Of course, in today's interconnected world, spam and other electronic threats are not confined to Canada. One of the most important tools Parliament provided to the CRTC is the ability to share information and seek enforcement assistance of our international counterparts.
To date, the CRTC has entered into international agreements with the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission in the United States and the Department of Internal Affairs in New Zealand.
As well, to address the challenge of spam coming from outside our borders, we collaborate with our international partners through the Unsolicited Communications Enforcement Network, or UCENet. The purpose of this network is to promote international spam enforcement co-operation and address spam-related problems such as online fraud and deception, phishing, and dissemination of viruses.
The CRTC has also signed a memorandum of understanding with 11 enforcement agencies from eight different countries throughout UCENet. These countries include the United States, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Korea, and South Africa. We share our knowledge and expertise through training programs and staff exchanges and inform each other of developments in our respective countries' laws.
Working with our partners, we are better equipped to ensure that people who distribute commercial messages, local or foreign, comply with Canada's anti-spam legislation.
In conclusion, we are convinced that administrative monetary penalties, when used with other enforcement methods, are a deterrent to non-compliance. We believe that companies have changed their practices to avoid potential penalties. This observation is based on our experience with CASL to date, as well as our experience in enforcing telemarketing over the past decade.
If we have any advice to offer, Mr. Chair, it is that enforcement agencies need a broad range of tools in their arsenal that they can tailor to the circumstances of each case.
We welcome any questions you may have.