As we reported earlier this year, revised proposed Electronic commerce Protection Regulations for the proposed Anti-spam Legislation, or CASL were posted in Part 1 of the Canada Gazette in January and were open for comment until February 4th. The comments – and there are a lot of them – are now posted here.
A number of individuals, businesses and organizations, such as the Canadian Bar Association, the Canadian Bankers Association and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, to name but a few, had extensive comments. In all, over 100 submissions were received.
Many of the submissions, while supporting the goal of combating spam, malware and other computer viruses, expressed concerns about the unintended consequences of the legislation and the compliance challenges that it will pose for all businesses. Particular focus is placed in a number of the submissions on the costs that will be associated with compliance – a particular burden on charities and non-profit organizations, educational institutions and health care providers – costs that will have to be diverted from the main activities of these organizations. Comments also focused on the continued uncertainty surrounding the regulations and what messages will be caught and exactly what measures will be required to comply.
These a legitimate concerns that have been expressed since the introduction of the legislation. If the government takes these concerns to heart and revisits the regulatory framework, it may be some time before we see the legislation coming into force. Keep tuned.
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