🚀 go-pugleaf

nishri@gpu.utcc.utoronto.ca (Alex Nishri) writes:

>So the example stands.  Note, that one should not confuse the merits of the
>economic embargo or merits of the order to delay publication of information
>with the issues that arise when telephone and computer network technology
>are used outside a country to get around its national laws.  In both cases
>above, a company outside a country circumvents the intention of that
>country's laws.  If you believe that this is a valid form of dissent, then
>is any non-citizen of your country, living anywhere in the world free to
>come up with ways to circumvent the laws of your country they disagree
>with? Only certain laws?

I think the point here is that basic freedoms like the press and 
communications should be suspended very sparingly - like when you're 
talking about military enemies and stuff.

Allowing any judge in Canada to impose a sweeping ban on publications, 
and ruining Canada's international reputation (we've gone from being 
peacekeepers to a banana republic that censors foreign publications) is 
stupid. The only excuses that I have heard are procedural, for the 
convenience of the Crown Prosecutor's office. "It would be too difficult 
to sequester a jury, etc., " just doesn't cut it. 

One of the reasons that procedure was implemented in the States was the
growth of communications (TV, newspapers, etc.) Canada enjoys those
conveniences, and views its most basic freedoms as bureaucratic irritants.
This isn't just about one case. It's about how Canadians live and think
and learn. I'm frightened at how quickly the Canadian system swept those
considerations aside, and I'm appalled that the system has apologists.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: this is an area where we
Canadians can learn from the Americans. Canadians are so arrogant and sure
of their cultural superiority versus their neighbors in the US. This is
clearly an area where Canada's culture, legal traditions, and history of
government interference in individual lives show a dark, dangerous side.
It might not be long before Canada adopts flogging at this rate.