Krebs on Microsoft Suspending "Patch Tuesday" Emails and Blaming Canada 130
tsu doh nimh writes In a move that may wind up helping spammers, Microsoft is blaming a new Canadian anti-spam law for the company's recent decision to stop sending regular emails about security updates for its Windows operating system and other Microsoft software. Some anti-spam experts who worked very closely on Canada's Anti-Spam Law (CASL) say they are baffled by Microsoft's response to a law which has been almost a decade in the making. Indeed, an exception in the law says it does not apply to commercial electronic messages that solely provide "warranty information, product recall information or safety or security information about a product, goods or a service that the person to whom the message is sent uses, has used or has purchased." Several people have observed that Microsoft likely is using the law as a convenient excuse for dumping an expensive delivery channel.
It is Canada's fault! (Score:4, Informative)
Canadian IT head here. Just spent the morning reading over the law that this is in knee-jerk reaction to. I think Microsoft's reaction is warranted. According to the new law, a company can be charged up to 10 Million dollars for an infraction (read single email) of un-solicited email. The law is poorly formed, and not well thought out, as well as lengthy and vague enough to create a broad swatch of culpable people.
What it boils down to is this. If you send an un-solicited email to someone you have not done business with in the last 2 years, and they have not opted in before and, and they believe your email to be spam, boom, you are culpable. Also if you install software on someone's computer without explicit, but easy to understand examples of what the software is/does you can also be held culpable.
All email a company produces in Canada form this point on have to include a link in the bottom or ability to opt out of all future email.
Canadian businesses, no matter how small, are beholden to this law. Small companies are going to fold left and right because they cannot afford to comply wiht the new regulations, and those that don't try to comply run the risk of paying a huge penalty.
In my personal opinion this is a grab at trying to make Canada Post relevant again (and financially viable). At the moment bulk mail is the only thing keeping Canada post afloat, and if you couldn't send an email to try to drum up business, you can always send a mailer...
While anti-spam law is well intentioned, in it's current form it is so broken it should not have seen the light of day.