Electronic Commerce in Canada

Working Group On Legislation and Enforcement

Mandate:

The Working Group will:

  • Identify and examine obstacles to the use of existing laws and regulations to reduce and control spam, including the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, the Competition Act, the Criminal Code of Canada, and any other relevant statutes;
  • Support efforts to test the application of existing laws and regulations to reduce and control spam, including:
    • the identification of requirements for effective investigation and prosecution of spammers; and
    • the development of guidelines reflecting various fact situations which can be used for the kinds of cases that may be referred to the appropriate investigative body.
  • Identify any need for new enforcement or legislative initiatives to reduce spam, including any amendments to existing laws and regulations required to support anti-spam enforcement measures, and/or any other new laws that might be required.

Background:

Many email stakeholders and observers believe that improved enforcement of existing Canadian laws could have a significant impact on reducing the flow of spam. They cite the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) that treats electronic mail addresses as personal information, and the Competition Act, the Telecommunications Act, and the Criminal Code as tools to reduce the volume of unsolicited email communications.

This Working Group will examine the use of existing laws and legal processes to control spam, the enforcement requirements and implications of so doing, encourage agencies to take action against spam, and assess whether additional legislation is needed to reduce and control spam in the future.

Action steps:

  1. Identify, and promote awareness about, how PIPEDA, the Criminal Code, the Competition Act and other statutes can be used to reduce spam.
  2. Work with relevant regulatory and enforcement agencies to guide and support the use of available legal instruments to reduce and control spam.
  3. Identify and make recommendations on any additional legislation or regulations needed to control spam.
  4. Identify and support the removal of any obstacles to law enforcement acting against spammers, and recommend policy or other changes which might be required to remove any such obstacles.
  5. Make representations to law enforcement and prosecution agencies in order to sensitize them to the issues related to the spam problem in Canada and seek their input.
  6. Support the filing, as early as possible, of complaints by industry and consumers to test the application of existing laws to the most egregious abuses.