Archive for the 'Compliance' Category
June 25, 2013
Earlier today the Competition Bureau announced that an Alberta man has been found guilty of misleading advertising under the federal Competition Act and of a breach of a consent agreement under the Act (see: Alberta Man Found Guilty of Misleading Representations and Breach of Consent Agreement).
June 10, 2013
Do you need contest rules/precedents
for a Canadian contest?
We offer many types of Canadian contest/sweepstakes law precedents and forms (i.e., Canadian contest/sweepstakes law precedents to run common types of contests in Canada). These include precedents for random draw contests (i.e., where winners are chosen by random draw), skill contests (e.g., essay, photo or other types of contests where entrants submit content that is judged to enter the contest or for additional entries), trip contests and more. Also available are individual Canadian contest/sweepstakes precedents, including short rules (“mini-rules”), long rules, winner releases and a Canadian contest law checklist. For more information or to order, see: Canadian Contest Law Forms/Precedents. If you would like to discuss legal advice in relation to your contest or other promotion, contact us: Contact.
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In an interesting recent contest / sweepstakes case, A&P has reportedly agreed to settle charges alleging that it violated New York State sweepstakes laws by failing to adequately inform consumers that no purchase was required to enter its “A&P Frozen Food Month 2013” sweepstakes (for reports see: here and here).
June 3, 2013
Well, after months of consultation and debate, and a seemingly ever rising swell of commentary and consumer gnashing of teeth about the poor quality of Canadian wireless services (and anticipated demise of Canada’s new wireless entrants), the CRTC today announced at long last its wireless code of conduct.
May 27, 2013
In my morning media sweep, an interesting story about a new SNC-Lavalin internal whistleblower / amnesty program caught my eye. In particular, reports this morning (see: here (Globe) and here (Post)) state that SNC is launching an internal “amnesty program” in an effort to root out corruption and competition law violations across its organization, and evidently also as a further step to quiet some months of media reporting.
May 24, 2013
The potential routes to deception are many. In misleading advertising cases, commonly challenged conduct includes false price, performance and other product claims (e.g., omitting key limitations or conditions on products or services). Some of the advertising practices that are regulated or prohibited in Canada include contests, performance claims, bait and switch selling, ordinary selling price claims, multi-level marketing, pyramid selling schemes, deceptive telemarketing, deceptive prize notices and testimonials and warranties.
May 16, 2013
There used to be a saying that nothing in life is free. In Australia, it seems, there are no free TVs, or at least not that many. In a curious case posted by the Australian ACCC earlier today (or was that yesterday?), it announced that it had settled an allegedly false free TV promotional offer with Australian cable company FOXTEL.
April 30, 2013
As previously announced, the Ontario Government has now introduced for first reading new proposed legislation for wireless contracts and services in Ontario (Bill 60 – An Act to strengthen consumer protection with respect to consumer agreements relating to wireless services accessed from a cellular phone, smart phone or any other similar mobile device).
April 30, 2013
A large part of my practice relates to competition/antitrust and advertising law compliance for companies and associations. In this regard, while the Canadian Competition Bureau has a Corporate Compliance Programs Bulletin that includes an outline of its recommended basic elements for effective competition compliance programs for companies and trade associations, this new International Chamber (ICC) “Antitrust Compliance Toolkit” caught my eye, given that compliance programs can, and typically are, customized for particular business and risk issues.