The Supreme Court of Canada says police need a search warrant to get information from Internet service providers about their subscribers' identities when they are under investigation.

The high court's landmark 8-0 ruling on online privacy issues comes in the appeal of a Saskatchewan man facing child pornography charges.

The case has implications for the federal government's current cyber-bullying bill unconstitutional, setting the stage for another political clash between the Harper government and the Supreme Court.

The ruling deals with 2007 case in which a then 19-year-old Saskatchewan man was charged with possessing and distributing child pornography after police used his Internet address to get further details from his online service provider, all without first obtaining a search warrant.

Lawyers for the man contend that violated of his right to be protected from unlawful search and seizure

But in this specific case, the court ruled that the evidence gathered should not be excluded as evidence from the man's trial, saying the police acted in good

Matthew David Spencer was charged with downloading child pornography using peer-to-peer file sharing software. The police found the files after Spencer stored them in a shared public folder.

The police approached Shaw Communications without a search warrant, and asked for the information behind Spencer's Internet Protocol address.

Shaw obliged, giving police information that pointed to Spencer's sister.

Police then got a search warrant for the woman's residence and seized her brother's computer, leading to his arrest.

Canada's new privacy commissioner, Daniel Therrien, and the Canadian Bar Association have recommended that the current cyber-bullying bill be split into two bills, one for cyber-bullying, and another that focuses on lawful-access provisions.

Civil libertarians also argue that the cyber-bullying bill will undermine Internet privacy, by making it easier for government to snoop on the online activities of otherwise law-abiding Canadians.

But the government contends a new 21st century law is needed to help authorities catch pedophiles and other criminals who are posing threats online.