Active Opt-In Consent Required: CRTC Releases Anti-Spam Law Compliance Guidelines

On October 10, 2012, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) published two Compliance and Enforcement Information Bulletins regarding Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL). The Guidelines on the interpretation of the Electronic Commerce Protection Regulations (CRTC)and the Guidelines on the use of toggling as a means of obtaining express consent under Canada's anti-spam legislation (collectively, the Guidelines) provide some much needed guidance on several issues that have been raised by industry and commentators with respect to CASL as well as the Electronic Commerce Protection Regulations (CRTC) that were finalized in March 2012 (the CRTC Regulations). In particular, the Guidelines provide significant further interpretation of the requirements regarding express consent.