Archive for April 4th, 2012

Justice Committee Report Recommends Expanding Lawful Access Legislation

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.

ACTA Rapporteur: Little Evidence That ACTA Will Fix Global IP Enforcement

David Martin, the ACTA rapporteur at the European Parliament, has published an op-ed expressing skepticism about the agreement’s effectiveness, noting “so far there is little evidence that it will have the intended effect. Indeed several non-signatories have stressed their opposition to the agreement.”