Last Friday, I was frustrated by a Toronto window company ignoring the national do not call list and calling me. They just didn’t care.
And it made me think even more about what I have written in the past about the flaws in the Electronic Commerce Protection Act. McCarthy’s had also warned about restrictions being too broad.
Unlike other international anti-spam legislation, the prohibition against unsolicited commercial messages in the ECPA is not limited to messages sent with some element of fraud or misleading information, sent with an “intent to deceive or mislead,” sent to addresses that were gathered using “automated means,” or sent in bulk.
Typically, we see internet communications as being less restrictive than traditional media. We have so many people that talk about open access to information and actively promote it. I see so many cases of civil libertarians up in arms over attempts to block digital communications – even in cases where hard copies are stopped at the border or seized by police.
We are less likely to impose restrictions on digital content than print or other forms. But the previous version of the act goes far beyond protection from spam. It prevents commercial contacts in digital form from businesses with no intent to defraud – communications that are perfectly legal in a paper format. Why would Industry Canada want to prevent a legitimate company from acquiring a electronic mailing list, when this is completely acceptable in print form?
As it is written, the bill would be better titled the Electronic Commerce Restrictions Act: it discourages many efficiencies that should be available to businesses of all sizes in reaching out to new customers.
The re-introduction of the bill in a new session of Parliament will enable Industry Canada to fix these deficiencies to encourage confidence in e-commerce without choking off incentives for Canadian business, legitimate businesses, to adopt innovative business models using electronic communications.
Industry Minister Tony Clement will deliver the opening keynote address on June 7 at The 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit. Will he use the opportunity to announce a new and improved version of the Electronic Commerce Protection Act?
Soon, they won’t be the only company that doesn’t care about the Do-Not Call list. There’s no more funding for the program, and they are quietly considering just letting the thing die.
I found the ECPA to be so weak, it would be completely ineffective. It’s interesting that you also believe it would be too great a burden on businesses. How would you propose to improve the act so it would not hinder commerce, while actually effectively legislating against spam?