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Canadian Agency Drops Cases Rather Than Deal With New Requirements For ISP Info

An anonymous reader points out this story about what has happened since the Supreme Court of Canada's ruling on the warrantless disclosure of subscriber information to law enforcement from ISPs. "A funny thing happens when courts start requiring more information from law enforcement: law enforcers suddenly seem less interested in zealously enforcing the law. Back in June of this year, Canada's Supreme Court delivered its decision in R. v. Spencer, which brought law enforcement's warrantless access of ISP subscriber info to an end. 'In a unanimous decision written by (Harper appointee) Justice Thomas Cromwell, the court issued a strong endorsement of Internet privacy, emphasizing the privacy importance of subscriber information, the right to anonymity, and the need for police to obtain a warrant for subscriber information except in exigent circumstances or under a reasonable law.' The effects of this ruling are beginning to be felt. Michael Geist points to a Winnipeg Free Press article that details the halcyon days of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's warrantless access. 'Prior to the court decision, the RCMP and border agency estimate, it took about five minutes to complete the less than one page of documentation needed to ask for subscriber information, and the company usually turned it over immediately or within one day.'"

29 comments

  1. Re:Frist Psot! by Zeromous · · Score: 0

    Dear Sir/Madam/Common Internet Criminal,

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    "Attorney" Slashdot.org

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  2. Sadly ... by Rambo+Tribble · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ... there is nothing new about law enforcement, or the corrections industry, serving and protecting itself before any considerations of the society and its citizens.

  3. Ond once again we learn they have been lying... by gweihir · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... when they said this information was "vital" or "critical". Turns out that in most cases they can to without it and that for the few cases where they actually need it they can go through a proper legal process. My impression is that law enforcement has gotten entirely too lazy and to disrespectful of the rights and well-being of the citizens that are supposed to protect. They behave just like any other industry now: Deliver the shoddiest product they can get away with, lobby for laws that make their job as easy as possible, but at the same time demand as much money as they can get and whenever they screw up, they claim it is not their fault.

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    1. Re:Ond once again we learn they have been lying... by loonycyborg · · Score: 2

      There definitely must be some approval mechanism because otherwise cops will query personal details to track their wives' lovers and what-not, but their current mechanism sounds way too unwieldy, so not only cops were lazy but also bureaucrats.

    2. Re:Ond once again we learn they have been lying... by blahplusplus · · Score: 3, Interesting

      "My impression is that law enforcement has gotten entirely too lazy and to disrespectful of the rights and well-being of the citizens that are supposed to protect."

      You have no clue what's really going on in the world... the elites are afraid of political awakening. This (mass surveillance) by the NSA and abuse by law enforcement is just more part and parcel of state suppression of dissent against corporate interests. They're worried that the more people are going to wake up and corporate centers like the US and canada may be among those who also awaken. See this vid with Zbigniew Brzezinski, former United States National Security Advisor.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

      Science on reasoning, reason doesn't work the way we thought it did:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

      Brezinski at a press conferenec conference

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

      The real news:
      http://therealnews.com/t2/ [therealnews.com]

      http://www.amazon.com/Democrac...

      Look at the following graphs:

      http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...
      http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...
      http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...

      And then...

      WIKILEAKS: U.S. Fought To Lower Minimum Wage In Haiti So Hanes And Levis Would Stay Cheap

      http://www.businessinsider.com...

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

      Free markets?

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

      http://www.amazon.com/Empire-I...

      "We now live in two Americas. One—now the minority—functions in a print-based, literate world that can cope with complexity and can separate illusion from truth. The other—the majority—is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic. To this majority—which crosses social class lines, though the poor are overwhelmingly affected—presidential debate and political rhetoric is pitched at a sixth-grade reading level. In this “other America,” serious film and theater, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins of society.

      In the tradition of Christopher Lasch’s The Culture of Narcissism and Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, Pulitzer Prize-winner Chris Hedges navigates this culture—attending WWF contests, the Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas, and Ivy League graduation ceremonies—to expose an age of terrifying decline and heightened self-delusion."

    3. Re:Ond once again we learn they have been lying... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My problem is that they're recording the data BEFORE getting a warrant, which means everyone is being spied upon by default - and only naïve people would believe there won't be third parties (like foreign governments) accessing it.

      We're already getting people who have committed no crime denied access to the US over their medical history - from private medical files.....

      get a warrant, THEN put TARGETED surveillance on a subject ... not the dragnet by default.

    4. Re:Ond once again we learn they have been lying... by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 2

      In this "other America", they read loud and clear that the serious film and theater fucking hate them. No, really...ask any theater or film person what they think of the average American. Nothing but pure hatred. Then, ask what the average Muslim Arab thinks of the Jews, and compare and contrast those viewpoints.

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    5. Re:Ond once again we learn they have been lying... by Falconhell · · Score: 3, Informative

      In all fairness, they make a good approximation of the average American.

