Anti-Spam Legislation Reintroduced in Canadian Senate

On October 20, 2004, Senator Donald Oliver re-introduced anti-spam legislation to prevent unsolicited messages on the Internet. Bill S-15 (the Spam Control Act) contains the following initiatives:

1. It allows the Minister of Industry to establish an Internet Consumer Protection Council to set standards for its members and for procedures to be used to reduce spam;
2. It creates a national "no-spam" list, to which any person may add his or her e-mail address(es). The Bill makes it an offence to send spam to a person whose address is on the list;
3. Wherever a message is initiated and received by a person in Canada, the message is deemed to have been sent to that person and the act of sending is deemed to have been carried out in Canada;
4. It provides for stronger penalties in respect of messages that involve pornography, explicit sexual activity, or attempted fraud, or that target children as recipients;
5. It establishes a civil right of action in nuisance against spammers. Damage is deemed to have been caused if the volume is sufficient to cause inconvenience; and
6. It regulates Internet Service Provider (ISP) practices. An ISP commits an offence if it fails to install a "spam filter" or fails to use reasonable efforts to prevent spam from going to the provider's customers.

There is currently no legislation in Canada that specifically targets spam. As reported in a previous E-TIPSâ„¢ newsletter (Vol 2, No 25, May 26, 2004), the federal government announced an Anti-Spam Action Plan that hinted at the possibility of new legislation but, for the most part, emphasized the use of existing laws such as the Criminal Code and PIPEDA to fight spam. If passed into law, Bill S-15 would establish significant measures to control and reduce spam. As the Bill moves its way through the parliamentary process, it remains to be seen what concerns will be raised by the various stakeholders affected by the legislation. For the text of Bill S-15, see: http://makeashorterlink.com/?Y26421DB9. For the status of the Bill and more information, visit: http://makeashorterlink.com/?L1F422DB9. Summary by: Rosa Kim