But when it comes to matters of copyright infringement, advertising law, property rights, libel and other civil litigation, legal procedures become fuzzy and expensive. Going to California to fight it out is very expensive and impractical in most cases. According to Russell, courts in the United States have been quicker to assume jurisdiction on material available in the U.S. but originating outside the country. But, he said, laws are based on culture and some cultures may have laws banning material which is acceptable in other places. And closer to home, Russell said the U.S. has much looser libel laws.
Sweeping bans preventing publication of evidence and identities are much less common in U.S. courts.
In 1994 and 1995, grisly details of the Paul Bernardo murder case were available in Canada from the U.S. on the Internet despite strict publication bans. Eventually the Canadian legal system may have to accept a more American way of doing things, Russell said. Our cultures are going to continue growing closer together and the more permissive culture will continue to push things. Probably the more aggressive culture will dominate the passive one. It is an outrage for SaskTel to ban the Sympatico websites of John Lucas and Rick Klassen because they published allegedly libellous material.