Newsletter Article
Canada’s Anti-SPAM Legislation – New Name, Old Content
Published: 07/15/2010
By Bernice Karn In March of this year, we reported on Bill C-27, the Electronic Commerce Protection Act, (the “ECPA”) which would have finally created a Canadian anti-SPAM legislative framework, through amendments to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Act, the Competition Act, the Telecommunications Act and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”). Click here to read our previous report. The ECPA died on the order paper with the proroguing of Parliament on December 29, 2009. Undaunted, the federal government has re-introduced the ECPA under a new name, the Fighting Internet and Wireless Spam Act (“FISA”). FISA contains a number of drafting revisions, but few substantive changes to the ECPA. Readers should note the following:
- FISA proposes amendments to the Competition Act that would (a) classify false or misleading representations contained within electronic message sender information, subject information or “locators” (essentially, URLs) as offences in relation to competition; and (b) also categorize false or misleading representations within the body of an electronic message as an offence in relation to competition, if they are misleading in a material respect. In addition FISA includes the same activities as new instances of reviewable conduct under the Competition Act, which is an alternative track for the Commissioner of Competition to pursue in punishing offenders.
- In a move that seems to be aimed at prohibiting the harvesting of email addresses, FISA would amend PIPEDA (in addition to those amendments proposed to PIPEDA in Bill C-29) to prohibit the collection and use of electronic addresses (which could be email addresses, instant messaging addresses or “any similar account”), by a computer program “that is designed or marketed primarily for use in generating or searching for, and collecting, electronic addresses.”
- In a contest between the provisions of Part 1 of PIPEDA and FISA, FISA will govern.
As these amendments progress through Parliament, we will continue to monitor their evolution and keep readers advised on important developments.
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