July 1, 2017 was slated to be the date when a “private
right of action” under Canada’s anti-spam legislation
(CASL) was scheduled to come into force. This private right of
action was suspended indefinitely by the Canadian government
through an Order in Council published June 7, 2017. According to
the government news release, the private right of action was
suspended “in response to broad-based concerns raised by
businesses, charities, and the non-profit sector”, and the
government will ask a parliamentary committee to review the
legislation.
The private right of action, had it come into force, would have
allowed any person alleging they were affected by a contravention
of CASL’s provisions for the sending of commercial electronic
messages (CEMs), alteration of transmission data or installation of
computer programs, to sue individuals and organizations alleged to
have engaged in the contravention. There was significant concern
regarding this private right of action
