MORTGAGEBROKER mbabc.ca summer 2014 | 43
legalease
Reduced non-spam CEMs
e complexity of CASL coupled with the broad definitions of CEMs,
the narrow exclusions and exceptions, the onerous consent provisions,
the costly compliance requirements, and the disproportionately high
penalties lead to the logical conclusion that some businesses will simply
avoid sending
CEMs because it simply is not worth the risk. In effect,
CASL at best may reduce spam (if perhaps not the truly harmful spam)
but it will also greatly reduce non-spam
CEMs. is will hurt business
across the board.
Cost of bureaucracy
us far we have focused on the cost to senders and receivers of CEMs. e
administration of
CASL is assigned to existing government bodies but those
bodies will need more resources (including staff and funds). We will all pay
for those resources through our taxes. If our taxes are to be used to assist in
reducing spam,
CASL is not the appropriate tool on which to expend our
hard earned money. We need an effort that in fact targets spam.
Lack of empirical evidence
ere is little evidence to suggest the effort put forward in CASL will be
successful. Anecdotally it is of interest that the United States has had its
anti-spam legislation in place since 2003 and is still considered to be the
world's most prolific spam-producing nation.
Future changes to CASL will be difficult
Generally statutes set out principles and broad schemes, regulations
provide further details, and regulatory rules set out operational
details. is structure is useful because rules are much quicker and
easier to change than are regulations which are much quicker and
easier to change than is legislation.
Both
CASL and its regulations are overly detailed and contain
considerable information one would expect to find in rules. is
means adaption for new technology, new issues, or unanticipated
results will be far more difficult than should be necessary.
Conclusion
No one expects a law to be both 100 per cent effective and have
no negative impacts. Unfortunately
CASL will not be reasonably
successful in reducing true spam, will be very effective in reducing
CEMs (many of which are desirable as they benefit the public), and is
an ill-conceived burden on the public purse. We can look forward to
a world of more mosquitos and fewer bees, butterflies and birds than
we would like. To top it off, once we realize the error of
CASL's ways,
the necessary changes will be neither quick nor easy to implement.
Perhaps the world of quill and paper was not so bad aer all.
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