New Anti-Spam Bill Introduced in Canada’s House of Commons

Canada, which has long been a target of criticism over it’s lax anti-spam enforcement, has a tough new anti-spam bill on the table in its House of Commons. Called the Electronic Commerce Protection Act, the bill is similar to the U.S.’s CAN-SPAM Act in that it requires marketers to provide a postal address in their messages, offer working opt-out links and clearly identify who the sender is, but it also includes some tough new provisions.

For instance, the bill would prohibit the sending of commercial email to anyone who has not given consent. It also provides businesses and consumers with the right to pursue civil action against violators and levies fines of up to $1 million for individuals and $10 million for businesses who violate the law.

Canada is hoping the bill will reduce not only spam but the identity theft, phishing and malware infections that often come along with it. It’s good to see Canada taking a tough stance against spam, a move that is long overdue.

Unfortunately, until all countries take the same tough stance, the battle against spam and cybercrime will continue. With countries like Estonia, Russia, and Romania doing little or nothing to track down and prosecute cybercriminals, they will continue to set up shop there. Several of the botnets that were knocked offline when McColo was shut down have done just that and are flourishing once again. Why do these countries sit back and do nothing? Some simply lack the knowledge and resources to do much. Another problem is that many of these cybergangs are run or financed by organized crime, which may have an influence over local governments in some places.

What is known is that as long as there is a haven for these gangs, spam and malware will continue to grow more and more sophisticated and dangerous and remain a serious problem.