blogger thwarts Canadian gag order Reviews Top Categories Phones Laptops TVs Tablets Cameras Appliances Car Tech Audio Desktops Software Headphones Printers Networking Wearable Tech Deals How To Top Categories Computers Home Entertainment Internet Phones Photography Security Tablets ForumsLog In to CNET Join Related Stories Judge tosses Canada's 'iPod tax' December 17, 2004 AOL Canada to spread VoIP December 14, 2004 File swapping lawsuits loom in Canada February 13, 2004 Canada ruling won't stop music lawsuits December 16, 2003 Canada blocks free Net TV January 17, 2003 Will Canada's ISPs become spies? August 27, 2002 Canada's long standing practice of barring news organizations from disclosing what's happening in certain court proceedings is being tested by Internet bloggers. A Canadian commission that's investigating charges of high level wrongdoing in the nation's Liberal Party has ordered news organizations not to reveal details from the proceedings, which are open to the public. But Ed Morrissey, a conservative Web logger in Minneapolis, has been gleefully violating the ban by posting detailed reports of the verboten "Adscam" testimony. Public revelation of Adscam, which involves allegations of corruption and illegal campaign contributions, could end the Liberal Party's precarious grasp on power and force new elections this summer. Canada has even been lampooned in a cartoon because of the proceedings. Morrissey now has laryngitis as a result of a rapid fire series of interviews from Canadian news organizations. He's found them a bit bizarre. "They can't ask me about the case itself because they can't reproduce anything that has to do with the testimony," Morrissey said in an interview. "They can't ask me about my blog because they can't reproduce the URL." Canadian publications and bloggers have been left in the difficult position of attempting to describe the violation of a judicial UGG Boots Outlet Store order without revealing which Web site did it. blogger in question. I also deleted a comment someone posted" with alleged Adscam testimony. blog posting. Government lawyers may charge Canadian Web publishers with contempt of court if they reproduce some of the Adscam testimony or perhaps even link to Morrissey's blog, the Toronto Sun reported. That announcement is prompting Morrissey to worry about two possibilities: his confidential source being scared away, and a vacation that his family has planned in nearby Canada. "They can find me in contempt of court," he said. "That's fine. I just won't travel to Canada until it expires." Canada's latest woes aren't the first time its publication ban has been thwarted by the Internet. An issue of Wired Magazine that mentioned the Usenet disclosure was even yanked from Canadian newsstands. James Rossiter, a media lawyer with the Canadian law firm Wickwire Holm said, "Canadians UGG Boots Outlet Store are as interested in the testimony that's come out in the last few days as they were in the Homolka case. But what's different in 2005 is that there are computers on every desk and the Internet is on every computer." Rossiter said that Canadian courts and quasi judicial officers such as the Adscam commissioner are permitted to hand down publication bans as a way of protecting the right to a fair trial by preventing jurors from being exposed to material they're not supposed to see. trials, Canadian jurors are not sequestered from the media and their families and are permitted to go home every day. In a 1994 case, Dagenais v. Canadian Broadcasting Corp., the Canadian Supreme Court ruled that publication bans were consistent with the nation's charter of rights and freedoms. "The testimony that has been delivered in a shroud of secrecy may lead to a more explosive political scandal than either of our countries has seen since Nixon," Rossiter said. "And we're UGG Classic Short Outlet left to learn about this from Americans." Way to stick it to the Canooks eh! That'll show them to mock UGG Boots Outlet us in beer commercials! But it all seriousness, if I even link to the guys sights are men in red jackets, riding pants, and knee boots going to haul me into court when my wife and I go to Toronto next? The entire farce makes me glad I only vacation there. Its such an ungodly pinch on freedom of speech its silly. Its almost as bad as some of the laws the British deal with, which I suppose shouldnt be a shock for various reasons.