Canada’s ‘Clean Net’ act
p2pnet.net news:- Conservative MP Joy Smith [right] yesterday introduced the Clean Internet Act (Bill C-427). The private member’s bill would establish an Internet service provider licensing system to be administered by the CRTC along with “know your subscriber” requirements and content blocking powers. Just about everything associated with this bill is (to be charitable) rather odd.
Smith introduced it by warning against the use of the Internet to support human trafficking and added that “the bill would address the fact that child pornography is not okay to put on the Internet throughout our nation,” though the Criminal Code already does that.
The bill itself includes (and I am not making this up):
- an ISP licensing system to be administered by the CRTC that is defined so broadly that it would seemingly capture anyone offering a wifi connection
- a “know your subscriber” requirement where ISPs would be required to deny service to past offenders (though the ISP would escape liability if upon learning of an offending customer, it terminated service and notified the Minister of Industry)
- a new power that would allow the Minister of Industry to order an ISP to block access to content that promotes violence against women, promotes hatred, or contains child pornography. ISPs that fail to block face possible jail time for the company’s directors and officers.
- the Minister of Industry can prescribe special powers to facilitate searches of electronic data systems (ie. lawful access)
Given that this is a private member’s bill, it is very unlikely to become law.
That said, this bill would not look out-of-place in countries that aggressively censor the Internet and it makes the dangerous Jennings lawful access bill look positively harmless by comparison.
Michael Geist
[Geist is the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa. He can be reached by email at mgeist[at]uottawa.ca and is on-line at www.michaelgeist.ca.]
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April 19th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
It looks like the likes of the **aa’s and governments are bound and determined to quash the Internet. Fortunately both have come a day late and a dollar short. People now have access to equipment and technology that will allow them to form their own networks and use them in the way THEY see fit. The days of government and corporate control over our information are over.
April 19th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
Why exactly hasn’t bullshit like this erupted into physical revolution against the Canadian Government? Just how far into slavery are people willing to sink before they stop aiding and abetting their enslavers? This Joy Whats-her-name should’ve got two to the back of the head the first day after this shit was publicized.
And no, it’s not a suppression of the “freedom” of government bugs if some of ‘em get swatted. THe solution to government run amok is, quite simply, blood in the streets.
But no, this’ll never even be “protested” in any but the most piecemeal and “rreasonable” fashion. Hell, you’ll have a lot of people who’ll say things like “well, kiddie porn IS baad!”
Fuck it, people WANT slavery — we should just admit it.
April 20th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
Wow. What on earth is going on with the canadian goverment of late? They seem to be bending over backwards trying to force oppressive legislation onto the populous