Canada’s newly proposed Anti-Spam laws…

Apr 24

Canada’s newly proposed Anti-Spam laws…

Please note that the information provided herein is not legal advice and is provided for informational and educational purposes only. If you need legal advice with respect to complying with anti-spam or privacy legislation, you should seek professional assistance (e.g. make a post on Dynamic Lawyers).

In a previous blog entry, I discussed Bill S-235, which was Canada’s proposed anti-spam laws. That bill never passed into law. On February 24, 2009, the Federal government tabled Bill C-27 to deal with anti-spam. The Bill proposes to create a new statute called the Electronic Commerce Protection Act.

That Act is designed to protect consumers and businesses from the most dangerous types of spam and targets identity theft, phishing and spyware. The Electronic Commerce Protection Act specifically prohibits parties from sending commercial electronic messages without the prior consent of the recipient. Consent may be withdrawn. The Act creates a regime for administrative monetary penalties (by the CRTC) of up to $10-million. Finally, the Act gives private citizens a right of action to sue a party in contravention of the Act and obtain an amount equal to the actual amount of the loss or damage suffered, or expenses incurred, and statutory damages for the contravention.

I’ll keep you posted on the development of this Bill as it evolves and progresses through the law-making process.