Rogers Media agrees to pay $200,000 fine under CRTC’s anti-spam law

Rogers Media has agreed to pay a $200,000 fine to the CRTC for allegedly sending unsolicited email advertisements.

The fine was levied under anti-spam legislation which took effect last year.

The CRTC says the apparent violations stretched from July 2014 to July 2015 when consumers found emails came with an “unsubscribe” option that wouldn’t function properly.

Allegations by the regulator also say Rogers Media, a division of Rogers Communications (TSX:RCI.B), failed to honour unsubscribe requests from recipients within 10 business days.

It is the fourth fine under the new anti-spam laws this year.

Corporate training company Compu-Finder was the first — fined $1.1 million in March. Since then, online dating website PlentyOfFish and Porter Airlines, have faced smaller fines of $48,000 and $150,000 respectively.

Under the anti-spam law, the first unsolicited email sent by a Canadian company is considered a violation.

Canadians will be able to file lawsuits against businesses for breaking the anti-spam laws once a transition period ends on July 1, 2017, the CRTC said.

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