Internet providers on defensive after Philip ruling
From: canoe.ca
Article: canoe.ca
By KEITH DAMSELL
Technology Reporter The Financial Post
Corporate Canada is enthusiastic but Internet providers are feeling defensive after struggling Philip
Services Corp. won a court order that may curb investors' online chat.
"What's wrong about making people more responsible?" asked Toronto corporate lawyer and
Internet surfer Derrick Tay. "Accountability is not a bad thing."
On Thursday, it was disclosed Philip had won court orders that will force Internet providers to turn
over the names, addresses and messages of chat group users who have been criticizing the company
and its officers since April.
The industrial waste recycling and metals firm has become the focus of angry and malicious gossip
on the Internet after a copper trading scandal earlier this year that left it with losses of about US$200
million.
Recent Internet postings about Philip included personal attacks on its executives, including racial
slurs and threats, the company said.
On Friday, some people leaving messages in chat rooms showed no fear of the firm's legal
manoeuvre and were continuing to make the kind of comments that led Philip to go to court.
Others thought the ruling could boomerang on Philip. "What if the writers have evidence that what
they have written is true? What if those providing negative information are current and valued
employees?" said one user, dubbed "philiphasreallydoneitnow."
The ruling is expected to have broad implications for investors who talk on the Internet. If the court
order remains unchallenged, their anonymity will disappear.
The decision is believed to mark the first time a Canadian court has waded into privacy issues in
cyberspace. Jurisdiction over the Internet remains uncertain. The information highway is still largely
self-regulated, but is not above the rule of law, including libel.
"The law is the law and you're not immune if you're speaking anonymously," said Rick Broadhead,
author of the 1998 Canadian Internet Handbook.
The potential end of secrecy has won strong reviews from companies and investors alike.
"The identity of people who make attacks should be disclosed," said Hugh Leggatt, spokesman for
Placer Dome Inc.
Since early 1997, the Vancouver company's legal battle with Crystallex International Corp. over
control of a Venezuelan gold property was fodder for online critics. Placer Dome received its share
of "cheap shots" during the battle, but never took legal action, Leggatt said.
Misinformation was much more damaging for Crystallex shareholder Roger Bird. Chat room
assurances about the company's gold claim prompted the Florida-based investor to snap up stock.
When Crystallex lost its case last month, his losses topped US$61,000.
"I was naive," he said. On the Internet, "there's a huge credibility factor ... you have no idea ... who
anybody is."
But customer privacy remains a "paramount principle" for the 120 members of the Canadian
Association of Internet Providers, said president Ron Kawchuk.
"It's important for us to recognize the value of someone's privacy," said Nadir Desai, chief executive
of the Canadian subsidiary of U.S. Internet giant PSINet Inc. His firm is reviewing the Philip court
order.
The court's ruling "isn't addressing the issue" of Internet security, said Scott Remborg, Internet
senior vice-president at MediaLinx Interactive LP. MediaLinx operates Sympatico, the Stentor
group of phone companies' Internet service. The developing technology of cyberspace means e-mail
containing hate messages may not even stem from the Internet provider in question, Remborg said.
By Friday afternoon, several Internet providers had complied with the court order.
"We haven't decided what we want to do with the information," said Philips spokeswoman Lynda
Kuhn. "The goal was to stop the defamation."
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