(OTTAWA)— The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) in a report released today entitled, “Can We Can Spam in Canada?” lauded Canada’s recently passed anti-spam law, Bill C-28, as providing real hope for consumers in the fight against unwanted email.
PIAC’s report includes a survey of Canadians’ attitudes to spam. While those attitudes are changing to be more accepting of “legitimate” commercial email, it is clear that Canadians overwhelmingly favour the requirement in the new law for marketers to ask consumers for express consent prior to emailing them.
PIAC counsel and report co-author John Lawford noted that although most Canadians may see slightly less spam than a decade ago in their inboxes, that much more of it now is malicious and spam is moving to new platforms, like social networking sites: “The new law likely will not only reduce unwanted commercial messages but, crucially, phishing and other fraudulent emails that cost Canadians millions every year. This is reason for hope in the fight against spam.”
The report recommends that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, who are primarily responsible for the fines and penalties spammers now face in Canada, undertake “intense enforcement efforts” in the early days of the law to send a message to violators of the new law and to bolster Canadians’ confidence in using online commerce.
PIAC received funding from Industry Canada’s Contributions Program for Non-Profit Consumer and Voluntary Organizations to prepare the report. The views expressed in the report are not necessarily those of Industry Canada or the Government of Canada.
The full report is available for download here:
PIAC Report: Can We CAN SPAM in Canada?
Download File: can_we_can_spam.pdf [size: 0.7 mb]
For more information, please contact:
John Lawford
Counsel
Public Interest Advocacy Centre
ONE Nicholas Street, Suite 1204
Ottawa, ON K1N 7B7
(613) 562-4002×25 (Tel)
(613) 562-0007 (Fax)
lawford@piac.ca