Canada wants telcos, ISPs to widen police access

OTTAWA, June 18 (Reuters) - Canada unveiled draft legislation on Thursday that would oblige telecommunications firms and Internet service providers to allow police to intercept information passing across their networks.

The Conservative government said police and other law enforcement officials needed more help to deal with sophisticated modern methods of communications.

"The proposal will require companies to pay for intercept capability in certain new equipment and software, while the government will provide reasonable compensation when retrofits to existing networks are needed," Ottawa said in a statement.

There is no guarantee the bill will become law. The Conservatives do not control a majority of seats in the House of Commons and there is increasing speculation about an election later this year, which would kill the bill.

"Technologies like the Internet, cellphones, and personal digital assistants clearly benefit Canadians in their day-to-day lives," said Justice Minister Rob Nicholson.

"Unfortunately, these technologies have also provided new ways of committing crimes, such as distributing child pornography. We must ensure investigators have the necessary powers to trace and ultimately stop crimes," Nicholson said.

The draft legislation would also oblige telecom firms and Internet service providers (ISPs) to quickly give authorities subscriber information such as name, address, telephone number and Internet protocol address, e-mail address, service provider identification and certain cellphone identifiers. (Reporting by David Ljunggren; editing by Rob Wilson)