Digesting Canada's Tough New Anti-Spam Laws

Most Canadians are certainly in favour of reducing unwanted spam in their mailboxes, but Canada's new anti-spam law (CASL) has been met with hesitation by both businesses and consumers. Critics have called the new law "the world's toughest anti-spam law." There are concerns that CASL won't be effective in combatting the most insidious sources of spam, which often originates outside of Canada. There are also concerns that CASL's broad provisions will be onerous on Canadian businesses, and that the law is likely to be found unconstitutional, but there really hasn't been much written on why that is. This post explores these concerns through an international perspective on the fight against spam. When viewed in this context, CASL can be seen in a different light.