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The Canadian Marketing Association Seeks Alteration of Ottawas Anti Spam Bill
Marketers in Canada are raising concerns over a clause of proposed Bill C-27 (properly known as the Electronic Commerce Protection Act, “ECPA”) which, if passed, would require consumers to opt in before receiving commercial email messages, rather than opting-out, in order to not receive them. The Bill would thus require all senders of commercial email messages to obtain express or implied consumer consent before sending out an email message. The Canadian Marketing Association (“CMA”) argues that this provision will limit a companies’ ability to grow by not being able to gain new customers.
As a result, the CMA is currently lobbying MPs to ensure that the clause is changed before the Parliamentary committee convenes to examine the Bill. Once committee members decide which amendments are to be included in the draft Bill, it will return to the House of Commons for a third reading. Supporters of the Bill argue that if this clause is removed, it will render the anti-spam Bill “useless” as a major loophole will be in place.
If the Bill passes it will be enforced by three organizations including the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the Competition Bureau, and the Office of the Privacy Commission of Canada. The Bill also includes provisions that aim to address privacy and personal security concerns associated with spam, counterfeit websites, and spyware.
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