If the interception of electronic communications is essential to the investigation and prosecution of crime, then new legislation tabled in the Canadian House of Commons should prove to be of great assistance in fighting cybercrime. The law, called “Technical Assistance for Law Enforcement in the 21st century,” is not about creating new policing powers according to its drafters, but about the use of modern telecommunications and the internet in today’s world and the inadequacies of current law enforcement legal interception techniques.

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan presented the legislation in an Ottawa news conference on June 18. Nicholson explained the rationale for the legislation. “Evolving communications technologies like the internet, cell phones and personal digital assistants clearly benefit Canadians in their day-to-day  lives… unfortunately, these technologies have also provided new ways of committing crimes.”

Police in Canada have asked for this kind of legislation for some time. Calgary Deputy Chief of Police, Murray Stooke states, “We do understand that privacy concerns of Canadians must be respected, but at the same time, we have a growing gap in terms of our capacity [to investigate crimes].”

Currently Canadian service providers like Bell, Rogers, Shaw and others have no legal requirement to provide interception capability within their telecommunications networks. When judicial authorization is sought by the police through the issuing of a warrant, service providers cannot deliver because they have nothing in place to capture conversations, emails, images and documents transmitted from computers, cell phones, and PDAs.

Tom Copeland, Chair of CAIP (Canadian Association of Internet Providers), represents an association of small ISPs from right across the country. When asked about the pending legislation he remarked that the minimal $15,000 needed to implement new interception technology could be a “significant burden” for his members even if the government legislation includes financial assistance to cover 50% of the cost. “I know a lot of providers who couldn’t come up with the other half – it’s just not the margins we have,” Copeland stated.

Bell spokesperson, Jacqueline Michelis, expressed concerns as well. She stated that the company “has long been committed to working with law enforcement agencies to find effective and efficient solutions for…legitimate surveillance needs,” but that it was inherently unfair to place the burden of costs on the industry for what was essentially a policing function. “Other funding mechanisms must be found,” she added.

Rogers Communications, who were consulted on the bill during its drafting, stated through an email sent by Nancy Cottenden, Director of Communications, that they are studying the bill now that it has been tabled.

On the day the legislation was tabled in the House, University of Ottawa Law Professor, Michael Geist wrote about the bill.  He stated, “It represents a reneging of a commitment from the previous Public Safety Minister on court oversight and will embed broad new surveillance capabilities in the Canadian Internet.”

Canada joins the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand, Germany and Sweden who have all passed similar legislation.

Original Printed – June 23, 2009

Sources: Canada proposes new powers to police Internet
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/afp/20090618/tc_afp/canadapoliticsinternetlaws

Proposed Canadian Law Would Allow Additional Police Internet Procedures
http://www.dailytech.com/Proposed+Canadian+Law+Would+Allow+Additional+Police+Internet+Procedures/article15470.htm

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