The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunication Commission (CRTC) today issued a notice to the first major violator of its anti-spam law, a Quebec-based management trainer called Compu.finder. The company has 30 days to submit documents that justify its actions or pay a $1.1 million penalty.
“Compu.finder flagrantly violated the basic principles of the law by continuing to send unsolicited commercial electronic messages after the law came into force to email addresses it found by scouring websites,” said Manon Bombardier, CRTC’s chief compliance and enforcement officer, in a press release. “Complaints submitted to the Spam Reporting Centre clearly indicate that consumers didn’t find Compu.finder’s offerings relevant to them.”
The notice concerns four violations allegedly committed by Compu.finder between July and September of last year. An analysis of complaints made to Canada’s Spam Reporting Centre found that Compu.finder accounted for 26% of all those filed about companies in its industry sector.
The Canadian Anti-Spam Law (CASL) took effect last July, and requires that consent must be obtained from recipients before companies can send them emails or texts. Consumers who made purchases from a company within the previous two years of receiving an electronic message are considered to have given implied consent. Others must provide “express” consent, which can only be given in person or in writing.
