Archive for March, 2012
On March 29, 2012, the Government released its 2012 Budget (Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity: Economic Action Plan 2012). In its new Budget, the Government signals that it wants to continue to encourage foreign investment in Canada:
“Foreign investment provides significant benefits to Canada through knowledge, capital, access to new markets and the creation of high-value jobs across the country. The Government is committed to an open investment framework that encourages foreign investment in Canada as well as Canadian business investment abroad, while safeguarding Canada’s interests. The Investment Canada Act requires the review of significant foreign investments in Canada in order to ensure that the investments bring a net benefit to our country.”
In the Budget, the Government announced that it would be making targeted improvements to the administration of the Investment Canada Act “in the interests of greater transparency while preserving investor confidentiality” (although what specific steps the Government intends to make to the Investment Canada Act process is not yet clear).
Yesterday was a banner day for the European Commission, which imposed a total of €255 million against parties in the freight forwarders and window mountings cartels.
In the freight forwarders cartel, the Commission fined 14 international groups of companies a total of €169 million for participating in four cartels between 2002 and 2007 to fix the prices and other trading conditions for international freight forwarding services.
Interestingly, the parties in this case took rather elaborate and colourful steps to conceal the cartel, organizing their contacts in a so-called “Gardening Club” and using code-names based on vegetables (e.g., asparagus and baby courgettes) when the parties talked about fixing prices. The parties also set up a specific Yahoo e-mail account to facilitate the cartel and information exchanges between them.
Rob Currie, a professor at the Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie, has written a rather good and interesting note on Bill C-30 (the “Lawful Access” Bill or “Protecting Children From Internet Predators Act”) and the Council of Europe’s Cybercrime Convention, which Canada is a signatory to.
He discusses Canada’s participation in the Cybercrime Convention, the fact that Canada has not yet ratified based on an absence of investigative tools that are a prerequisite to ratification and the wider objectives of the Convention.
On March 28, 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division issued its 2012 annual newsletter, which includes summaries of the DoJ’s Civil and Criminal Programs, International Program and competition advocacy and policy efforts in 2011.
Some interesting merger-related highlights of the DoJ’s newsletter include its report that premerger notifications in the U.S. under the HSR Act were up over 24% in 2011 (1,450 notifications in FY 2011 compared to 1,166 in 2010) and that it filed16 enforcement actions since April 1, 2011 (an increase from 6 in the previous year). The DoJ discusses the following transactions, among others: AT&T Inc. / T-Mobile USA Inc., H&R Block Inc. / TaxACT, NASDAQ QMX and IntercontinentalExchange Inc. / NYSE Euronext, VeriFone Systems Inc. / Hypercom Corp. and three high profile patent-related transactions: Google Inc.’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., the acquisitions by Apple Inc., Microsoft and RIM of Nortel Networks patents and the acquisition by Apple of Novell Inc. patents.
Our friends at the Canadian Council on International Law (CCIL) have issued a call for papers for the CCIL’s 41st Annual Conference entitled “SOS International Law: International Law in Times of Crisis and Emergency” to be held in Ottawa from November 8-10, 2012.
From the CCIL:
“The Canadian Council on International Law invites paper proposals from faculty members, doctoral level graduate students in law and related disciplines, and practitioners, on topics dealing with the theme of its 41st Annual Conference: ‘SOS International Law: International Law in Times of Crisis and Emergency’.
Crises and emergencies come in many forms. They may be financial, environmental or purely political, as states break apart, governments are ousted or armed conflicts occur. From the financial turmoil in the United States and Europe, to the surge for democracy in the Arab world and resulting civil conflicts, to natural disasters in Haiti and Japan, and to the predicament of nuclear proliferation in Iran and elsewhere, international relations have been preoccupied by these crises and emergencies. And behind these newspaper headlines are countless crises averted or emergencies abated, where early intervention forestalls disasters before they emerge.
In a curious story that caught my eye today, CTV reported that the City of Ottawa is threatening to terminate its contracts with companies found to have conspired to fix the price of gas in Ottawa and ban all future City purchases from them.
According to CTV, City of Ottawa Councilors Stephen Blais and Steve Desroches sent a letter to Canadian Tire, Mr. Gas and Pioneer in Ottawa, all of which pleaded guilty in Ontario Superior Court last week to fixing the price of gas in 2007 and were fined $2 million (see: Competition Bureau Announces $2 Million Fines in Ontario Gas Price-fixing Case).
This case is the second major gasoline price-fixing investigation that the Bureau has disclosed in the past several years (the Bureau is currently concluding the largest criminal investigation in its history in relation to gasoline price-fixing in Quebec – see: Further Individual Pleads Guilty in Quebec Gasoline Price-fixing Cartel).
ABA International Antitrust Committee – March 2012 Newsletter
The International Antitrust Law Committee of the American Bar Association has published its March 2012 Newsletter, which includes articles on trends in antitrust enforcement in CEE countries, investigation of cartels in Russia, a note on Ecuador’s Antitrust Act and competition compliance in the EU.
ABA Section of Antitrust Law – Market Definition in Antitrust (March 2012)
The ABA Section of Antitrust Law has published Market Definition in Antitrust: Issues and Case Studies.
From the ABA:
“Market Definition in Antitrust: Issues and Case Studies provides a comprehensive analysis of the issues involved in defining markets in antitrust cases. Market definition is central to most antitrust cases, because determining the existence of market power typically requires the definition of a relevant market. This book will prove a valuable guide to antitrust practitioners and consulting economists who are dealing with market definition.
This book is a thorough and accessible single volume practical guide to the definition of relevant markets and to empirical techniques that have been used in a variety of industries. The first chapter provides an overview of the theoretical concept of a relevant market. The remaining chapters provide industry-specific illustrations of how markets are defined in different contexts. The economic and legal analysis of product market definition has advanced significantly past the simple tests that were put forth in the Supreme Court’s 1962 decision in Brown Shoe Co. v. United States. Similarly, the analysis of geographic markets has come to recognize the limitations of the tests that focus exclusively on shipment patterns.
Data limitations and institutional considerations mean that there is no cookie-cutter approach to market definition that can be applied in all contexts. This book describes modern methods of market definition and analyzes their application in actual cases.”
For more information see:
On March 23, 2012, the CRTC announced that it had imposed a $24,000 administrative monetary penalty against Quebec telemarketing company Les Aliments S.R.C. Inc. for calling consumers registered on the National Do Not Call List (DNCL) and failure to pay registration fees to the National DNCL operator.
Under the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules, telemarketers are prohibited from calling consumers registered on the DNCL (unless express consent has been obtained). The Rules also require telemarketers to be registered on the National DNCL and pay registration fees to the National DNCL operator.
Les Aliments took the position that the Rules had not been violated regarding calls to one complainant because it had an existing business relationship (the Rules do not apply to telemarketing where there is an existing business relationship, as defined) and should be acquitted of other violations because it acted in good faith and exercised due diligence (a due diligence defence exists under the Telecommunications Act).
Templates/precedents and checklists to run promotional contests in Canada
Templates/precedents and checklists to comply with Canadian anti-spam law (CASL)
