ACCORDING
TO THE RULES
Database Protection
Meal
Allowances
CCRA Policies on Charity Political Activities
New California Anti-Spam Law Impacts Associations
Database
Protection
The U.S. Congress has been working on database
protection legislation. for quite some time. Called the Database and Collections
of Information Misappropriation Act of 2003, the draft
legislation was the subject of a joint hearing in
Washington, DC recently.
The owners of major databases support
the proposed legislation, however watchdogs, such as the
ACLU, and libraries oppose it.
Numerous industry watchdogs, including
NetCoalition, the ACLU, and several libraries oppose the
proposal.
The legislation would give copyright-like
protection to databases, which would include everything
from the content of services such as LexisNexis to telephone directories.
Previously, copyright protection was
provided to creative works only, and not to compilations
or collections of facts.
The legislation could provide
associations with copyright protection for their
membership databases and directories.
Meal Allowances
Associations who provide meal or other allowances to
staff and directors may encounter a surprise if ever
audited by CCRA.
Often, associations and the recipients do not treat
these allowances as income to the recipients.
Payments where the recipient does not
have to account for what is actually spent are
considered allowances, and they must be treated as
income. Typically, they are fixed in amount and
determined in advance.
In these instances, the association
should be providing a T4 Supplementary to those who
received more than $500 per year of income from an
office or employment.
Consult with your advisor if this
applies to your organization.
CCRA
Releases New Policies on Political Activities by Charities
The Canada Customs and Revenue Agency's
(CCRA) new guidelines for political activities by
registered charities are now available. The guidelines are
intended to clarify how CCRA interprets the legislation
regarding advocacy work by charities. The CCRA also
released a second policy that provides guidelines for
registering charities that deal with promoting racial
equality. The Political Activities Policy Statement is
available at:
www.ccra-adrc.gc.ca/tax/charities/policy/cps/cps-022-e.html.
The Registering Charities that Promote Racial Equality
Policy Statement is available at:
www.ccra-adrc.gc.ca/tax/charities/policy/cps/cps-021-e.html.
New California Anti-Spam Law Impacts Associations
California has a new spam law taking effect on January 1, 2004 that targets anyone sending e-mails to California residents.
The new spam law has its own definition of
spam (“unsolicited commercial e-mail advertisement”) which
includes promoting electronically the sale or disposition
of services. As associations typically provides services,
this new spam law covers a wide range of your electronic
communications, including e-mailed newsletters and
promotional material from associations.
Associations could qualify for the
pre-existing or current business relationship exclusion
from the definition of spam, provided the association
meets these requirements:
-
the recipient must have provided an
inquiry together with the recipient’s e-mail address, or
to have made an application, purchase, or transaction
regarding the services offered by the association.
-
the association must provide the
recipient the ability to “opt-out” from receiving
further “spam” by calling a toll-free number or sending
an “un subscribe” email to the association.
The law also carries stiff penalties for
non-compliance, including $1,000 for each nonconforming
transmission, and a maximum fine, which is $1 million per
“incident,” which would be one mass e-mail distribution.
The California law also provides that it
is enforceable by any recipient, who will also be entitled
to attorney’s fees when she is the prevailing party in a
lawsuit.
According to the Rules highlights
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