Contestants from Alex Trebek's home country of Canada can't participate on Jeopardy! after the show put in new regulations banning Canadians from participating.
On the show’s FAQs page, there is now a section that says Canadians can no longer take the online test to get on the long-running game show. “At this time we are precluded from accepting registration information from Canadian residents. We are currently evaluating this matter,” the statement reads.
The media in Canada pounced on the news, which is particularly weird because Trebek is from Ontario. It turns out that what could be to blame for the new rules is Canada’s new anti-spam laws, reports the Toronto Star, although the show has not confirmed that this is the specific reason.
The new laws make it illegal for a company to email users without their permission and if you break the law, a company could face up to $10 million in fines.
“As international laws governing how information is shared over the internet are ever-changing and complex, we are currently investigating how we can accept registrations from potential Canadian contestants,” a spokesperson for the show told the Star.
Trebek already responded to the ban in an interview with The Ottawa Citizen. Trebek noted that Canadians who are already in the contestant pool can still participate since a contestant can stay on the list for 18 months. There have also been seven Canadian contestants this season.
“We have had many Canadians as contestants throughout the history of the show, and we hope that will continue, because Canadians make great game show contestants,”Trebek said. “We look forward to having more try out as soon as we are sure we can comply with all Canadian online privacy laws.”