In the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Canadian government hurriedly introduced a series of new anti-terror measures.

Quietly included was a seemingly innocuous announcement -- Canada, alongside other countries such as the United States, would implement the global cybercrime treaty developed by the Council of Europe.

The full impact of that decision began to take shape last month when Ottawa released a discussion document outlining the changes required to bring Canadian law into conformity with the treaty. The document, titled Lawful Access, details significant changes in the surveillance practices of Internet service providers (ISP) and in law enforcement's access to computer data. The proposal is troubling not only for what it says, but even more so for what it doesn't say.

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