So I am going to assume that the plaintiff will also be filing against Bing, Yahoo and all the other search engines individually too? Cos you know, Google is not the only search engine out there...
Canadian court ruling orders Google to block sites worldwide
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Re: Canadian court ruling orders Google to block sites worldwide
#22Justice systems the world over have been itching for a way to force this whole interweb thing to fall in line for more than a decade, but they couldn't find a solid-enough target in a quickly-changing landscape. Now that things have matured, they are going after the big established players: Google for search/advertising, Facebook for social activity, Twitter for censorship/regulated speech, Amazon for commerce, Youtube for copyright. It will happen more and more and there is no way around it. The classic cyberpunk countermeasure of finding a friendly nation to hide behind just doesn't work in the long run, as Sweden has proven with the PirateBay case.
It might be an unpopular opinion here, but I believe the rise of a global network will inevitably force the rise of a global government. A higher authority is now necessary to sort out this sort of problems in a consistent way. It's the natural evolution we've seen in the past when trade and knowledge networks reached a dimension where differences in legislation made it too difficult for them to flow. The question is: how do we define this global government? Which interests will it represent in practice? I think it's something we should embrace, because otherwise we will be forced to accept it at the point of a non-metaphorical gun.
Re: Canadian court ruling orders Google to block sites worldwide
#23It's not only about free speech. Different cultural, social and economic conditions mean different countries live by different laws. I don't know the circumstances of the case, but it seems plausible that given an opportunity a German, Emirati, Chinese or Brazilian court may reach a different conclusion as to the legality of Morgan Jack's business. Countries are known to have very different labor and copyright laws.…
At a guess, this is the risk you take by doing business in two or more jurisdictions: you might be subjected to two mutually-incompatible rulings, in which case your only alternative is to stop doing business in at least one of those jurisdictions.
Re: Canadian court ruling orders Google to block sites worldwide
#24You would have to think that ceasing to do business in BC would be an option competitive with accepting rulings like this in the future.
Re: Canadian court ruling orders Google to block sites worldwide
#25Justice systems the world over have been itching for a way to force this whole interweb thing to fall in line for more than a decade, but they couldn't find a solid-enough target in a quickly-changing landscape. Now that things have matured, they are going after the big established players: Google for search/advertising, Facebook for social activity, Twitter for censorship/regulated speech, Amazon for commerce, Youtu…
Why would a justice system care? Or do you mean government?
Re: Canadian court ruling orders Google to block sites worldwide
#26Justice systems the world over have been itching for a way to force this whole interweb thing to fall in line for more than a decade, but they couldn't find a solid-enough target in a quickly-changing landscape. Now that things have matured, they are going after the big established players: Google for search/advertising, Facebook for social activity, Twitter for censorship/regulated speech, Amazon for commerce, Youtu…
I expect at least in the medium term it will look more like a global (or at least multilateral) treaty, rather than a global government. But I agree that now is the time to think about how we could like such a thing to be structured. As much as some people would like it to be, the internet can't be the new wild west forever. It will be regulated. The hope is to have it regulated in a fair, consistent, and manageable (minimal?) manner.
As a web-based business owner, I find the prospect of having to comply with an increasing list of obscure regulations from various different entities rather overwhelming. Something comprehensive could be a relief, if it's done right. (Of course, there will still be differences between countries, but perhaps an overarching treaty could at least limit their impact.)
Re: Canadian court ruling orders Google to block sites worldwide
#27Justice systems the world over have been itching for a way to force this whole interweb thing to fall in line for more than a decade, but they couldn't find a solid-enough target in a quickly-changing landscape. Now that things have matured, they are going after the big established players: Google for search/advertising, Facebook for social activity, Twitter for censorship/regulated speech, Amazon for commerce, Youtu…
Variety of laws ensures diversification which protects against and limits the fallout from legal mistakes. It also allows humanity to experiment and learn faster than a single monolithic legal system would permit.
Re: Canadian court ruling orders Google to block sites worldwide
#28This is insane. The plaintiff, Equustek Solutions Inc., says the main defendant, Morgan Jack, sells networking devices that infringe on their trademark. The defendant sells these things online; the plaintiff wants his websites to be dereferenced from Google. The court agreed and asked Google to remove the links on all its properties worldwide (not just google.ca). But what does Google have to do with this? Why does t…
Some part of me wonders what would happen if they were to turn off Google to Canada for a day and list the judge's phone number as the person to complain to. (Probably one very angry judge, but I wonder...)
Sounds like something from here would apply:
"Contempt of Court includes the following behaviours:
- Fails to maintain a respectful attitude, remain silent or refrain from showing approval or disapproval of the proceeding
- Refuses or neglects to obey a subpoena
- Willfully disobeys a process or order of the Court
- Interfere with the orderly administration of justice or to impair the authority or dignity of the Court"
Re: Canadian court ruling orders Google to block sites worldwide
#29If you think this is bad, just wait until July 1 and CASL gets introduced. As a Canadian I'd like to apologize for this:
http://www.marketingprofs.com/chirp/2014/25293/how-canadas-a...
Re: Canadian court ruling orders Google to block sites worldwide
#30It's not only about free speech. Different cultural, social and economic conditions mean different countries live by different laws. I don't know the circumstances of the case, but it seems plausible that given an opportunity a German, Emirati, Chinese or Brazilian court may reach a different conclusion as to the legality of Morgan Jack's business. Countries are known to have very different labor and copyright laws.…
At a guess, this is the risk you take by doing business in two or more jurisdictions: you might be subjected to two mutually-incompatible rulings, in which case your only alternative is to stop doing business in at least one of those jurisdictions.
Assuming courts you deal with don't overreach like the B.C. court just did, you can easily resolve this problem by complying with each law within each respective jurisdiction.
This is made easier by the fact that your company is usually represented by separate local legal entities whose business is within each jurisdiction.