The First Amendment is one of the really great things about America. Sometimes it's honored more in the breach, but at least in theory it's there.
Now, there's a lot of cool things about Canada - universal health care, gay marriage, mediacal marijuana, the way they say "oot" - but they don't have a First Amendment. They have fairly strict rules on the coverage of trials. But in the era of global communication that doesn't work. In the dark ages of the Internet, the Karla Homolka murder trial was a milestone as Usenet groups flared with the gruesome details that were banned from the Canadian press and airwaves.
It's happening again and the Canadian papers discuss it only in veiled terms:
A U.S. website has breached the publication ban protecting a Montreal ad executive's explosive and damning testimony at the federal sponsorship inquiry. The U.S. blogger riled the Gomery commission during the weekend by posting extracts of testimony given in secret Thursday by Jean Brault.
The American blog, being promoted by an all-news Canadian website, boasts "Canada's Corruption Scandal Breaks Wide Open" and promises more to come. The owner of the Canadian website refused to comment yesterday.
Publishing the name of the blog or the Canadian news site that promoted it or providing the blog's Internet address could lead to a contempt charge.
So, in full contempt of the disrespect for free speech: Captain's Quarters
Kos hipped me to this.
Canada
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