CIPPIC attempts to intervene in Appeal of Global Content Removal Order

CIPPIC attempted to intervene in Equustek Solutions Inc. v. Google Inc., an appeal from an order of the British Columbia Supreme Court that addressed the use of innocent third party intermediaries (in this instance Google) as rights enforcement tools. The decision set a new standard for when such intermediaries can be used as enforcement tools, as well as with respect to the global reach of resulting enforcement remedies. It involved an order mandating Google to remove access to content not just from its Canadian sites, but globally, in effect imposing Canadian law onto the world. The impact of this ruling, if upheld, is far-reaching. In its application to innocent third parties who have done no wrong, it places Internet intermediaries (entities such as ISPs, search engines, websites hosts, social networking sites, domain name registrars - the infrastructure of the Internet) at the disposal of any party looking for a shortcut to enforcing its rights. This case involved a trade secrets dispute, but it is clear this new takedown/censorship power is intended to be of general application and will be available in copyright disputes, defamation disputes, or any other lawsuits.

Second, the global reach of the order is similarly problematic. The actions in question may well have contravened Canadian trade secret laws, but this cannot be presumed to be the case for all jurisdictions around the world. More importantly, the court held that jurisdiction over Google is equivalent to jurisdiction over the intermediary's global activities in spite of the fact that 95% of its Canadian search traffic occurs through the google.ca portal. As a matter of comity, issuing such an order implies that a Canadian court must respect a similarly constituted foreign order (and, by extension, that foreign courts are encouraged to issue similarly constituted orders). This will mean, in effect, that Canadians could well be deprived of access to content that is legal under Canadian law, but not under foreign law. It will be left to Canadians to then go to foreign courts and attempt to seek an exemption for Canada - a costly process that is unlikely to be undertaken with any degree of regularity. CIPPIC was denied intervention status.