The Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) went into effect on July 1st, 2014. Designed to protect Canadians from unwanted commercial electronic messages (CEMs), it applies to all businesses that send CEMs - including emails, text messages, and social media messages.

As a result of the law, CEMs cannot be sent unless the recipient has consented to receive them, and businesses that violate the law may be penalized. Additionally, businesses are required to include their contact information in all CEMs and to provide recipients with a means of unsubscribing from future messages.

For businesses that violate the law, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) can impose significant fines - up to $1 million per violation.

t is intended to protect Canadians from these threats and to help businesses ensure that they only send CEMs to those who have consented to receive them.

Some businesses have complained that the law imposes undue burdens on them. In spite of this, the government has defended the law, stating that it is necessary to protect Canadians from electronic threats.

You can find additional information about CASL on the website of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). It is the responsibility of the CRTC to enforce the law and to provide resources and information to businesses and consumers. The website includes links to relevant legislation, FAQs, and contact information for the CRTC. Consumers and businesses may also file complaints with the CRTC if they believe that a business has violated the law.

Keywords: CASL, Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation, commercial electronic messages, CEMs, consent, unsubscribe, CRTC, fines, spam, spyware, electronic threats, businesses, consumers, complaints

Description: The Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) is a law that went into effect on July 1st, 2014 in order to protect Canadians from unwanted commercial electronic messages (CEMs). This law applies to all businesses that send CEMs, including emails, text messages, and social media messages. Some key points of the law are that businesses must have consent from the recipient in order to send them a CEM, businesses must include their contact information in all CEMs, and recipients must be given a way to unsubscribe from future messages. There are significant fines in place for businesses that violate the law - up to $1 million per violation. The CASL was created due to growing concerns about spam, spyware, and other electronic threats. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is responsible for enforcing the law and providing resources and information to businesses and consumers on their websites. Complaints can be filed with the CRTC if someone believes a business has violated the law.

Canadian Wireless Code applies to corporate wireless service plans (sometimes)

November 7, 2014technologyEdward Kiledjian

Image by Perry McKenna used under Creative Commons License — Image by Perry McKenna used under Creative Commons License

Telus asked the CRTC for clarifications about the applicability of the CRTC Wireless Code to corporate business customers and plans. The CRTC released its decision in October 2014 and the gist of it is that it :

“applies to retail mobile wireless voice and data services provided to individuals and small businesses. This means that it applies to all wireless plans for such services where the contract is between (a) an individual and a service provider, or (b) a small business and a service provider.”

If an individual is responsible for part or all of the mobile invoice then the wireless code applies (even for employee purchase plan deals). If the plan is owned and paid by a large corporation then the code does not apply and a 3 year agreement can be entered into.

You can read the CRTC decision here (Link).

CRTC Wireless Code : Carriers must unlock your smarpthone

July 22, 2013technologyEdward Kiledjian

The CRTC Wireless Code is a bill of consumer rights that aims to make smartphone contracts more fair and understandable to the average Canadian users.

One of the obligations brought forth by this new code is the obligation to unlock a smartphone at the user's request per these conditions:

A service provider that provides a locked device to the customer as part of a contract must

for subsidized devices: unlock the device, or give the customer the means to unlock the device, upon request, at the rate specified by the service provider, no later than 90 calendar days after the contract start date.

for unsubsidized devices: unlock the device, or give the customer the means to unlock the device, at the rate specified by the service provider, upon request.

Link to the CRTC Wireless Code. Most Canadian carriers have already started to implement the unlock option.

CRTC Wireless Code : $100 Cap on data roaming charges

July 22, 2013technologyEdward Kiledjian

We hear horror stories of Canadians travelling abroad and coming back with $5000 mobile phone bills. We can certainly sit here and laugh at those people (who should know better), but this is a bigger problem than most people realize.

This is why I am so excited that the CRTC Wireless Code to protect consumers. For this specific issue, here are the new controls your carrier will have to implement:

A service provider must suspend national and international data roaming charges once they reach $100 within a single monthly billing cycle, unless the customer expressly consents to pay additional charges.
A service provider must provide this cap at no charge.

This protection comes into effect later this year.

Link to the CRTC Wireless Code.

Bell Mobility will switch to 2 year plans June 17

July 15, 2013technologyEdward Kiledjian

The CRTC limited the early cancellation fee to 24 months so as expected, we are starting to see the big Canadian carriers respond. We have now learned that Bell will be updating its pricing (June 17) to align with the new CRTC mandate changing plans to 30 day and 2 year terms.

What does this mean?

Monthly plan costs should remain stable but device pricing will likely go up since the subsidy periods are going from 36 months down to 24 months.

Verdict

I think this is a good move for consumers since most devices don't last for 36 months. The next step is to open up the Canadian market to international carriers so they can drive down our expensive mobile data costs.