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Canada’s anti-spam legislation starts July 1

business.financialpost.com

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Re: Canada’s anti-spam legislation starts July 1

#11

Post by mattgreenrocks »

forgottenpass wrote: post #9
CanSpice wrote: post #7

Like most anti-spam legislation, this will both hurt legitimate businesses trying to send email to people they've done business with in the past, as well as do nothing to stop spam. Spammers are still going to spam. They don't care about Canadian laws.

Spam filtering is pretty good these days, I don't get much spam to my inbox that isn't CAN-SPAM compliant. The interesting take away is that Canadians are still getting pissed off enough at CAN-SPAM passable spam to pass new legislation. In other words "legitimate business" is pissing people off so much that the state is willing to intervene.

Not surprised at all. Most businesses these days dream up any excuse they can to email you within the confines of the law.

Gotta maximize that traction to further synergize revenue streams.

Re: Canada’s anti-spam legislation starts July 1

#12

Post by redthrowaway »

CanSpice wrote: post #7

Like most anti-spam legislation, this will both hurt legitimate businesses trying to send email to people they've done business with in the past, as well as do nothing to stop spam. Spammers are still going to spam. They don't care about Canadian laws.

I can tell you our lawyer is looking at this very carefully and making sure we're in compliance. That entails going through our mailing lists and scrubbing anyone who was opt-out, which I've always felt was a shitty and shady practice. It won't hurt us much, and it will make Canadian businesses treat our customers better.

Re: Canada’s anti-spam legislation starts July 1

#13

Post by sbov »

Seems like lead generation services are up shit creek. Glad I got out of that long ago. Is there any way for them to legally transfer the ability to email someone to another company?

If not, I assume users filling out the wrong country (so you can filter out Canadians from your lists, except those who put in the wrong country) doesn't protect you either.

Re: Canada’s anti-spam legislation starts July 1

#14

Post by mc3ander »

forgottenpass wrote: post #9
CanSpice wrote: post #7

Like most anti-spam legislation, this will both hurt legitimate businesses trying to send email to people they've done business with in the past, as well as do nothing to stop spam. Spammers are still going to spam. They don't care about Canadian laws.

Spam filtering is pretty good these days, I don't get much spam to my inbox that isn't CAN-SPAM compliant. The interesting take away is that Canadians are still getting pissed off enough at CAN-SPAM passable spam to pass new legislation. In other words "legitimate business" is pissing people off so much that the state is willing to intervene.

We're also getting pissed off enough at Canadian companies who don't have to follow CAN-SPAM.

Re: Canada’s anti-spam legislation starts July 1

#15

Post by homulilly »

sbov wrote: post #13

Seems like lead generation services are up shit creek. Glad I got out of that long ago. Is there any way for them to legally transfer the ability to email someone to another company? If not, I assume users filling out the wrong country (so you can filter out Canadians from your lists, except those who put in the wrong country) doesn't protect you either.

It looks like any companies who were operating ethically (opt-in) will be fine.

Re: Canada’s anti-spam legislation starts July 1

#16

Post by napoleond »

This law has been a giant PITA for me, only because there are a bunch of businesses running around trying to sell "compliance" services to my clients (who don't need them, because why would I set them up with email marketing tools that aren't opt-in only). Truth is that CASL isn't very different from CAN-SPAM and so anyone who was already doing email marketing in the US is probably fine, but there seems to be a whole new cottage industry in Canada around scaring people into paying for protection from this (more or less completely sensible) new law.

Re: Canada’s anti-spam legislation starts July 1

#17

Post by robmclarty »

These new rules seem reasonable and no different from what businesses are/should already be doing.

Does "consent" apply to websites which add an "opt in" checkbox but check it off by default and hope that nobody sees it?

This really irritates me and I would argue does not constitute my having given my consent to receive emails. That said, I don't see an easy way to distinguish this kind of practice from a legitimate opt-in checkbox.

Re: Canada’s anti-spam legislation starts July 1

#19

Post by ppereira »

There are significant differences between Canada's anti-spam law, CASL, and the U.S. CAN-SPAM. Key differences include:

1. CASL is opt-in, while CAN-SPAM is opt out;

2. Canada has an opt-in exception for existing business relationships that must be renewed every two years; and

3. CASL applies not only to email but to any electronic message, including a message sent via an installed program.

For more information, see: http://www.mcmillan.ca/Files/172403_Key%20Differences%20betw...

Re: Canada’s anti-spam legislation starts July 1

#20

Post by kl4m »

robmclarty wrote: post #17

These new rules seem reasonable and no different from what businesses are/should already be doing. Does "consent" apply to websites which add an "opt in" checkbox but check it off by default and hope that nobody sees it? This really irritates me and I would argue does not constitute my having given my consent to receive emails. That said, I don't see an easy way to distinguish this kind of practice from a legitimate…

No, consent must be explicitely request, so the checkbox must be unchecked by default, or else it's considered merely harvesting the e-mail address.
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