A more thorough explanation:
The Canadian Anti-Spam Law of 2010 is a law that was created to address the growing problem of spam email in Canada. The law was created after a private-sector "Task Force on Spam" was established in 2004 to investigate solutions to the problem.
The Task Force proposed a six-point stakeholder consensus plan for addressing the problem, which included:
- Making use of existing legal frameworks
- Reviewing current legislative, regulatory, and enforcement measures
- Encouraging network management practices and industry best-practice principles
- Encouraging the development of technologies to validate legitimate commercial email
- Encouraging businesses to educate consumers about spam-related problems
- Supporting global anti-spam initiatives
After a year of investigation, the Task Force recommended legislation, regulation, and enforcement to address spam-related problems. The recommendations included:
- A clear set of rules to prohibit spam and other emerging threats to the safety and security of the Internet
- An opt-in regime for spam
- Prohibition of false or misleading headers or subject lines
- Prohibition of the construction of false or misleading URLs and websites
- Prohibition of email address harvesting
- Penalties for offenders, ranging from civil liability to criminal liability
- A private right of action for individuals and corporations
- Liability for third parties benefited by spam
- Administration of a new stand-alone law
- Priority and resources for administration and enforcement from the Canadian Federal Government
- Coordinated enforcement with Canadian Provincial and Territorial Government enforcement agencies, as well as with other countries' enforcement agencies
The law was finally enacted in December 2010 as Bill C-28.