Archive for the 'News' Category
May 28, 2013
An interesting performance claims advertising claims case caught my eye today in my daily media sweep. According to the CBC, HuffPost and others, Kellogg has agreed to pay $4 million to settle a class action lawsuit relating to some of its former marketing claims for Frosted Mini-Wheats.
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 24, 2013
The C.D. Howe Institute has published a new report on a topic that is near and dear to my heart – the regulated conduct doctrine and monopolies, er regulated markets, in Canada: Beer, Butter and Barristers: How Canadian Governments Put Cartels Before Consumers.
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.
May 14, 2013
In an interesting though not totally unexpected development, the Competition Bureau announced earlier today that it was appealing the Competition Tribunal’s decision in the TREB abuse of dominance case to the Federal Court of Appeal (Commissioner of Competition v. The Toronto Real Estate Board, file no. A-174-13).
May 12, 2013
In one of the most curious Canadian competition related stories that caught my eye last week, many Canadian lobster fishermen in the Maritimes have collectively stopped fishing in an apparent protest over what they say are unfairly low lobster prices.
May 8, 2013
The C.D. Howe Institute has published a new report on cartel detection entitled Coming in From the Cold: Improving Cartel Detection and Reporting. The report argues in general that the Competition Bureau and federal government should ensure that sufficient resources and policy emphasis are placed on the investigation, detection and prosecution of domestic cartels (i.e., Canadian price-fixing and other conspiracies).
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).