Archive for the 'Marketing' Category
Advertising Standards Canada (ASC) will be hosting an upcoming seminar on the rather hot topic (if only to advertising law geeks) of disclaimers in Toronto on June 12, 2012.
From the ASC:
“Disclaimers are not an afterthought. In today’s climate they must be top of mind for advertiser and agency professionals – not just their legal counsel.
The Competition Bureau’s recent enforcement actions regarding misleading advertising and the Supreme Court of Canada’s recent guidance on the ‘general impression’ test in its judgment against an advertiser of a contest promotion have made this patently clear. Learn what these recent legal developments mean for the appropriate use, content and placement of disclaimers in advertising. The Supreme Court Case also has implications for how advertisers define the average consumer – this will be a critical factor going forward.
Join ASC and our distinguished panel to learn how you can help ensure your advertising meets regulatory requirements as well as the provisions of Canadian Code of Advertising Standards.”
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission will be holding a very interesting upcoming workshop on advertising and privacy disclosure in online and mobile media on May 30, 2012 entitled In Short: Advertising & Privacy Disclosures in a Digital World.
The workshop, which will also be webcast, will include the following topics: Mobile Privacy Disclosures, Mobile Advertising Disclosures, Social Media Disclosures and Cross-Platform Advertising Disclosures.
Speakers are to include representatives from the Federal Trade Commission, Berkeley School of Information, NetChoice, National Consumers League, Clorox, Facebook, Word of Mouth Marketing Association, Procter & Gamble, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), Best Buy and others.
For more information see: In Short: Advertising & Privacy Disclosures in a Digital World
_____________________
For more information about our regulatory law services contact: contact
For more regulatory law updates follow us on Twitter: @CanadaAttorney
CANADIAN CONTEST RULES/PRECEDENTS
Do you need contest rules and forms for a Canadian contest/sweepstakes? I offer a selection of Canadian contest rules and forms for random draw, skill and other common types of Canadian contests (i.e., contest precedents and forms). For more information see Canadian Contest Forms/Precedents.
____________________
The Canadian Institute is hosting an upcoming contest conference entitled “Managing Legal Risks in Running Online Contests” on June 21-22 2012 in Toronto. Their conference will include discussions on topics that include minimizing the risks of operating online contests, online voting contests, operating Facebook and Twitter contests, mobile contests and mitigating risk when online contests go wrong.
The National Competition Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association will be hosting a Marketing Practices Committee Roundtable with Competition Bureau officials in Toronto this Thursday.
Bureau representatives are to include Lisa Campbell (Deputy Commissioner of Fair Business Practices) and Brendan Ross (Major Case Director and Strategic Policy Advisor).
For more information see:
CANADIAN CONTEST RULES/PRECEDENTS
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.
____________________
On April 26, 2012, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it negotiated a settlement of about $15.5 million with operators of an allegedly deceptive prize promotion scheme.
CANADIAN CASL (ANTI-SPAM LAW) PRECEDENTS
Do you need a precedent or checklist
to comply with CASL (Canadian anti-spam law)?
We offer Canadian anti-spam law (CASL) precedents and checklists to help electronic marketers comply with CASL. These include checklists and precedents for express consent requests (including on behalf of third parties), sender identification information, unsubscribe mechanisms, business related exemptions and types of implied consent and documenting consent and scrubbing distribution lists. We also offer a CASL corporate compliance program. For more information or to order, see: Anti-Spam (CASL) Precedents/Forms. If you would like to discuss CASL legal advice or for other advertising or marketing in Canada, including contests/sweepstakes, contact us: contact.
************
April 24, 2012
The Federal Government appears to be enhancing its online anti-spam legislation resources in advance of Canada’s new Anti-spam Act coming into force. One of the latest examples of this is its new spam and fraud related glossary available at: Glossary. The Government’s new glossary includes definitions of many spam, fraud and Internet crime related terms. For more about Canada’s new anti-spam legislation see: Anti-spam Act.
Manitoba’s Consumer Protection Office has announced that new consumer protection laws for fair and clear cell phone contracts will come into effect later this year (on September 15, 2012).
According to the Consumer Protection Office, the new rules “focus on ensuring that contracts are clear and provide all important information for consumers” and to ensure that “cell phone contracts are fair to both consumers and businesses”.
The new legislation will: (i) require companies to provide a copy of the contract to consumers before the contract begins, (ii) require companies to fully disclose and explain all charges fees and terms, (iii) restrict companies from making unilateral changes to contract terms, (iv) allow consumers to cancel contracts at any time, for a reasonable cancellation fee, (v) require the minimum monthly cost to be included in advertisements, and (vi) restrict automatic contract renewals.
Manitoba’s decision to introduce stricter regulation of cell phone contracts and disclosure follows similar recent enforcement actions, including by the Competition Bureau (see: here), CRTC (see: here, here, here and here) and Canadian Transportation Agency (see: here), as well as a number of recent cases where significant or novel penalties were imposed, including a recent landmark Supreme Court of Canada misleading contest case in which punitive damages were awarded (see: here, here and here).
These cases and initiatives also appear to signal an increase in the regulation of advertising in Canada in general and heightened scrutiny of price advertising and disclosure in particular (see e.g.: Is the Price Right? Increased Regulatory Scrutiny and Class Actions for Representations Involving Price).
CANADIAN CASL (ANTI-SPAM LAW) PRECEDENTS
Do you need a precedent or checklist
to comply with CASL (Canadian anti-spam law)?
We offer Canadian anti-spam law (CASL) precedents and checklists to help electronic marketers comply with CASL. These include checklists and precedents for express consent requests (including on behalf of third parties), sender identification information, unsubscribe mechanisms, business related exemptions and types of implied consent and documenting consent and scrubbing distribution lists. We also offer a CASL corporate compliance program. For more information or to order, see: Anti-Spam (CASL) Precedents/Forms. If you would like to discuss CASL legal advice or for other advertising or marketing in Canada, including contests/sweepstakes, contact us: contact.
************
April 24, 2012
In anticipation of Canada’s new Anti-spam Act coming into force, the federal Government has launched another tool for Canadian consumers and businesses – a “Fight Spam Quiz”. The quiz (or rather quizzes – one for consumers and another for businesses and organizations) include questions about scareware, phishing, Wi-Fi and security, spambots, malware, spam, viruses, corporate Internet and e-mail usage policies, VPNs (virtual private networks) and Denial of Service (DoS) attacks. To take the quiz see: Fight Spam Quiz
Templates/precedents and checklists to run promotional contests in Canada
Templates/precedents and checklists to comply with Canadian anti-spam law (CASL)
