[registrars] Recent ruling expands reach of Canadian privacy legislation

[Ross Rader]

"The Federal Court released its decision today in the case of  
Philippa Lawson
v. Accusearch Inc.  Mr. Justice Harrington found that, contrary to the
federal Privacy Commissioner's interpretation, PIPEDA gives the  
Commissioner
jurisdiction to investigate complaints relating to the transborder  
flow of
personal information, including those where the respondent is located
outside Canada. The Court ordered the Privacy Commissioner to  
investigate
CIPPIC's complaint.

See CIPPIC News: www.cippic.ca  for copy of judgement."

This will of course have implications for any registrars who do  
business with Canadian registrants, in addition to the enforceability  
and applicability of certain proposals before the Whois Task Force.  
Most work done around Whois focuses on the jurisdiction of the  
registrar, whereas this ruling seems to place a stronger emphasis on  
the jurisdiction of the registrant.

-r