It's a fact that cyber crime is on the rise, and nobody can argue that something needs to be done to stem the tide and combat this new type of criminal.
OK, maybe if I were one of the cyber criminals, twirling my virtual moustache, I'd try to argue but who's going to listen to a moustachio-twirling villain?
You've got rampant identity theft, child pornography, site hacking and numerous other online offences happening with alarming frequency every day on the Web.
The bad guys are sophisticated and they're using the latest technology to commit their dirty deeds.
Considering most of our laws were created before we even had an Internet, it's not surprising that the Canadian government would want to tighten up some legislation, or create some new laws to address the growing concern of cyber crime.
It's also not too surprising that they'd mess it up completely as well.
The Conservatives recently launched Bill C-30, an online surveillance bill that's been plagued by controversy and grabbing headlines for weeks.
The new legislation is meant to give police stronger powers when dealing with crime on the Internet, but opponents say the law opens the door for Big Brother to spy on your Web surfing.
Critics argue Bill C-30 would allow police, intelligence and Competition Bureau officers access to Internet users' information - including your name, address, telephone number, email address and IP address - totally without a warrant!
Now, right there is where everyone - including the folks who tabled the bill - should say, "Oh, now that's not right and totally un-freedom-loving-Canadian."
Actually, you can say what you want, as long as you agree we can't be going around prying into people's privacy without a darn good, judge-approved reason.
You wouldn't want the police to be able to rifle through your sock drawer (not that I personally keep anything in my sock drawer other than mismatched socks, of course) whenever they wanted, and I feel the same way about my Internet.
That opinion, according to Public Safety Minister Vic Toews who tabled the bill, puts me on side with the child pornographers apparently.
That's what the minister said of Liberal Public Safety Critic Francis Scarpaleggia when questioned about the bill "He can either stand with us or with the child pornographers."
Toews - who I guess doesn't understand how cameras and microphones work - later denied making the comment, until he was then shown the footage.
Later in an interview with CBC Radio's The House, Toews seemed surprised with the content in his own bill when read the section that extends police powers.
The Canadian online community, in protest of the potential loss of privacy, decided to go the complete opposite route and flooded Toews' Twitter account with tweets detailing everything about their lives. One Twitter user even went so far as to post some unflattering details and quotes from Toews' divorce affidavits.
It's fair to say people are a tad passionate about this issue, and for good reason, because - looking at lots of international examples (the U.S. being one) - legislation without strong oversight is just begging for misuse.
Heck, just think of the things you do when nobody is looking!
But hopefully the powers that be will listen to the online community, law professors and privacy critics - and go back to the drawing board.
Yes, cyber crime is a serious issue and we definitely need new and stronger laws to help police catch the bad guys (whether they twirl moustaches or not) but not at the expense of our privacy and freedom.
