Quebec's plan to block online gambling sites unconstitutional, court rules

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The wireless association had contended the Quebec law would be difficult and expensive to implement

Quebec’s controversial attempt to get internet service providers to block online gaming sites that compete with Loto-Québec has been deemed unconstitutional by the Quebec Superior Court.

In May 2016, the province passed Bill 74, a consumer protection law that empowered it to order internet service providers to block a list of its competitors’ websites under the guise of protecting consumers from problem gambling.

The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association challenged the law in court, arguing Quebec doesn’t have the jurisdiction to dictate to internet providers. That power, it said, falls to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission under the Telecommunications Act, which explicitly states carriers “shall not control the content or influence the meaning or purpose of telecommunications carried by it for the public” unless the CRTC says otherwise.

In a judgment delivered last week, the court agreed with the industry association. It ruled that a section of Bill 74 was invalid because telecommunications falls exclusively under federal jurisdiction. It had “no hesitation” coming to that conclusion, according to the ruling by Justice Pierre Nollet.

The court also concluded the pith and substance of the law was to prevent online gambling sites from setting up in the province, not to protect consumer health.

Quebec’s minister of finance had estimated the law could add up to $27 million per year to the coffers of provincially owned gambling site Espacejeux. The minister is analyzing the court’s decision and would not comment on the judgment or whether the province plans to appeal, his press officer said in an email Tuesday.

The wireless association, however, said it was pleased with the decision.

“We have always been clear that Canadians are better served by a proportionate and symmetrical set of federal regulations than a patchwork of provincial regulations,” CWTA’s manager of government relations Tiéoulé Traoré said in a statement.

The association had contended the Quebec law would be difficult and expensive to implement, as many internet providers don’t have the capability to block content by province.

“This decision is important as we feel it will help send a strong message of regulatory certainty, and increase the incentives for facilities-based investment in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada.”

The industry association wasn’t alone in its opposition to the bill. Consumer groups opposed it too, arguing it violated net neutrality, the principle that all content be treated equally. The CRTC also got involved, penning a letter that asserted its jurisdiction on the file, where it said it only grants permission to block websites in “exceptional circumstances.”

Yet the judgment comes as another industry coalition tries to push the CRTC to engage in more website blocking, albeit on a national scale. A group of telecoms, broadcasters and creative groups has asked the CRTC to create an agency that blocks websites with blatantly pirated content. The goal is to stop consumers from accessing free content instead of paying those who distribute it legally.

Critics of the latest website blocking proposal have expressed concerns, including the potential for over-blocking content and the futility of trying to shut down every pirate website. Proponents say the blocking is needed to protect creators.