• An investigation into the state of Canadian law with respect to the Internet

  The following text has been taken from the Introduction:

  The Internet technology revolution, like the industrial revolution, is reshaping the world and creating new paradigms in the social, cultural, economic and political domains. People using computers can now communicate with each other across the world almost instantaneously and exchange goods and services without time nor space barriers and with less intermediaries than was the case before.

  The Information Highway Advisory Council (IHAC) examined the challenges posed by this new environment in its report entitled Connection Community Content : the Challenge of the Information Highway, but, from a legal point of view, only addressed the issue of copyright liability and only that of owners and operators of bulletin board systems. In the Internet content distribution chain, more than operators and owners of BBSs are involved and more than copyright infringement is at stake.

  The IHAC also recommended that the federal government should take immediate steps to lead in the development of legislative measures to clarify the question of liability of owners, operators and users of bulletin boards, Internet and Usenet sites.

  Before deciding on whether legislative measures where needed, Industry Canada determined that it was best to first conduct an investigation as to what the state of the law is.

  In this context, Industry Canada commissioned persons knowledgeable in these fields of law to conduct this study.

  The study was not done in isolation. Some two hundred stakeholders were invited to participate by way of written submissions or in attending focus groups held in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.

  The study was not done in isolation. Some two hundred stakeholders were invited to participate by way of written submissions or in attending focus groups held in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.

  The study was not done in isolation. Some two hundred stakeholders were invited to participate by way of written submissions or in attending focus groups held in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.

  The study appears to be the first of its kind in the world on the specific legal issues of liability for content circulating on the Internet.

• Hate-Motivated Violence, a 1994 working document.
• Ethnocultural Groups & the Justice System in Canada, a 1994 working document.
• Disproportionate Harm: Hate Crime in Canada, a 1995 working document.

• The Security Intelligence Review Committee: The Heritage Front Affair: Report to the Solicitor General of Canada

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