: Interviewing people who have been tried, convicted, or acquitted for atrocity crimes is an incredibly difficult undertaking, potentially even dangerous. Not so much because these individuals still pose a threat, but because of the risks involved in traveling through countries with non-existent traffic rules, or because of the reputational risks for the researcher involved. In an academic field brimming with high moral expectations (“end impunity, end mass crimes”), who dares to speak to these “monsters” in the first place? Damien Scalia, professor in criminal law at the Université libre de Bruxelles, did just that. The impressive War Criminals on Trial: An Inside View of the International Criminal Justice System is a testament to his ambitious endeavor of speaking to war criminals. Over a period of fifteen years, he conducted interviews with more than sixty individuals prosecuted for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Across different continents, he spoke to both
: Interviewing people who have been tried, convicted, or acquitted for atrocity crimes is an incredibly difficult undertaking, potentially even dangerous. Not so much because these individuals still pose a threat, but because of the risks involved in traveling through countries with non-existent traffic rules, or because of the reputational risks for the researcher involved. In an academic field brimming with high moral expectations (“end impunity, end mass crimes”), who dares to speak to these “monsters” in the first place? Damien Scalia, professor in criminal law at the Université libre de Bruxelles, did just that. The impressive War Criminals on Trial: An Inside View of the International Criminal Justice System is a testament to his ambitious endeavor of speaking to war criminals. Over a period of fifteen years, he conducted interviews with more than sixty individuals prosecuted for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Across different continents, he spoke to both
: The Federal Trade Commission sent warning letters today to a dozen websites advising them of their obligation to comply with the TAKE IT DOWN Act (TIDA), which requires platforms to give people a way to request the removal of intimate photos or videos shared online without their consent, and to remove the intimate photos or videos within 48 hours of a valid request. “Today we’re demonstrating just how serious we are about protecting the public, especially children, from abusive online conduct,” said FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson. “Platforms no longer have any excuses—they must comply with their obligations under the TAKE IT DOWN Act or face the consequences.” The warning letters were sent to 12 companies that offer so-called “nudify” tools that allow people to take a clothed image of an individual and remove the individual’s clothing to create nonconsensual and sexualized images. The letters note that these companies appear to be in violation of TIDA by failing to provide individuals with a process through[...]
: The Federal Trade Commission today released the National Do Not Call Registry Data Book for Fiscal Year 2025 , which shows that, while overall complaints rose in FY 2025, unwanted calls remain about 48% lower than in FY 2021, when the FTC received approximately five million reports about unwanted calls. The FTC’s annual data book provides detailed information on robocall and live-caller complaints, the topics consumers report most often, and a state-by-state breakdown of registrations and complaints per 100,000 people. As in prior years, calls about reducing debt, imposters, and medical and prescription issues remained among the topics consumers most frequently reported in FY 2025. The National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry lets consumers add their phone numbers and opt out of most legal telemarketing calls. In FY 2025, more than 4.7 million additional phone numbers were added to the Registry, bringing the total to about 258.5 million active registrations as of September 30, 2025—an increase of roughly 1.9% ove[...]
: The implications for employment law of the rise in numbers of people working in the Gig Economy have received significant attention in many countries in recent years. The changing nature of employment in a digital era has given rise to uncertainty regarding some of the core features of the traditional employment relationship. Thus, the employment status of those working in what is considered non-standard employment such as casual workers or those in the gig economy, has been tested through the courts on numerous occasions, with varying outcomes. Central to such cases is determining whether or not an employment relationship exists, notably whether individuals should be considered employees under a contract of service or independent contractors under a contract for service (or some intermediary category such as « worker status » as in the UK for example). Determining employment status is often the first step in cases, as the application of employment law, employee rights and other
: New data from the Federal Trade Commission reveal that people reported losing a staggering $3.5 billion to imposter scams in 2025, with reported losses increasing nearly three times since 2020. FTC data also show that people reported imposter scams more than any other fraud category in 2025—nearly one in three fraud reports were about imposter scams. These scams lured consumers through text, phone, email, social media, search engine results and other means. Some of the costliest impersonation scams start with a fake security alert, often from a bank. People are convinced to move money to “protect” it, with their losses often limited only by their available funds. Last year, people reported losing nearly $1 billion to business impersonators with the highest reported losses to bank impersonators—and about $920 million to government impersonators, up from $866 million and $789 million respectively in 2024. The FTC has seen a striking increase in reported fraud losses to all types of fraud—about $16 billion was [...]
