CASL Archives

CASL’s private right of action

Canada has the most onerous anti-spam/anti-malware law (CASL) in the world. In less than a year, July 1, 2017, it is going to become even worse. That’s when the private right of action (PRA) comes into force.

Since its inception, the anti-spam and anti-malware portions of the Act (ss.6-9) have been enforced by the CRTC. But when the PRA becomes law organizations big and small including charities, small businesses and even children marketing their first lemonade stands – and their officers, directors and agents – could become liable for millions of dollars in penalties.…

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John Kasich Trumped by CASL, Canada’s anti-spam law?

Last week I received several unsolicited emails including the one shown below asking for a donation to support Republican party leader hopeful John Kasich. The e-mail was sent without the remotest chance of there being an express or implied consent and without compliance with the prescribed information requirements of Canada’s much vilified anti-spam law, CASL.

There is no doubt that Canadians have an important interest in who wins the US Presidential party nominations. Given the importance of the stakes, Canadian residents eligible to make a donation might have welcomed receiving the solicitation.…

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CASL: the looming disaster

Another day, another article slamming CASL. Yesterday it was called “a bad law” in an FP Comment. Today’s article titled CASL: A high-level look at the looming disaster called CASL “draconian” and stated “It’s hard to believe that antispam legislation can be this disastrous, but it’s true.” Well these authors can join an esteemed club. CASL has been ridiculed by the press which has called it, among other things, a Monty-Python-esque farce and Spamaflop, deeply stupid, and a sledgehammer that is ludicrous regulatory overkill.…

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CASL is a bad law

CASL is a bad law and cannot reasonably be justified on any basis. On that issue, I recommend you read a feature article in the Financial Post today The great anti-spam cash grab. Here are a few choice extracts from the article.

CASL is a bad law. It offers no benefit to consumers, yet imposes red tape and additional costs on businesses. Worse still, it reduces competition, actually harming consumers. Finally, it is inconsistent with Canada’s free market economy and very likely unconstitutional…

CASL cannot work.

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CASL gets Rogers Media

The CRTC announced yesterday that it bagged another CASL pelt – this time Rogers Media. The company agreed to an undertaking with the CRTC and to pay $200,000 to avoid expensive enforcement proceedings.

Rogers Media allegedly sent commercial emails (CEMs) containing an unsubscribe mechanism that did not function properly or which could not be readily performed by the recipient. In some instances, the electronic address used to unsubscribe was allegedly not valid for the required minimum of 60 days following the sent message.…

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CASL: the unofficial FAQ, regulatory impact statement, and compliance guideline

The “anti-spam” portion of Canada’s anti-spam/spyware law (CASL) came into on July 1, 2014. The “malware/spyware” computer program provisions come into force on January 15, 2015.

Most organizations are having very difficult times adapting to CASL’s confusing and prescriptive rules. According to a recent mini-survey conducted by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce of over 160 of its members, from responses to questions answered over 90% of Canadian organizations believe that CASL should be scrapped, amended, or at least be subject to a Parliamentary review before it becomes law.…

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CASL: getting consents for upgrades to computer programs on pre-installed and resold devices

Canada’s anti-spam law (CASL) requires a person installing updates or upgrades to computer programs on another person’s computer system to obtain an express consent. This can be a challenge. If a person is able to get a consent to the installation of the program before installing it, the person can get consent to the installation of the update or upgrade at that time. The person cannot get consent for updates or upgrades that require enhanced disclosure under s.10(5) of CASL at that time, unless, of course, the person knows about them and can get a consent for them in advance.…

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CASL: when is a computer program installed or caused to be installed according to the CRTC

The computer program provisions in Canada’s anti-spam law (CASL) are very hard to apply in practice. One of the most difficult interpretive challenges involves determining what the phrase “install or cause to be installed” means. CASL only applies where a person installs or causes to be installed a program on someone else’s computer. The CRTC released a Guideline that attempts to clarify what CASL means by that phrase. In information sessions last week to IT.Can and ITAC members, Dana-Lynn Wood and Lynne Perrault of the CRTC attempted to provide even further guidance on this issue.…

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CASL Spamaflop not constitutional

I have argued many times on this blog that Canada’s anti-spam law (CASL) would not survive a Charter challenge. It’s “ban all” approach to regulating commercial speech, with limited exceptions, cannot be justified. Professor Emir Crowne, Associate Professor, University of Windsor, Faculty of Law, just published a paper together with Stephanie Provato agreeing with this opinion, Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation: A Constitutional Analysis, 31 J. Marshall J. Info. Tech. & Privacy L. 1.

The abstract of the article says the following:

On December 15th, 2010, the Government of Canada agreed to BillC-28, the Fighting Internet and Wireless Spam Act, with the intent to “deter the most damaging and deceptive forms of spam… from occurring in Canada and to help to drive out spammers.”

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CASL computer program guidance from the CRTC

This week has been eventful on the CASL front with the CRTC providing guidance on how it is likely to interpret CASL’s computer program provisions. Monday evening the CRTC published a new guideline on the interpretation of CASL. This was followed by a presentation given to IT.Can members by Andy Kaplan Myrth of Industry Canada and Dana-Lynn Wood and Lynne Perrault of the CRTC. The presentation was a follow-up to an earlier IT.Can meeting where the CRTC asked for and received a list of questions for which guidance is being sought by the public.…

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