If you woke up today, poured yourself a tall, steaming mug of coffee, flipped on the TV and asked yourself the same question you ask yourself every day, then you\u2019re not alone.\u201cWhat, good sir, is the use of a punitive law without punitive action?\u201d Or something like that. It\u2019s the question that burns at the deepest core of our souls. Well, not really, but it still has merit. So even if you haven\u2019t asked yourself that burning question, we\u2019re going to ask it anyway. What good is a law that isn\u2019t being enacted? Answer: not too darned much.<\/p>\n

IT professionals, legal eagles, media wonks, and Canadians have been asking the question for years, though. The Canadian Anti Spam Law (CASL) was unveiled back in 2011, and it was an instant lightning rod for doubt, criticism, and even fear. The last G-7 country to introduce anti-spam legislation, Canada\u2019s been under a lot of fire for what instantly became regarded as the most punitive law of its type. Perhaps the Conservative Party government led by global climate villain<\/a> Prime Minister Stephen Harper felt a little insignificant and decided to overcompensate. Who knows? What we do know is that the law proposed severe penalties<\/a>: up to $1 million per infraction for individuals, and up to $10 million per infraction for organizations.<\/p>\n

There were several problems with CASL, however. First, it took forever<\/a> to grow up from a backyard threat into a schoolyard bully. While countries like Australia and The United States had been enforcing their anti-spam laws for more than a decade, CASL couldn\u2019t seem to tie its own shoelaces. Then there were the endless ministrations<\/a> by media giants and mega corporations, which didn\u2019t like being told that they couldn\u2019t spam people. Newspapers like The Globe and Mail, an arm of media giant Bell Globemedia, made it known<\/a> that this law wasn\u2019t going to cut into their multibillion dollar profits.<\/p>\n

Then there was the confusion over who the law was going to punish. Charities were running for cover<\/a> and government agencies didn\u2019t know<\/a> whether they were allowed to send emails to anyone. Small businesses were freaking out<\/a> and everyone wondered<\/a> if they\u2019d ever be able to email their uncles again. There has been plenty of criticism about the law which seems to want to do nothing<\/a> and everything<\/a> at the same time.<\/p>\n

Even the enforcement arm of CASL, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), wasn\u2019t willing<\/a> to give CASL a chance. Keep in mind that the CRTC had the responsibility of managing the Pandora\u2019s Box known as CASL thrust upon it unceremoniously, without so much as a single additional penny with which to try and manage email communications on top of their existing duties regulating television, radio, and wireless communications.<\/p>\n

With so much going against it, it\u2019s a bit of a shocker that CASL even survived, but less than a year after the thing became law, the CRTC has levied its first fine in the war on spam, and it\u2019s a doozy. According to several media outlets, this week the CRTC fined Quebec-based corporate training company Compu-Finder CDN $1.1 million. The Toronto Star<\/a> reports the CRTC is taking action in what it \u201cflagrantly\u201d calls \u201cflouting of Canada\u2019s anti-spam legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to The Star, \u201cThe CRTC alleges the company sent commercial emails to consumers without their consent and did not allow recipients to unsubscribe from the mailings. The investigation was based on reports of four apparent violations of the law last year between July and September.\u201d IT World Canada<\/a> reports that Compu-Finder \u201ccommitted four allege violations that occurred between July 2, 2014 and September 16, 2014,\u201d and that \u201cCompu-Finder accounted for 26 per cent of the complaints submitted in its industry sector.\u201d One-quarter of the market share. Wow. At least Compu-Finder can feel good about that.<\/p>\n

Compu-Finder has 30 days in which to appeal the fine, and over a million bucks, there\u2019s no doubt that they will. Then we\u2019ll find out if CASL is for real or just for show, because if what they\u2019re saying about the training firm is true, then they shouldn\u2019t have a leg to stand on. Regardless of the outcome in this case, the real question becomes is this just a token action to prop up CASL and the CRTC, or is this the shape of things to come? According to Global News<\/a>, Manon Bombardier, Chief Compliance and Enforcement Officer at the CRTC, said in a statement that the agency takes \u201cviolations to the law very seriously and expect[s] businesses to be in compliance.\u201d But one little company in Quebec does not the war on spam make, and how the Canadian government proceeds will be of great interest to all of us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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