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Cable Giants Step Up Piracy Battle By Interrogating Montreal Software Developer (www.cbc.ca)
New submitter wierzpio writes: In more news about TVAddons, Canadian cable companies used a civil search warrant to visit the owner and developer of TVAddons, a library of hundreds of apps known as add-ons that allow people easy access to pirated movies, TV shows, and live TV. According to Adam Lackman, founder of TVAddons and defendant in the copyright lawsuit launched by the television giants, "The whole experience was horrifying. It felt like the kind of thing you would have expected to have happened in the Soviet Union." During the 16 hour-long visit, he was interrogated, denied the right not to answer the questions, and denied the right to consult his answers with his lawyer, who was present. His personal possessions were seized. Adam is fighting back (link to Indiegogo fundraising page) and already the judge declared the search warrant "null and void." "I am of the view that its true purpose was to destroy the livelihood of the defendant, deny him the financial resources to finance a defense to the claim made against him," the judge wrote. "The defendant has demonstrated that he has an arguable case that he is not violating the [Copyright] Act," the judge continued, adding that by the plaintiffs' own estimate, only about one per cent of Lackman's add-ons were allegedly used to pirate content. Lackman's belongings still haven't been returned, and he can't acess the TVAddons website or its social media accounts, which were also seized. "Bell, Rogers and Videotron has appealed the court decision and a Federal Court of Appeal judge has ruled that until the appeal can be hard, Lackman will get nothing back," reports cbc.ca.
Why the rant against Canada?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Bill_of_Rights
This private action by Canadian Cable companies is atrocious, and it violates Canadian law as reported by the judge in this case. The victim was illegally interrogated and his assets seized in violation of what the law permits.
Yes this was a terrible thing, but this isn't happening because Canada has lax rights laws. What the hell is going on in Canada? Asshole companies are being assholes, just like asshole companies worldwide.
The victim was illegally interrogated and his assets seized in violation of what the law permits
What was the most disturbing about this is how it says he was 'denied the right to not answer questions'; how, pray tell, do they 'deny' him that? From the original article:
Lackman was "not permitted to refuse to answer questions" and his lawyer wasn't permitted to counsel him in his answers. "Any time I would question the process, they would threaten me with contempt of court proceedings," says Lackman.
Absolute fucking bullshit.
Really? You HAVE to be trolling us.
Nothing out of the norm is happening in Canada generally.
In this very specific case, non-governmental persons walked all over the bounds set by law, precedent and custom in enacting a Pillar order. Sections 7 through 14 I suspect. Not, and I stress this, not the government walking all over Mr. Lackman.
Not a lawyer, but I can make reasonable guesses as to the outcome.
What will likely happen is on appeal, the corporations will lose (heck, even on the most basic one of the timeframe allowed). That will likely toss out all evidence gained by the corporations. It may get the corporations or their lawyers sanctioned by the judge or judges in question. It will likely open them up for a counter lawsuit by Mr. Lackman. I suspect the corporations will attempt to settle at that point, as a definitive ruling in favour of Mr. Lackman would certainly be a hit to their stock valuation.
The fact you chose to use the term "Bill of Rights", I think, says a lot about you. We have something called the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. We tend to stick to it. It's why Khadr got the payment he did. And no, not because Trudeau is spineless or such (or regardless of such, if you lean that way instead), that was because the Supreme Court of Canada sat down with their copy of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and decided that by leaving Khadr, a Canadian citizen, in an American military prison and not doing fuck all to repatriate him (he could have stayed in one of our prisons you know, we _do_ have them, and they're not exactly the Tokyo Hilton too, posh-wise) was a basic violation of his rights as a Canadian citizen. Something the government at the time decided to do.
As they say, the wheels grind slowly.
But hey, you do your opinions, I'll do mine. Also, to help our your growth as an internet pundit, here's some free education on a foreign body's legal system: Canada's "Bill o' Rightlies"
If the police were not there the cable companies would have no right or ability to hold Adam, make him answer questions or take his equipment
Canadian and U.S. law are very different. In Canada, plaintiffs have very broad powers of discovery. It's up to the judge to later sort out all the evidence and decide what's relevant and what isn't. Generally if you refuse to assist in the discovery process, by refusing to answer questions or give up passwords, you risk a default judgment against you, which can be very, very costly.
If I can be modded down for being a troll, can I be modded up for being an orc, or a balrog?
For that reason, there are very clear rules in Canada about how searches may be conducted and those rules were clearly violated in this case, but that doesn't invalidate the evidence itself.