    6. Re:Ond once again we learn they have been lying... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Difference being that one upon a time law enforcement was about protecting "good" citizens from "bad" ones.. but not iot's about enforcing whatever law the current tyrants in office choose to implement, irrespective of the ethical considerations involved. Much like the gestapo, or .. Hmm, I was going to say like countless other trannical dictatorships, but you know what? There are actually very few police forces worldwide that are actually morally bankrupt.. You have Mexico, a few south american countries, some African ones, and some in the U.K. and Canada.. in fact it's really really bad in the part of Canada I live in.. We have cops being let go for perverted sex crimes , assaults, pilfering of evidence, drug crimes ('roids mostly), and fatal shootings, almost *every single* day, it seems.. At least they havent been breaking down doors without a warrant, yet...

  4. Imagine that! by Runaway1956 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If the cops actually have to do their JOB to get the job done, they aren't so eager to infringe on your rights.

    All nations who trace their laws back to English Common Law supposedly require warrants before they invade your privacy. Funny how many of those nations have been ignoring that requirement.

    --
    "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    1. Re:Imagine that! by Livius · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Individual rights are more about protecting all of society than they are about protecting individuals. In Canada and similar countries, getting a warrant is laughably easy. Choosing not to get a warrant must mean the case is embarrassingly weak. The requirement of warrants makes police work better because there's actually a minimum of work that has to happen.

    2. Re:Imagine that! by anyGould · · Score: 1

      If the cops actually have to do their JOB to get the job done, they aren't so eager to infringe on your rights.

      I'll be charitable and say that perhaps because everyone wants to point at "X people charged in $CRIME_OF_DAY ring" headlines, it simply isn't enough of a win for cops to spend the extra time on those cases?

  5. Re: Frist Psot! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You spelled "first" wrong.

  6. umount -f /RCMP by sberge · · Score: 2

    sudo

  7. warrants need about the same paperwork as shooting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But shootings get a speedier trial and higher conviction rate. At least in the U.S.
    It all comes down to which particular brand of fascism becomes "settled law" in your country.

  8. Well! by Greyfox · · Score: 2

    Guess it's time for civilization to slip into lawless disorder! I'll get me hockey mask, then!

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

    1. Re:Well! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's time to realise Americans may like to give up their rights but we Canadians strongly oppose to exchange our liberty to give tools to law enforcement that has been proven to be untrustworthy. Really .. Canadians want nothing to do with the American Way. Feeding paranoia to sell more weapons and bulletproof vests to toddlers in kindergarten is insane. The US has lost it's ways and it's citizens are now all obedient little slaves , copnstantly watched by their masters : the corporations and the ultra rich republicans .They can all go in straight jackets and be on pills and we wont change our habits . The US created the situation in which they're in .. look at torture .. you're so scared Kerry want to bury the report because he knows you do the world wrong and knows that it's the doings of the USA that brings it very deserved hatred and opposition.
      Want to live in peace ? revolt and get rid of the establishment. As long as it's in place you will never know peace and deservedly so.
      It's not the rest of the planet that's wrong .. it's you .

  9. Cops are like children by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Meaning reverse psychology works very good.

  10. lets play a game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    What type of fallacy is this comment in the fine summary?

    "law enforcers suddenly seem less interested in zealously enforcing the law"

    Here's a nice list to choose from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L...

    winner gets to brag

    1. Re: lets play a game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      unsure why that was flaimbait but if you read this "A funny thing happens when courts start requiring more information from law enforcement: law enforcers suddenly seem less interested in zealously enforcing the law" there is never any proof that previous requests were for enforcing the law. Nothing is shown that between before and after the change there was any effect on law enforcement. It just seems to be thrown in there assuming that all requests were legal and for zealously enforcing the law, it seems to me the quote in the summary is flaimbait.

  11. Maximum LOL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    To serve and protect? Look what happens now!

  12. Re:Frist Psot! by NotSanguine · · Score: 1

    Signed, Lionel Hutz. "Attorney" Slashdot.org

    You make me nostalgic for Phil Hartman. he was a gem.

    --
    No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
  13. Re:warrants need about the same paperwork as shoot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    But shootings get a speedier trial and higher conviction rate. At least in the U.S.
    It all comes down to which particular brand of fascism becomes "settled law" in your country.

    The RCMP prefers tazering people to death. Less paperwork than discharging their service revolver and less messy in terms of public relations and the crime scene as well.

  14. Ugh, Canada by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Canada is a country where women dye their armpit hair to show men they're not submissive.

    Pass.

  15. So previously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They were on fishing trips

  16. Re:Frist Psot! by Zeromous · · Score: 1

    Too bad mods here dont appreciate him :( when he died I died a little inside. Will never forget that day in May 1998.

    --
    ---Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A START
  17. Re: Frist Psot! by doccus · · Score: 1

    You spelled "first" wrong.

    Aah.. but frist psot has dippaseared..