2009 September 9

York University v. Bell Canada Enterprises, [2009] O.J. No. 3689

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice granted the plaintiff University a “Norwich order” requiring Bell Canada and Rogers Communications to disclose information necessary to obtain the identity of the anonymous author(s0 of allegedly defamatory emails and a web site posting. Bell and Rogers did not oppose the order, which required them to disclose the contact information of the customer(s) associated with certain IP addresses.

The plaintiff had previously obtained a “Norwich order” compelling Google Inc. to disclose information to aid in the identification of the author(s) of the communications. The information obtained from Google, namely the internet protocol address associated with an email address, led to the identification of Bell and Rogers and the relevant sources of the identity of the source of the emails and web posting.

This judgment contains a detailed discussion of the basis for the order and the circumstances under which the Court will make a “Norwich order” for the disclosure of identifying information.