FISA Archives - Barry Sookman

Will it be illegal to recommend a dentist under Canada’s new anti-spam law (CASL)?

Over the holidays I got an email from one of my relatives visiting Toronto. She asked me to recommend a dental surgeon for an unexpected tooth extraction. She also asked me to refer her to other dentists to get additional recommendations. I sent her an email with a recommendation to get treatment from a dental surgeon who I encouraged her to see and also provided the name of a family dentist who could make other recommendations. My email included a link to a website of the clinic operated by the dental surgeon.…

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Canada’s new anti-spam Law: too much of a good thing?

Here is a copy of the op-ed published by The Hill Times today on CASL.

Most people would agree that unwanted commercial emails – commonly called spam – are awful. Spam wastes our time. It clogs our inboxes and can be full of scams, malware and fraudulent, false and misleading messages. So who wouldn’t have cheered when Canada finally decided to outlaw spam and related afflictions?

With the September 7 conclusion of the public comment period on the new anti-spam law, known as CASL (for Canada’s anti-spam law), Canada has taken a major step toward finalizing legislation designed to outlaw practices such as sending commercial electronic messages without recipients’ consent or using misleading information in the online promotion of products.…

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Electronic Commerce Protection Regulations – Much Work Remains

Canada’s new anti-SPAM/anti-malware law, or CASL, was passed by Parliament in late 2010. The draft Electronic Commerce Protection Regulations, which were intended to clarify and flesh out the law, were published for public consultation earlier this summer. Fifty-seven organizations and individuals filed comments by the September 7, 2011 deadline. The message from these commentators is clear: while all support the goal of reducing unwanted commercial electronic messages (CEMs) and malware, the draft regulations miss the mark, and much work remains before CASL can be proclaimed into law.…

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Fixing CASL: comments on the draft CRTC and Industry Canada regulations

Today is the last day for filing comments on the Electronic Commerce Protection Regulations proposed by Industry Canada and the CRTC. Submissions to the CRTC on the draft CRTC CASL regulations are available at the Commission’s website http://ow.ly/6o8Xq.

Here are our comments filed earlier today.

Salzman Sookman CASL regulation comments

View more documents from bsookman

For more information about CASL, see, CASL: the unofficial FAQ, regulatory impact statement, and compliance guideline.

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Government of Canada launches anti-spam information web site

Industry Canada has launched a web site to inform Canadians about Canada’s new anti-spam legislation. The site has some useful information about the law which is simply referred to as “Canada’s new anti-spam law”, as the law has no short name. The information at the site includes “key facts”, an “FAQ”, information about the new Spam Reporting Centre, and how the law will be enforced and administered. A link to the law is also at the site.

While the basic information on the site is useful, it does not delve into the many complexities and difficulties Canadian businesses will have to grapple with to try and comply with the new law.…

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Draft FISA (Anti-SPAM) regulations published by CRTC and Industry Canada (updated)

The Canadian Anti-SPAM law (CASL or FISA) contemplated that regulations would need to be promulgated before the Act is proclaimed into force. CASL contemplated two sets of regulations: one from Industry Canada and the other from the CRTC. The CRTC published draft regulations for comment purposes on June 30, 2011. The Commission will accept comments from interested persons that it receives on or before September 7, 2011, a date extended by the CRTC from the original date of 29 August 2011.…

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Rethinking CASL

SPAM is awful. It wastes our time. It clogs the Internet. It is full of scams, malware and fraudulent, false and misleading messages. Who wouldn’t cheer when Canada finally decided late in 2010 to outlaw SPAM and related afflictions of malware, spyware, address harvesting and sending false and misleading commercial electronic messages?

Indeed, there was much satisfaction when Canada’s anti-SPAM law, also known as FISA[2], was given royal assent on December 15, 2011. After a lengthy and thorough review process, including consultations and Parliamentary reviews, Canadians could look forward to the toughest anti-SPAM law in the world just as soon as the regulations were finalized, which is expected this summer.…

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Name Canada’s Anti-Spam/Anti-Spyware Law

Canada has a new anti-SPAM and anti-spyware law, Bill –C-28. It is a law with an inordinately long name: “An Act to promote the efficiency and adaptability of the Canadian economy by regulating certain activities that discourage reliance on electronic means of carrying out commercial activities, and to amend the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Act, the Competition Act, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and the Telecommunications Act”.

The Bill has no short title. As a result different terms and acronyms are being used to refer to it including the ECPA, FISA, FIWSA, the SPAM Bill, the Anti-SPAM Legislation, and the Anti-SPAM and Anti-Spyware Bill.…

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