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Canada's top court backs order for Google to remove firm's website from searches

cbc.ca

11–20 of 249 posts

Re: Canada's top court backs order for Google to remove firm's website from searches

#11
post #7

A hypothetical: Company A is in country X and company B is in country Y. Country X declares on behalf of company A that company B be blocked from searches worldwide (including country Y). Country Y declares on behalf of company B that company B cannot be blocked from searches (at least in country Y). Who wins in the global context? Whichever can/will fine the most? Does this give benefits to the overly-regulating cou…

The bigger question is if Canada can enforce their regressive idea of Free Expression on US Service providers simply because of their presence in Canada

Canada has no concept of the 1st amendment,Canada as all kinds of limits on Speech that will never be allowed under the US Constitution.

Re: Canada's top court backs order for Google to remove firm's website from searches

#13
post #11
post #7

A hypothetical: Company A is in country X and company B is in country Y. Country X declares on behalf of company A that company B be blocked from searches worldwide (including country Y). Country Y declares on behalf of company B that company B cannot be blocked from searches (at least in country Y). Who wins in the global context? Whichever can/will fine the most? Does this give benefits to the overly-regulating cou…

The bigger question is if Canada can enforce their regressive idea of Free Expression on US Service providers simply because of their presence in Canada Canada has no concept of the 1st amendment,Canada as all kinds of limits on Speech that will never be allowed under the US Constitution.

[deleted]

Re: Canada's top court backs order for Google to remove firm's website from searches

#14
post #4

Tremendously impactful decision, regardless of which side of the case you support. Interestingly, the majority addressed a Google argument centered upon concerns regarding the possibility of international censorship: "Google’s argument that a global injunction violates international comity because it is possible that the order could not have been obtained in a foreign jurisdiction, or that to comply with it would res…

Google's argument seems very close to not being theoretical.

For example the US has a law, see https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-111publ223/html/PLAW-111p... for the exact text, which limits the enforceability of foreign judgements within American courts where they impact free speech. This was litigated in Trout Point Lodge v. Doug K. Handshoe and it was found that a Canadian copyright decision is not necessarily enforceable in a US court.

Now given the facts of this case, a US court is likely to uphold the Canadian decision. (That happened in the previously cited case as well.) However not necessarily so. And if not, remanding the decision to a lower Canadian court to decide what should happen in the USA is emphatically NOT the correct course for deciding what legal decision should be enforced in the USA.

Re: Canada's top court backs order for Google to remove firm's website from searches

#15
post #11
post #7

A hypothetical: Company A is in country X and company B is in country Y. Country X declares on behalf of company A that company B be blocked from searches worldwide (including country Y). Country Y declares on behalf of company B that company B cannot be blocked from searches (at least in country Y). Who wins in the global context? Whichever can/will fine the most? Does this give benefits to the overly-regulating cou…

The bigger question is if Canada can enforce their regressive idea of Free Expression on US Service providers simply because of their presence in Canada Canada has no concept of the 1st amendment,Canada as all kinds of limits on Speech that will never be allowed under the US Constitution.

Google could comply with the Canadian court. I hope someone in the US sues them for it. Deliberately removing a site from US searches, or from searches hosted in the US is clearly an abuse of its position and unlawful. And then we can have the US Supreme Court decide whether or not the US Constitution applies to Google, or if Iran's does.

Re: Canada's top court backs order for Google to remove firm's website from searches

#16
post #12

This kind of stuff should be arbitrated in an international court. Giving an authority in a single country the say on what can and can not be seen on the internet world wide is a terrible idea.

Under which legal framework? Common law? Civil law? Old Testament law? Sharia law? The framework laid out by the Constitution of the Soviet Union? The US codex of law, circa 1953? Circa 2007? Circa Citizens United?

Should everyone get a chance to vote for choosing it? Should we decide based on population of respective countries? Or do a one-country-one-vote thing? Maybe one dollar of GDP, one vote? Why should Chinese commercial law have any bearing on a trade dispute between Honduras, Belgium, and Spain?

Re: Canada's top court backs order for Google to remove firm's website from searches

#17
post #5

Google should have country specific feeds (canada.google.com) instead of domains. Then location based filtering is forced on the browser where it should be.

I'm not sure I follow - canada.google.com is a domain, as is google.ca.

What are you actually suggesting?

Re: Canada's top court backs order for Google to remove firm's website from searches

#18
> Google voluntarily removed hundreds of webpages from its Canadian search results on Google.ca. But the material continued to show up on Google's global search results.

> So Equustek obtained a further injunction from the court ordering Google to remove the websites from its global search results.

> Google appealed and argued it was not a real party to the dispute, and that a global injunction would violate freedom of expression.

Google didn't object in principle to removing the listings from google.ca but did object to removing them from the the main site results. What does that mean, there's actually no objection in principle but there's enough technical challenge or cost to modifying the global results that they're willing to fight it in court?

Re: Canada's top court backs order for Google to remove firm's website from searches

#20
post #4

Tremendously impactful decision, regardless of which side of the case you support. Interestingly, the majority addressed a Google argument centered upon concerns regarding the possibility of international censorship: "Google’s argument that a global injunction violates international comity because it is possible that the order could not have been obtained in a foreign jurisdiction, or that to comply with it would res…

They don't address the most important part: you can't obtain this order in other jurisdictions. Of course in exactly these liberal jurisdictions it is also exceedingly unlikely Google would be in violation for removing something.

They also of course don't address the most most important part, which is that a Canadian court ruling on something that is no longer even happening in Canada (since that is where Google already removed the results) has very dubious jurisdiction.

This must be about the only good part of treaties like CETA, it gives Google the ability to sue Canada for this nonsense in a court that can't even spell "product relabeling".

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