Michael Geist, professor of law at the
University of Ottawa, has criticized the changes adopted in the amended Act. He observed that the legislation contained too many exemptions which would not result in a significant decrease in calls for subscribers of the DNCL. Geist expressed particular concern about the extent and duration of the existing business relationship exception. In a 2009 article for the
Toronto Star, Geist labelled the CRTC's do-not-call list a "disaster" and recommended that parliament return to the original version of Bill C-37 by eliminating all exemptions. He further recommended cross-border cooperation to resolve jurisdictional issues and immediate tough enforcement to send a strong signal to violators. In November 2008, it was reported that the CRTC had received thousands of complaints from individuals about the implementation of the Do Not Call List. People reported that they had actually experienced a notable increase in the number of calls since registering for the list, and were starting to get calls at cellular phone numbers that had never received telemarketing calls before. However, a VoxPop study found that 80% of those registered on the DNCL had noticed a reduction in calls, while 13% had seen an increase. The study concluded that the most likely explanation for the increase was due to timing of the launch of the DNCL with the
Great Recession which was affecting American and other foreign companies harder than Canadian, and where unscrupulous telemarketers that did not care about Canadian laws were using random dialers to find new business. In January 2009, numerous media and consumer advocacy organizations reported that anyone can use false information pretending to be a telemarketer and download a set of numbers from the list for a $50 fee. It took their reporter ten minutes to do so. It has been proposed that list may be being downloaded and used as a telemarketing list overseas, where there's little that can be done as the CRTC has no jurisdiction outside of Canada.
Konrad von Finckenstein, Chair of the CRTC, responded to these allegations on 16 June 2009, labeling them an urban myth, and stating that the Government had looked into the claims and that there was "no evidence to substantiate them".
Technological shortcomings A notable shortcoming of the Canadian implementation of the do-not-call list is that the list of numbers is given to telemarketers in plain text, in the form of a simple spreadsheet or CSV file without any protection or traceability. Technologies for securing personal data are readily available, as shown by Australia's Do Not Call Register, which "is a secure database where you can list your numbers to avoid receiving unsolicited telemarketing calls and marketing faxes." In contrast to the CRTC's uncontrolled distribution of telephone number lists, the Australian system consists of a "List Washing Service", precisely as proposed by the minority opinion which was disregarded by the CRTC. On 3 July 2007, in Telecom Decision CRTC 2007-47, the CRTC disregarded the non-consensus report from the DNCL Operations Working Group, which had strongly recommended against allowing telemarketers to download unmarked, untraceable copies of the do-not-call list. With the aim of protecting the confidentiality of cell and unlisted numbers, the non-consensus report had instead advocated a Query/Response methodology, wherein telemarketers would be able to query only the do-not-call status of numbers they already had in their possession. Although the CRTC had rejected the Query/Response methodology, citing grounds of operational cost and complexity, a one-number-at-a-time Query/Response turned out to be so operationally simple and inexpensive that it is provided by the CRTC, free of charge, without restriction, to anyone who cares to use it. Other jurisdictions such as the USA provide similar Query/Response functions to checklists of small sets of numbers simultaneously, also free of charge. Jurisdictions such as Australia protect subscriber privacy, precisely as envisioned by the minority report, by keeping the list in the form of a secure database, and providing only a "List Washing Service". The CRTC's decision to expire registrations is regarded by citizens' rights groups as a technical shortcoming that adds unnecessary operational cost and complexity to the system, as well as limiting registrants' freedom to express their wishes. On 17 June 2008, the USA made registrations permanent until the number is disconnected or reassigned, citing "...benefits to the public and to
consumer privacy interests...". Another possibility to prevent using the plain text list as a list of people to call is to provide
honeypot numbers, unique to each telemarketer. If a telemarketer, or anyone he has given the list to, then calls one of the honeypot numbers, stiff penalties can be applied to the telemarketer. If the originating number of a violating call is either foreign or disguised, the CRTC could apply the penalties to the telco which delivered the call to the subscriber's line since that telco acted as an agent of the telemarketer by delivering the call.. There is no indication from the CRTC whether honeypots have been implemented as part of the DNCL. ==See also==