Last week in a blog post I asked for suggestions to help name Canada’s new anti-SPAM and anti-spyware law, Bill –C-28. The Bill has no short title and needs one.
You clearly had fun trying to come up with a name. Some of you suggested a few names. Some suggestions were serious (more or less). Others were hysterical, many reflecting your thoughts about the Bill, or about SPAM. Here are your proposals to name the Bill.
Please read them and let me know which ones you like or would choose. You can email me ([email protected]) or post comments on my blog with your recommended name and short name, if applicable. My partner Lorne Salzman and I will select the winning name (and the winner of the McCarthy’s gift) after getting your input.
Eyjafjallajökull – the name of the volcano in Iceland that disrupted so much flight travel in Europe last year. No one (outside of Iceland) could pronounce the name and like this Bill, no one will be able to remember the full name so let’s give it a label we will at least remember – to see, if not say. (John Leblanc)
Canada Risible Anti-spam Propoundment or CRAP for short. (Richard Owens)
Spam24 Act. Surely relying on the Wisdom of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe, the name then should be: Spam42 Act. BUT since spam is transmitted over the Internet and Google is a very important term in relation to the Internet and the number Googol sounds very close to Google, we could call it: Spamgoogol Act (David Bilinsky)
One is reminded of that Python bit profiling an otherwise forgotten composer, Johann Gambolputty de von Ausfern- schplenden- schlitter- crasscrenbon- fried- digger- dingle- dangle- dongle- dungle- burstein- von- knacker- thrasher- apple- banger- horowitz- ticolensic- grander- knotty- spelltinkle- grandlich- grumblemeyer- spelterwasser- kurstlich- himbleeisen- bahnwagen- gutenabend- bitte- ein- nürnburger- bratwustle- gerspurten- mitz- weimache- luber- hundsfut- gumberaber- shönedanker- kalbsfleisch- mittler- aucher von Hautkopft of Ulm.Given the Pythonic origin of the term “Spam”, the best short name for the new Act would have to be similarly surreal, irrelevant and disrespectful. Hence my vote for the “Fish-Slapping Dance Act, 2011“. (David Basskin)
Given some of the potential concerns Barry identifies due to overbreadth or sloppy drafting, how about the Law of Unintended Consequences? (Richard Pfohl)
How about: “An Act to Amend other Acts and do some other things.” The government could use the same name for all future legislation. And they could advertise it as the A++ Act. Very efficient and no less informative… (Michael Erdle)
I’m fond of the Spam Spam Spam Spam Spam Spam Spam Spam Spam Spam Spam Spam Spam Spam Spam Spam Spam Spam Spam Spam Spam Spam Spam Spam Act.(It’s even shorter the current name.) (Eric Boehm)
P.P.P.S. At least no one has (yet) suggested naming the Act for someone, especially a child, who has died in painful circumstances. (Wallace Mclean)
The eCommerce Holy Grail Act. (Get it? Spam – Monty Python- Holy Grail) (Peter Ruby)
Green Eggs and Spam? (Bernice Karn)
I call dibs on the “Canada Spam-a-Lot Act”. (Bernice Karn)
ASS Law (Anti Spam and Spyware Law)? (Bradley Freedman)
Oh heck let’s mix French and English. Sans-Spam Act (David Bilinsky)
Spam-a-Little (Mary Hemmings)
Internet Wish Act – as in I wish that the anti-spam provisions by the government in this act could actually be enforced without bankrupting the public service. By the way, my Visa has limited internet purchase capacity…an email from germany told me so! WISH could stand for Wise Interneters Suspect Havoc (so they read the screen to delete spam) ((Shaunna Mireau)
How about Anti-Malware Act? Short and bilingual… (Michel Racicot)
Since the statute deals with spam and spyware, and various other nasty practices, perhaps the generic “Anti-malware Act” would be appropriate. I expect that most people who do not live and breathe computers may not recognize the term, but it’s still a good one, and a title can be educational as well as convenient. I learn that the recognized Canadian French equivalent is ‘maliciel’, a formation from the very elegant ‘logiciel’ for software (in France that tends to be called ‘le soft’, but we should prefer the elegance of the Canadian formation). So: “Loi contre le maliciel”. The ‘original’ title was, I believe, the ‘Electronic Commerce Protection Act’, which is fine except that it gives no hint as to the contents. The ‘Fight Internet Spam Act’ is OK, though a little tendentious – better than a lot of political titles. (John Gregory)
Canadian Anti-Spam Act, which can be further shortened to CASPA. (Lorne Salzman)
Can-Can Spam Act since I’ve been telling people it is sort of the Canadian version of the US Can-Spam Act! (Joel Guralnick)
Using the logic of the DaVinci’s Code (or the “USA PATRIOT ACT”), we should refer to the law as the PEACE Act (or perhaps the e-PEACE Act). “An Act to Promote the Efficiency and Adaptability of the Canadian Economy […] (Charles Morgan)
I’d like to suggest “The CORE Discourse Act” . I am most certainly not a lawyer, but what I understand of C-28 suggests to me an attempt to describe and moderate Corporate Responsibility in Electronic Discourse. (Scott Elcomb)
And don’t forget “Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation” (CASL) which is how the legislation is now described (without the acronym) on the Industry Canada site. CASL gets my vote, but the ultimate decision might be made by Justice Laws. (Bruce Tattrie)
Canadian Legislation Against Spam & Spyware Act (or CLASS Act, because it’s a CLASS Act that invites a lot of CLASS Action…) (James Gannon)
Canadian Anti-Spam, Anti-Spyware Act (CASASA, pronounced “Que c’est ça?” in French) (James Gannon)
Considering that the law covers a lot more than spam, and that a law’s name should reflect its intent, I suggest the simple straightforward:
E-Commerce Consumer Protection Act.
ECPA for those who absolutely positively have to have an acronym.
Fond though I am of my own suggestion, I can only bow before the concision, clarity and Zen-like sangfroid of Michael Erdle’s suggested, “An Act to Amend other Acts and do some other things.”
Hats off, ladies and gentlemen.
Latecomer here, but I will throw the dry but descriptive “Unsolicited Communications Act” to the crowd.
Barry, although my heart votes in favour of Richard Owens’s Canada Risible Anti-spam Propoundment (or CRAP) Act, my head tells me that Michel Racitot’s Anti-Malware Act is the most utilitarian. So, my vote is for Anti-Malware Act.