Supreme Court hears arguments in case pitting Google against B.C. firm

William C. McDowell was quoted in the Globe and Mail article Supreme Court hears arguments in case pitting Google against B.C. firm on December 6, 2016.

Google lawyer William McDowell was met by some tough questioning from the high court bench when he advanced that argument.

“Just looking at it from the public interest point of view and the public perception point of view, you really think the public is going to line up behind the right to distribute internationally illegal contraband?” Justice Rosalie Abella asked.

“What’s the harm to Google in preventing illegal activity in its wide distributive reach?”

McDowell said it’s one thing for Google to voluntarily remove material, but added: “It’s quite a different thing to be facing a coercive order of the court, which requires it to do that.”