Anti-Spam Legislation – Will it Actually Halt Spam
Although it is a fact that Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) is so unsuccessful, but it is very difficult to believe on the fact. General Counsel, Risk Management and Compliance all over Canada are trying to understand and then get in front of this issue; although litigation lawyers observe that they can make fortunes from this. As per an article published in InvestorIntel on December 11th, 2015, it is a huge problem and will worsen, with the criminal and civil ramifications.
CASL is not capable of stopping a large amount of spam because most of the spam coming to the inboxes are not from Canada, but are from other places. As per Spamhaus (spamhaus.org), anti-spam organization, it is a fact that around 80% of worldwide spam comes from around 100 spam gangs, out of which only five are situated in Canada.
CASL does not offer any benefit to consumers, but inflicts additional costs and red tape on businesses. It also trims down the competition, thus harming the consumers. Lastly, it is not consistent with free market economy of Canada, and also may be unconstitutional.
The non-compliance cost is also very high. Fines faced by the businesses are up to US$ 10 Million and from 1st July, 2015, class actions for millions in damages. Class action lawyers can be counted on to make use of CASL to impose settlements worth millions of dollars. As per the expectations of CRTC, businesses are to develop expensive, extensive, corporate compliance programs. The consulting and legal fees may cost tens of thousands of dollars, not to mention loss of productivity, to act in accordance with CASL.
In recent times, Rogers Media Inc. gave $200,000 for various email peccadilloes to CRTC. Before this, Porter Airlines gave $150,000; and PlentyOfFish, online dating service, gave $48,000 to CRTC. Even if the CRTC had to focus on spammers rather than focusing on the businesses that are legitimate, class action lawyers, encouraged by handful of legal fees instead of the public interest, can be counted to make use of CASL civil cause of action against almost every major company of Canada to impose settlements worth millions of dollars. These settlements are going to add costs on businesses, and enhance lawyer's income, but they will not stop spam or assist consumers.
» SPAMfighter News - 12/15/2015
