CRTC grants CMA stay petition in telemarketing feud
As the CRTC’s recently enacted telemarketing regime continues to come under fire from a number of industry players, the commission has granted the Canadian Marketing Association’s petition to stay implementation of the rules (Telecom Decision 2004-35). On September 28, the CRTC approved the CMA’s applications, "pending the disposition of the CMA’s application to review and vary that Decision. The stay applies to all requirements set out in Decision 2004-35 except the requirement that telecommunications service providers track and report complaint statistics; this requirement becomes effective 1 January 2005." Earlier this month, several companies banded together on two separate occasions and filed an appeal of the telemarketing rules to the Governor-in-Council. First, it was the Canadian Bankers Association and the CMA to file petitions with the federal Cabinet and more recently, The Responsive Marketing Group, Univision Marketing Group and Xentel DM Inc. filed a joint application. The petitions to Cabinet can be found here.