Canada's Working to Do the Right Thing

Canada’s Competition Bureau is in the midst of their annual retreat in Quebec. Once a year, the government agency takes some time to examine the issues theyll be facing in the coming months.

I was honored to be asked to participate on a panel discussing not the current, but the upcoming legal issues in interactive marketing and advertising. The moderator was Joan Huzar, a founding member and current head of the Consumers Council of Canada. Also participating were marketing Professor Tim Richardson; Jonathan Curtis of Bell Canada and the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG); and attorney Beryl Green of Miller Thompson LLP.

So from the varying perspectives of consumers, the industry, security and education experts, the Competition Bureau was briefed on such issues as spam, click fraud, CGM, trademark protection, word-of-mouth and potential issues in mobile/wireless abuse.

As Canada nears legislation on do-not-call and spam, my hat’s off to the Competition Bureau for looking just a bit over the horizon and preparing for the inevitable next set of problems, issues and policies.