Late-Breaking Decision: Ontario Court of Appeal Upholds Conviction Based on ISP’s Release of Information to Police

In a 52-page, unanimous decision of a three-Justice panel of the Ontario Court of Appeal (reasons for judgment written by Doherty JA and concurred in by Chief Justice Winkler and Justice Goudge) released October 2, 2012 (R v Ward, 2012 ONCA 660), the conviction of David Ward for possessing and accessing child pornography has been upheld. In the intervening four years since the initial conviction was reported by E-TIPS® (“Ontario Court Sanctions ISP’s Release of Subscriber Information to the RCMP” September 24, 2008, Vol 7 No 7), the question of balancing expectations of privacy with police inquiries in locating suspects/Internet users has been considered by the courts of several other Canadian provinces. E-TIPS® will consider the significance of this appellate decision in its upcoming issue (October 17, 2012). Summary by: Richard Potter