Post Tagged with: "c-27"

Industry Canada Proposes Changes to Spam Bill as Lobbyists Demand More

Earlier this week, I wrote about the mounting lobbyist pressure to water down Bill C-27, Canada's anti-spam bill. The pressure in recent hearings has been intense – Amazon was generally supportive of the bill but still sought an implied consent for existing customers for five to seven years (in other words, seven years to simply ask if the customer wants to receive future emails), the Entertainment Software Association and the Canadian Intellectual Property Council teamed up to warn that the bill would put Canada at a competitive disadvantage, and the Canadian Bankers Association called on the Industry Committee to completely gut the bill by dropping opt-in consent and the private right of action provisions.

Yesterday I attended the last committee meeting before clause-by-clause review as government officials appeared to propose reforms and address committee concerns. The meeting showed the lobbying efforts are bearing fruit as officials proposed 40 changes to the bill. While some are technical, there are several significant suggested reforms. Moreover, the lobbying continued, as Liberal and Bloc MPs appeared to work actively to raise lobbyist issues.

First, the proposed reforms, which include:

October 8, 2009 — 9 comments — News

Globe on Fight To Water Down Anti-Spam Bill

The Globe covers the attempts to water down C-27, the anti-spam bill. It notes that Amazon would like a 5 to 7 year exception to allow it to imply consent from customers for further commercial messages.

October 7, 2009 — Comments are Disabled — News

Lobbyist Pressure Focused on Watering Down Anti-Spam Bill

The introduction last spring of Bill C-27 – the Electronic Commerce Protection Act – represented the culmination of years of effort to address concerns that Canada is rapidly emerging as a spam haven. Industry Minister Tony Clement’s anti-spam bill has steadily made its way through the legislative process, with the Standing Committee on Industry likely to conduct its final "clause by clause" review over the next two weeks.

Although support for anti-spam legislation would seemingly be uncontroversial, my weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes that various business groups have mounted a spirited attack against the bill, claiming requirements to obtain to user consent before sending commercial email will create new barriers to doing business online. The Conservative MPs on the committee have remained supportive of the bill, yet Liberal MPs have expressed growing concern about some of the bill’s provisions.

A close examination reveals that the bill sets reasonable limits for online marketing consistent with laws found in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. In fact, there are four major caveats to the consent requirement.

October 5, 2009 — 11 comments — Columns

Canadian Anti-Spam Deal Far From a Done Deal

Appeared in the Toronto Star on October 5, 2009 as Canadian Anti-Spam Bill Far From a Done Deal The introduction last spring of Bill C-27 – the Electronic Commerce Protection Act – represented the culmination of years of effort to address concerns that Canada is rapidly emerging as a spam […]

October 5, 2009 — Comments are Disabled — Columns Archive

Business Resumes Attack on Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation

Business groups resumed their attacks on proposed anti-spam legislation yesterday. The Investment Funds Institute of Canada argued against consent provisions before a House of Commons committee.

September 29, 2009 — 1 comment — News