If this Robin Sharpe law is passed, there will surely be cases that test its constitutionality, and the Supreme Court will then face a Hobson's choice: it can act responsibly, consistent with its past decisions in Butler, in Little Sister's, and in Sharpe, when those cases appeared before it, strike down the provision, and then listen to opportunistic parliamentarians provoke the ire of the public with cries of judicial activism; or it can duck, sigh, give the new law a pass, inviting a new age of foolish prosecution of artists, writers, and diarists on the basis of whatever is discovered in their desk drawers, closets, or computers.

Many Member States can already prosecute illegal access to servers or personal computers or their abuse as a criminal offence.

Many Member States can already prosecute illegal access to servers or personal computers or their abuse as a criminal offence.

Specifically, Bill C-15A, which is already in force, is being acted upon and will be used in matters of this kind, for it will not only allow for a better prosecution process, but will allow a judge to remove all of that material from the computer database.

Bill C-28 will provide a clear regulatory scheme, including administrative monetary penalties, with respect to both spam and related threats from unsolicited electronic contact, including identity theft,11 phishing,12 spyware,13 viruses,14 and botnets.15 It will also grant an additional right of civil action to businesses and consumers targeted by the perpetrators of such activities.

In some ways, different from business, some organizations—I really need to stress that this is not for all—might not be sued because they can't provide the service or the program, but imagine, for example, if one of your children had been diagnosed with something that you knew nothing about and barely knew how to spell, whatever it was, and you phoned the organization and they couldn't supply you with very much because it was all on a computer that couldn't work any more.