Rogers Media Inc. has paid $200,000 to regulators for allegedly sending email messages without a viable way to unsubscribe, which is required under Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL).
Since CASL came into force on July 1, 2014, the CRTC has been assessing and investigating complaints submitted to the Spam Reporting Centre, and doling out more than $1 million in monetary penalties and payments. In June, for instance, Porter Airlines paid a $150,000 penalty for CASL spam violations.
The CRTC’s chief compliance and enforcement officer launched an investigation into Rogers Media’s CASL compliance between July 2014 and July 2015.
The investigation alleged that:
- Rogers Media sent commercial emails containing an unsubscribe mechanism that did not function properly or which could not be readily performed by the recipient.
- Sometimes the email address used to unsubscribe was functional for the required minimum of 60 days following the sent message.
- Requests from some recipients to unsubscribe from receiving future commercial emails were not honoured within 10 business days.
Rogers Media has made a $200,000 payment, and agreed to improve its existing CASL compliance program to ensure all its current activities are fully compliant.
In order to avoid hefty fines related to CASL, businesses need to basically get permission, respect the consent, and follow the rules.