Introduction
It has been over a year since the first provisions of
Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL or the Act, 2010 S.C., ch.
23 (Can.)) dealing with the sending of commercial electronic
messages (CEMs) have come into force, and the effects upon Canadian
businesses have been profound. As one of the world's most
rigorous anti-spam legislation, CASL has caused Canadian companies
to examine the way in which they send electronic messages,
including texts, sound, voice, and image messages (particularly in
the marketing realm) and embark on compliance programs.
An April 2015 study by Cloudmark, Inc. (Cloudmark study) found
that there was a 37 percent reduction in Canadian-based spam over
the past year, but CASL was also perceived (and many still
perceive) as having a negative impact upon Canadian
competitiveness. The same study found that more than 10 percent of
the businesses surveyed have stopped sending commercial e-mail
altogether, and another 30 percent have
