Bill C-28, The Anti-Spam law and small businesses

I am a big fan of fair and balanced anything.. Email Spam is a scourge on the internet.. Large “spam houses” are a blight on the internet. Large companies and enterprise SHOULD have proportional penalties applied to them.. Applying the same penalty to small hardworking businesses and individuals that have to potentially defend themselves in a court of law of face millions in fines is taking things from one extreme to another.

On July 1st, Bill C-28 Takes effect.. Canada joins the world against spam..

Its this part that scares me..

“The penalties for each violation can be up to $1-million for an individual and up to $10-million for companies. The law will be enforced by three government agencies: the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), the office of the privacy commissioner, and the Competition Bureau. As of July 1, 2017, there will also be a private right of action, which means people can start taking legal action against anyone not following the rules. The big concern for businesses is the threat of class-action lawsuits.”

In my opinion (and I am not a lawyer), that means individuals and law firms can essentially create a business model of extorting businesses and individuals of “Pay Me X Dollars or I sue for damages”.. and the business has to PROVE they have valid consent from the user.. They can essentially hit you with a nuisance demand that is cheaper to pay out then it would be to defend.

My advice… Be very careful once the law comes into effect.. MAKE SURE you have verifiable documented proof that everyone that you email wants EVERY email you send, and that your emails follow the new rules to the letter..

Don’t be the individual or small business that has to defend this one first in court..

Here is an article in the globe

Here is an article from the BDC