from the Supreme Court of Canada: Top court rules ISPs not liable for royalties. “In a unanimous 9-0 decision, the court ruled that although ISPs provide the hardware and technology, they aren’t responsible for what people download. The court ruled that companies providing wide access to the web are ‘intermediaries’ who are not bound by federal copyright legislation.” I am going to study the text of the decision to see if they used the term “common carrier” with respect to ISPs.
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Maggie says
The S.C.C. case was under the Copyright Act. I wouldn’t expect to find the term “common carrier” in a case under that Act, but just for the sake of argument I skimmed the headnote of the decision and didn’t find it. You would, however find that term in the Telecommunications Act (federal) which you can find at
canlii.org under statutes and regulations of Canada. (Hint, look at the definition of “telecommunications common carrier” and take it from there.) Happy hunting.
Michael says
Yeah, thanks for the heads up; of course you’re right.