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Wednesday April 04, 2012 |
The government has placed Bill C-30, the lawful access/online
surveillance bill on hold, but there is no reason to believe it is
going away. In fact, a recent report Standing Committee on Justice and
Human Rights
suggests that the changes coming to the bill may not address public
concern but rather expand lawful access requirements even further. The
committee report
on the State of Organized Crime that includes recommendations that
reinforce Bill C-30's mandatory warrantless disclosure of subscriber
information and envision going beyond the bill by requiring both
telecom companies and device manufacturers to assist in the decryption
of encrypted communications as well as exploring mandatory verification
of the
identity of cellphone users.
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Monday March 05, 2012 |
Last week I wrote about the astonishing
demands
of the Canadian music industry as it seeks a massive overhaul of Bill
C-11, the copyright reform bill. The Canadian Independent Music
Association is seeking changes to the enabler provision that would
create liability risk for social networking sites, search
engines, blogging platforms, video sites, and many other websites
featuring third party contributions. If that were not enough, it is
also calling for a new iPod tax, an extension in the term
of copyright, a removal of protections for user generated content,
parody, and satire, as well as an increase in statutory damage awards.
CIMA and ADISQ, which represents the Quebec music industry, appeared
before the C-11 committee last week and the demands only seemed to
increase. For example, ADISQ is asking the government to add a
requirement for Internet providers to disclose customer name and
address information to copyright owners without court oversight.
Conservative MP Paul
Calandra rightly noted the obvious parallels to Bill C-30, where the
government wants similar disclosures to law enforcement. In this case,
however, ADISQ wants the information disclosed to a private party based
on nothing more than an allegation of infringement. Calandra's comments
suggest that the government recognizes the dangers of such an approach.
The proposed lack of due process is not limited to the disclosure of
subscriber information. During its appearance, CIMA said it wanted a
takedown system without any due process.
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Wednesday February 15, 2012 |
The launch of Bill
C-30,
the online surveillance legislation dubbed the Protecting Children from
Internet Predators Act, went about as expected with the government
taken to task with big brother imagery ("Say
Hello to Big Brother Government") and criticism over the lack of
evidence ("Conservatives
hew to common sense save for bizarre crime fixation"), the security
threats ("Online
surveillance bill will be ‘a gold mine’ for hackers: Ontario privacy
commissioner"), and the absence of a thoughtful digital vision ("Canada’s
embarrassing failure on lawful access legislation"). The divisive
comments
from Public Safety Minister Vic Toews seemed to shape much of the
dialogue, serving to ratchet up the rhetoric and overshadow both the
modest changes to the bill and the legitimate remaining concerns of
many Canadians.
I did a large number of interviews with print,
radio (the As
It Happens interview covers many of the concerns), and television (CBC,
CTV,
and Global)
and was left wondering whether there is a compromise to be had in an
environment where the Conservative majority government can obviously
pass the bill but only at a significant political cost given public
opinion. I may be naive, but I think it is possible.
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Tuesday February 14, 2012 |
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews' shocking comments on
critics of online surveillance in the House of Commons yesterday have
attracted widespread
media attention with coverage in the Globe,
CBC,
and Postmedia.
Toews responded
to questions about online surveillance by accusing critics of siding
with child pornographers:
As technology evolves, many criminal
activities, such as the distribution of child pornography, become much
easier. We are proposing measures to bring our laws into the 21st
century and to provide the police with the lawful tools that they need.
He can either stand with us or with
the child pornographers.
Toews may be surprised by the negative reaction because he has been
saying similar things for weeks. Consider:
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