Ritchie's request goes well beyond a typical publication ban. He wants anyone who attends the pre-trial hearings, which began in B.C. Supreme Court this week, to be forbidden from discussing them. That would prevent one family member from telling another any details and stop reporters from talking to editors about the case. ...

Ritchie, rejecting suggestions he's being draconian, says he's not concerned about the Canadian media, who have honoured a sweeping publication ban on Pickton's 2003 preliminary hearing. It's foreign news organizations and so-called Internet bloggers he's out to stop.

While details of the Pickton case could be made public over the Internet, there's no reason to conclude that that would make it difficult to get a dozen impartial jurors. Lawyers on both sides of the case acknowledge that the two-year-old publication ban, which remains in place, has been effective. It's likely that on a website somewhere, details of the case can be viewed. But that does not mean they are in wide distribution. Also, if a person has gone to that much effort to track down such an Internet location and receives a notice for jury duty, there's little doubt he or she would be weeded out by lawyers before the trial.

So, while technology may complicate the debate, its emergence does not mean that the tradition of a fair trial is in jeopardy.