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Big Mountie is watching you!
An Alberta newspaper reported this week on a case that may not involve online gambling, but certainly will catch the attention of blog and message board users on the Internet.
The Edmonton Sun carried an alarming story of government surveillance of Internet activities, specifically on a blog run by a Canmore, Alberta man where threats were allegedly made on the life of the Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper.
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One would think this sort of vociferous but generally harmless sort of venting is hardly worth the attention of the RCMP, but the blog owner Patrick David Fenton (25) found himself in a world of trouble that saw the Mounties haul him before a court this week, where he was found guilty and is to be sentenced at the end of May.
Fenton pleaded guilty in court in to a single charge of uttering threats to cause death.
Fenton's lawyer made a classical understatement when he said the whole thing had been blown out of proportion.
"He had an online blog and frankly he intended it as satirical," Tyson Dahlem said yesterday from his office in Canmore, 120 km west of Calgary. "However, circumstances are such that one person's satire is sometimes not another person's satire."
The postings to Fenton's website were made between Nov. 28 and Dec. 7. The National Security Investigation Section investigated and arrested Fenton Dec. 14 after the RCMP found the offensive blog entries on the web.
"It [the charge] was generated by the RCMP so they're out there watching," said Dahlem, who noted his client is extremely embarrassed.
"He is a good guy and it's one of those things that frankly was blown horribly out of proportion, but the RCMP made the decision to charge him. They're going to take these things very seriously until it can be demonstrated that there isn't a real serious threat there."
Judge John Reilly has ordered a pre-sentence report and psychological assessment to help him determine Fenton's punishment.
Dahlem said there is no agreement with the Crown, but he expects his client will receive a suspended sentence and probation.
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