On July 11, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission issued its first notices of violation to two Canadian companies that allegedly contravened the installation of computer program prohibitions under Canada's anti-spam legislation.

Datablocks, Inc. and Sunlight Media Network Inc. were accused of aiding the installation of malicious computer programs through the distribution of online advertising in contravention of ss. 8 and 9 of CASL.

By way of reminder, s. 8 of CASL prohibits the installation of a computer program on any other person's computer system without the express consent of the owner or an authorized user of the computer system, while s. 9 prohibits aiding in the commission of the violation. For their nefarious activities, the CRTC is demanding that Datablocks pay administrative monetary penalties in the amount of $100,000 and Sunlight Media pay administrative penalties in the amount of $150,000.

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