Canada's Top Court Quashes Child Porn Warrant 363
m.ducharme writes "The CBC is reporting that the Supreme Court of Canada has handed down a decision quashing a search warrant used to obtain the computer of a man accused of possession of child porn. 'Urbain P. Morelli maintained his charter rights were violated when police searched his computer for child pornography after a technician who had visited his home to work on the machine expressed concerns to police.' What the Slashdot community may find notable about this decision is the distinction drawn between 'accessing' and 'possessing' digital images, most particularly the recognition that a user does not 'possess' cached data. From the decision: '[35] When accessing Web pages, most Internet browsers will store on the computer's own hard drive a temporary copy of all or most of the files that comprise the Web page. This is typically known as a "caching function" and the location of the temporary, automatic copies is known as the "cache." While the configuration of the caching function varies and can be modified by the user, cached files typically include images and are generally discarded automatically after a certain number of days, or after the cache grows to a certain size. [36] On my view of possession, the automatic caching of a file to the hard drive does not, without more, constitute possession. While the cached file might be in a "place" over which the computer user has control, in order to establish possession, it is necessary to satisfy mens rea or fault requirements as well. Thus, it must be shown that the file was knowingly stored and retained through the cache.'"
Solution for CP lovers (Score:2, Funny)
2. "accidentally" browse CP
3. ??
4. Profit!!
Re:"Making" in the UK, not cache-ing (Score:5, Funny)
Mr Taco is charged with owning a computer running Microsoft Windows 98 and Internet Explorer 5
This is a serious crime but, thankfully, it is its own punishment.
Re:This is total horseshit (Score:1, Funny)
It's a Republican thing. Most Republicans are closet gays, and basically spend their days dreaming of getting reamed up the ass by fat hairy men. Rather than admit their true queer feelings, they end up feeling very guilty for some reason. It's probably because their closet-gay priests (who like to diddle children) scream repeatedly about how "horrid" homosexuality supposedly is.
Anyway, being socially unable to be openly homosexual, these Republicans push hard for lengthy jail terms for minor "crimes", ensuring years and years of sodomy. Then they secretly hope that some day they'll be caught, and get to live their lifelong fantasy of near-constant bumsex and anal rape.
Re:court intelligence (Score:4, Funny)
Very often those children are kidnapped, raped, assaulted or even murdered.
Have some people completely lost the ability to distinguish crimes from each other?
Some people possess money.
Very often those dollars had been stolen, involved in a bank robbery where innocent people are murdered, involved in drug trafficing where people are murdered..
Therefore anyone found possessing dollar bills should be tossed in jail for life. They were responsible for murder after all, right?
Re:I'd Go Further (Score:5, Funny)
We ought to just lock up anyone who looks at a child anywhere at any time, who knows what they're thinking when they see that child?
And apparently some people even MAKE THEIR OWN children, we need to put a stop to this immediately.
Re:Child porn laws are out of control. (Score:2, Funny)
You get full facial views of the predators enjoying their sport.
I won't ask how you know this. For the sake of argument, I'll assume you heard it at an police training seminar or something.
Re:This is total horseshit (Score:1, Funny)
There's no need to get all butthurt over prison rape. Oh wait, there is!
Re:This is total horseshit (Score:3, Funny)
Every time someone says "Every time someone crusades against X, I think they must secretly like X", I think they must one of those people who likes to crusades against some Y yet secretly likes Y. (Y may or may not be the same as X.)
In fact, maybe I should start a crusade over this.
Re:Wrong. (Score:2, Funny)
Hmm. Does the same "mens rea" apply to that law, or can someone arrange to flash a CP photo on a projector at the next session of parliament and throw the lot of them in jail for a fortnight?
Oh great, another proroguing.