XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, ab.politics   
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   From: puela@nyet.ca   
      
   The Canadian Press - Published Monday, Jan. 12 2015   
      
      
   Mounties refuse to pay Rogers fees for tracking suspects’ cellphones   
      
      
   OTTAWA — The RCMP and many other police forces are refusing to pay new fees   
   imposed by Rogers Communications for helping track suspects through their   
   mobile phones.   
      
   Police say the telecommunications firm is legally obligated to provide such   
   court-ordered services and to cover the cost as part of its duty to society.   
      
   Rogers says while it picks up the tab for most judicially approved requests, in   
   some cases it will charge a minimal fee.   
      
   The quietly simmering dispute underscores long-standing tensions over who   
   should pay when police call on telephone and Internet providers to help   
   investigate cases.   
      
   It began late last May, when Rogers wrote to RCMP divisions and other police   
   services across Canada to say it would usher in new fees to law enforcement on   
   Aug. 1.   The fees applied to help in executing warrants for tracking   
   customers’ movements through cellphone data, and for production of affidavits   
   certifying records in cases where testimony is required to explain the records   
   in court.   
      
   RCMP officials responsible for covert operations told their superiors in a June   
   briefing note there was no legal basis for the planned fees and that Rogers   
   could be charged under the Criminal Code for failing to comply with a court   
   order if it refused to provide the services unless compensated.   
      
   The note, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act,   
   points to a 2008 Supreme Court of Canada decision in which the judges said   
   companies would generally be expected to comply with court orders on their own   
   dime unless costs became unreasonable.   
      
   In the case at hand, the court said it was not unreasonable for Tele-Mobile Co.   
   to pay annual costs of between $400,000 and $800,000 to comply with production   
   orders.   
      
   The RCMP note suggested that the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police be   
   asked to issue a collective response to Rogers that “police will not be   
   paying   
   the fees requested.”   
      
   The association’s board was briefed in late June, and early the next month   
   the   
   chiefs recommended to police services that they not sign “acknowledgment of   
   fees” notices distributed by Rogers.   
      
   “It is the [association’s] view that police services throughout Canada   
   should   
   not be required to bear the costs associated with court-ordered activities,”   
   the recommendation said. “The demand for these services will only increase as   
   electronic crimes committed over mobile services continues to grow.”   
      
   The chiefs interpret the Supreme Court decision as requiring Rogers to “bear   
   the reasonable burdens of compliance with such orders as part of its general   
   corporate responsibility to the community,” said Tim Smith, a spokesman for   
   the   
   association.   
      
   Rogers spokesman Kevin Spafford said the company dropped the demand for fees   
   related to affidavits prior to the Aug. 1 changes.   
      
   However, where possible Rogers does recover costs for location tracking of   
   mobile devices, Spafford said.   
      
   “For most court-ordered requests for information, we assume all costs   
   associated with providing a response,” he said.  “In some cases we charge a   
   minimal fee to recover our costs based on the work required to comply with   
   requests.”   
      
   It was up to individual police services to decide whether to sign the Rogers   
   agreements, Smith said.   
      
   However, the association understands that “a vast majority” heeded the   
   recommendation and are not paying the fees, he added.   
      
   Smith stressed that – the current disagreement notwithstanding – police   
   services across Canada “enjoy a positive business relationship” with   
   Rogers.   
      
   Sergeant Greg Cox, an RCMP spokesman, also said there had been “no   
   substantive   
   change” in the force’s dealings with Rogers or other telecommunications   
   firms.   
      
   Rogers, the RCMP and the chiefs’ association all refused to say how much   
   money   
   the company is requesting under the new fee structure.   
      
   Although they have concerns about the new Rogers fees, the Mounties did pay   
   more than $2-million to telecom firms in 2012-13 in connection with customer   
   information and intercept-related activities, the force says.   
      
   “The RCMP is working with all major telcos to determine sustainability of the   
   current situation and associated costs,” Cox said.   
      
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