Government of Canada suspends lawsuit provision in anti-spam legislation

The Government of Canada has suspended the provision of Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) that enabled a private right of action to be brought as of July 1, 2017. The suspended provision would have allowed lawsuits to be filed against individuals and organizations for alleged violations of the anti-spam legislation. The CASL regulation is considered to be one of the strictest anti-spam regulations world-wide. CASL operates under the opt-in principle which means that senders need to obtain permission before the message is sent. Canadian government suspended the provision in response to broad-based concerns raised by businesses, charities and the not-for-profit sector.