Canadian Underwriter
News

First-ever notice of violation issued under Canada’s Anti-Spam Law


March 6, 2015   by Canadian Underwriter


Print this page Share

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has issued its first notice of violation under Canada’s Anti-Spam Law (CASL), the CRTC announced on Thursday.

Company faces penalty of $1.1 millionThe CRTC’s chief compliance and enforcement officer issued a notice of violation to Quebec-based Compu-Finder, which includes a penalty of $1.1 million, for breaking Canada’s anti-spam law, the CRTC said in a statement. Compu-Finder has 30 days to submit written representations to the CRTC or pay the penalty, and also has the option of requesting an undertaking with the CRTC on this matter.

The CRTC said in the statement that Compu-Finder sent commercial electronic messages without the recipient’s consent, as well as emails in which the unsubscribe mechanisms did not function properly. The emails sent by Compu-Finder promoted various training courses to businesses, often related to topics such as management, social media and professional development. The four alleged violations occurred between July 2 and Sept. 16 2014.

Furthermore, an analysis of the complaints made to the Spam Reporting Centre of this industry sector shows that Compu-Finder accounted for 26% of all complaints submitted.

“Despite the CRTC’s efforts, Compu-Finder flagrantly violated the basic principles of the law by continuing to send unsolicited commercial electronic messages after the law came into force to email addresses it found by scouring websites,” Manon Bombardier, the CRTC’s chief compliance and enforcement officer, said in the statement.

“Complaints submitted to the Spam Reporting Centre clearly indicate that consumers didn’t find Compu-Finder’s offerings relevant to them,” Bombardier added. “By issuing this Notice of Violation, my goal is to encourage a change of behaviour on the part of Compu-Finder such that it adapts its business practices to the modern reality of electronic commerce and the requirements of the anti-spam law. We take violations to the law very seriously and expect businesses to be in compliance.”

The CRTC also offers guidelines to help businesses develop corporate compliance programs.

The CRTC reported that it is assessing complaints submitted to the Spam Reporting Centre that are under its legislative mandate and a number of investigations are currently underway. As part of its powers, the CRTC can also issue warning letters, preservation demands, notices to produce, restraining orders and notices of violation.

CASL, which came into force on July 1, 2014, prohibits parties from sending commercial electronic messages (including emails) unless the recipient of the message has given express consent or the message falls into one of the exceptions in CASL, added Miller Thomson LLP in a press release. CASL also requires that all commercial electronic messages identify the sender, include the sender’s contact information and provide an unsubscribe mechanism.

The law firm reported that since the CASL law came into effect, there has been only one investigation published to date (which did not result in any monetary penalties).


Print this page Share

Have your say:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*