“Wake Up” On $150,000 Fine
The Association of Canadian Travel Agencies (ACTA) has been supporting their members to comply with
The ACTA Anti-Spam resource includes summary documents that break down the legislation into a context that is specific to the retail travel trade and a FAQ is being offered to help answer some of the more common questions. These materials are free for ACTA members and available for download from the ACTA Learning Campus.
http://www.blacklocks.ca/, Kaven Baker-Voakes
A six-figure fine on an airline for breaching federal anti-spam regulations is a “wake-up call” for industry, says a legal analyst. Porter Airlines was fined $150,000 for emailing prospective customers.
“I think what you see now is a tailored, proportional violation,” said attorney Trent Skanes, an associate with McInnis Cooper LLP of St. John’s. “This really brings home the reality that the regulations are impacting everyday Canadian businesses.”
Porter was cited by the Canadian Radio Television & Telecommunications Commission for emails sent between July 2014 and this past April. The emailed notices failed to contain an “unsubscribe” button as required under anti-spam regulations enacted in 2014.
Porter in a statement said the breach was inadvertent. “This resulted largely from isolated errors related to the transition to a new email platform,” the carrier said. “We cooperated as soon as the situation was brought to our attention. Corrective measures were taken and the issues haven’t happened since.”
Airline executives declined an interview. The CRTC noted Porter’s emails also apparently failed to provide the company’s contact information as required by regulations: “Porter Airlines also allegedly failed to honour within 10 business days requests from some recipients to unsubscribe from receiving future commercial emails.”
Spam regulators previously issued a $48,000 anti-spam fine to Plenty of Fish Media Inc., an online dating website; and threatened a $1.1 million fine against Compu-Finder Ltd., a Québec firm accused of blitzing prospective customers with emails promoting its executive training programs. The CRTC has said its investigation of Compu-Finder is ongoing and no actual fine has been paid.
“This will serve as a wake-up call more than Plenty of Fish or Compu-Finder Ltd.,” said Attorney Skanes. “This is an everyday business that isn’t sending out loads of spam. This case goes to show you have to pay attention to the fundamentals of the law.”
“This is the first indicator that you might start to see some business owners and executives pay real attention,” Skanes said. Under spam regulations business owners, company directors and managers found in breach of the rules can be held personally liable.
Skanes noted some poorly-defined “grey areas” remain in the regulations. “The regulatory guidelines the CRTC has put out don’t exactly get you to the finish line in terms of being about to provide specific, high-quality legal advice because there are a lot of definitions that can be construed broadly,” he said.