12 LEXPERT
|
2017
|
WWW.LEXPERT.CA
PHOTO:
SHUTTERSTOCK
INTERNET JURISDICTION
Search Parameters
It goes without saying that any legal dispute that threatens to
put limits on the internet is going to attract interest. When
the Supreme Court of Canada issued its ruling in Google
v. Equustek, 2017 SCC 34, at the end of June there were in
excess of 30 intervenors — an almost unheard of number —
including some from as far away as South Korea. But that
shouldn't have been surprising given that the case touched on
a swath of hot-button issues, from freedom of expression and
protection of intellectual property rights to the role of courts
in regulation of the internet.
"ere was an unbelievable amount of attention," says
Andrew Bernstein, a partner at Torys LLP and practice
leader of the firm's litigation department. "ere were more
applications for intervention than I've ever seen."
e case focuses on a small tech company and the harm
done to it by a counterfeiter. Equustek, a British Columbia
THE SCC DECISION
IN EQUUSTEK ORDERS
GOOGLE TO BLOCK A
SEARCH NOT JUST IN
CANADA, BUT GLOBALLY.
AS GOOGLE TURNS
TO US COURTS FOR
VALIDATION, LITIGATORS
QUESTION WHETHER
THE RULING OVERSTEPS
JURISDICTION
By John Greenwood