: Dolores Noga, Manager, Library Services and Knowledge Management at McLennan Ross in Edmonton, is the Chair of the CALL/ACBD Scholarships & Awards Committee. She would like CALL members to consider applying for the new Nancy McCormack Emerging Leader Award which honours the memory of a fellow CALL member who was the Head Law Librarian at Queen's University in Kingston. Nancy died in 2019. The award goes to an association member in good standing who is normally in the first ten years of their law library career and who has demonstrated the qualities embodied by Nancy. The application deadline is April 1, 2022. Here is what Dolores asked the blog to share: The Canadian Association of Law Libraries recently unveiled criteria for the new Nancy McCormack Emerging Leader Award. This is a memorial award, intended to recognize and honour our former colleague, who dedicated considerable time to mentoring and encouraging others in the profession. Nancy McCormack was an active member of the Association and a committed[...]
: FTC recaps consumer complaint data for 2017: Who’s on the list? lfair March 1, 2018 | 5:17PM FTC recaps consumer complaint data for 2017: Who’s on the list? By Lesley Fair Once bitten, twice shy. That fundamental principle of human behavior is why reputable businesses that work hard to earn consumers’ confidence should support the FTC’s ongoing efforts to fight fraud. According to the FTC’s 2017 Consumer Sentinel Data Book , consumers reported losing a total of $905 million to fraud last year. That’s close to a billion bucks people won’t be able to spend on legitimate products and services from credible companies. That figure is up $63 million from last year, although the total number of reports received from consumers is down from 2.98 million in 2016 to 2.68 million in 2017. Topping the list that no industry wants to be on is debt collection, making up 23% of the total number of complaints. But there are two caveats: 1) that number is down from 2016; and 2) the high number of debt collection reports was du[...]
: Franchise Fundamentals: Taking a deep dive into the Franchise Disclosure Document lfair May 23, 2023 | 6:41PM Franchise Fundamentals: Taking a deep dive into the Franchise Disclosure Document By Lesley Fair Love at first sight may (or may not) be a real thing, but when it comes to investing your money, it’s unwise to fall for a franchise without first subjecting it to tough-minded scrutiny. The third in the FTC’s Franchise Fundamentals blog series walks through an essential part of that evaluation: an in-depth review of the Financial Disclosure Document (FDD) required by the FTC’s Franchise Rule . You must receive the Franchise Disclosure Document at least 14 days before you’re asked to sign any contract or pay any money to the franchisor or one of its affiliates. In fact, you have the right to the FDD once the franchisor has received your application and agrees to consider it. So speak up if you don’t receive it and ask questions – lots of them – as you review the FDD and any attached documents. Image Ind[...]
: Speaking of Spokeo: Part 2 — The company’s allegedly bogus endorsements wfg-adm109 June 13, 2012 | 12:25PM Speaking of Spokeo: Part 2 — The company’s allegedly bogus endorsements By Lesley Fair The lawsuit against data broker Spokeo is the FTC’s first Fair Credit Reporting Act case addressing the collection of online info — including data from social networking sites — when used in the context of employment screening. But that’s not the only way the Spokeo settlement touches on social media. The FTC also charged that Spokeo violated Section 5 by having employees post glowing recommendations of the company’s services on news and technology websites without disclosing their true identity. Perhaps just the work of a rogue cubicle occupant? No, said the FTC. According to the complaint , Spokeo directed its employees to write the comments. Spokeo managers then edited what they wrote and had the staffers post the endorsements using account names provided by Spokeo. The purpose, says the FTC, was to give read[...]
: KEY TAKEAWAYS The French high schooler-led uprising is not a sign of a generational struggle pitting the young against baby boomers. The uprisings indicate a state of discontentment reflecting three grievances: failings within the education system, eco-anxiety and concerns over employment in the age of AI. Far from demanding a break with the established order, young protesters are simply asking for the right to live a good and fair life... like their predecessors before them. Rarely has Freud’s Civilization and Its Discontents seemed so relevant to the times in which we are living. Although the discontents we are currently witnessing do not necessarily affect society as a whole, they are certainly impacting an entire generation born in the 21st century, as well as their parents and their social environment. Admittedly, we know that generations are not homogeneous and that any attempt to generalise is an oversimplification. Nevertheless, the high schoolers that are taking to the streets to protest in this day[...]