Go Get 'em Captain Ed!

A U.S. blogger, Captain Ed Morrissey of Captain's Quarters, has found himself in an international dispute with our neighbors to the north (as reported by Howard Kurtz):

Yes, our democratic neighbor to the north, which lacks a First Amendment and has a somewhat narrower view of press freedom, is cracking down on an American blogger for reporting on a corruption investigation that apparently has to do with advertising contracts being steered to politically connected firms. The blogger is Ed Morrissey of Captains Quarters, and this London Free Press story brings us up to date:

"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.

"Inquiry official Francois Perreault voiced shock at the publication ban breach, and said the commission co-counsel Bernard Roy and Justice John Gomery will decide today whether to charge the Canadian website owner with contempt of court."

Someone up in the frozen north has decided to feed the good Captain information that cannot be legally published in Canada, and Canadians have almost shut down Ed's site due to incredibly heavy traffic. In the age of the blog, restrictive publishing laws such as they have in Canada can be easily outflanked by simply feeding material to a blogger outside of the law's reach.

Not even Mountie Dudley Dooright can stop Ed from publishing the material that is being secreted to him. The effort by the Canadian government to go after the Canadian news site that's linking to Ed does not make freedom in Canada look very appealing.