Senate rubber stamps anti-spam bill, CRTC will be able to levy monetary penalties

By Perry Hoffman

OTTAWA - Budgets are set and regulations are being drafted for the new anti-spam law, an Industry Canada official told the Senate Transport and Communications committee this week. Bill C-28, the latest Conservative effort to enshrine anti-spam legislation, was tabled in the House of Commons this fall and quickly passed through the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology in a single hearing.Among other things, it will give the Competition Bureau the ability to target deceptive marketing practices, the CRTC the right to combat unsolicited commercial e-mail, and the Office of the Privacy Commission the authority to fight the illegal...