[Cdn-DMCA] On the Sklyarov case

[Chris Brand]

>> commented that "but if you're walking down the street carrying a hammer
>> and crowbar, you can be arrested for possessing the tools for burglary".
>
>  That has to be one of the stupidest comments I've heard in a long
>time.  It's so blatantly false, it's pathetic.
>
>  Carpenters, plumbers, and thousands of other people walk down the
>street every day carrying such tools.  People who've just visited
>hardware stores do the same thing.
>
>  If that comment IS true, then it means that it's IMPOSSIBLE for
>anyone to buy a hammer and a crowbar, and take them home, for fear of
>being arrested on the way.

Well it IS true. I can't find a reference to the Canadian statute, but
in Australia it's section 91(1) of the Crimes Act 1958, titled
"Possession of articles for use in the course of burglary". I'm
95% sure that there's an almost identical law in Canada and Britain.
To successfully prosecute you, they have to prove intent, which is why
they don't go around arresting locksmiths, plumbers or people in the
car park of Home Depot.

If any lawyers can give better information, that would be great (and
relevant, because it is a kind of precedent for DMCA-type laws).

Chris
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