians are surely entitled to expect that the
contents on a private cellphone - whether locked or unlocked - are
private and that police access to the content should require a warrant.cellphones, fearon, privacy, search Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterTagsShareFriday February 22, 2013 |
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Monday May 09, 2011 |
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The Manitoba government is expected
to introduce new legislation today to regulate consumer cellphone
contracts. The bill follows a consultation on the issue last year.
cellphones, consumer protection, manitoba Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterTagsShareMonday May 09, 2011 |
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Thursday December 16, 2010 |
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The Government of Manitoba's Consumer Protection Office has launched a consultation
on consumer cellphone contracts that includes questions on locked
phones, early termination of service, and disclosure issues.
cellphones, consumer protection, manitoba Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterTagsShareThursday December 16, 2010 |
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Friday July 11, 2008 |
The 61 reforms series now shifts to several weeks worth of postings on the fundamentally flawed, dangerous, and stunningly overbroad anti-circumvention provisions in Bill C-61. The digital lock rules have rightly been the primary focus of attention for most groups as they are far more restrictive than the Liberal's C-60, more restrictive than approaches in other countries such as New Zealand, and arguably even more restrictive than the rules under the U.S. DMCA. The Canadian DMCA goes far beyond what is needed to comply with the WIPO Internet treaties and ultimately have the effect of eviscerating fair dealing in the digital environment.
Even with the many reforms I plan to propose, the reality is that these provisions will still be problematic. I question the need for anti-circumvention legislation (as do countries like Israel which declined to include it in their recent set of reforms). If the government is committed to anti-circumvention legislation, however, major amendments are critical.
With an eye on the launch of the Apple iPhone in Canada today, I start the anti-circumvention problems with their effect on locked cellphones. As currently drafted, the bill could make it an infringement to unlock a cellphone and would certainly make the distribution of programs used to unlock cellphones (or service providers that do so) illegal. Why is this the case?
61 reforms, c-61, cellphones, copyright, Copyright Canada, copyright for canadians, dmca, iphone, prentice, unlocked phones Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterTagsShareFriday July 11, 2008 |
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