: Le texte français suit. Dear CALLeagues, First, a heartfelt thank you to everyone who took the time to fill in our conference survey. Your feedback is invaluable as we plan future conferences. As promised, we held two draws for those who completed the survey, and I am delighted to announce the winners: congratulations to Emma Scott, who wins the Moncton Delta gift certificate, and to Betty Dykstra, who wins $100 off next year's conference! I am pleased to share that Our Executive Director (OED) has now officially taken over sole management of CALL/ACBD's account. We are still very much in a period of integration, and I ask for your continued patience as the OED team learns our needs and ways of working. As they review how we do things, OED has also been offering helpful suggestions for process improvements and identifying opportunities to tidy up and strengthen our existing practices. We are grateful for their fresh perspective and attention to detail, and we look forward to building an even stronger foundat[...]
: Sign of the times? Protecting your company from B2B deception lfair December 9, 2019 | 2:09PM Sign of the times? Protecting your company from B2B deception By Lesley Fair They may look like invoices sent to business owners for posters they may need to display in the workplace. But we think of them as un voices – deceptively worded solicitations that tried to sell companies posters that are readily available for free. A law enforcement action just settled by the FTC and Florida Attorney General offers tips on protecting your business from this form of B2B deception. According to the FTC and AG, four defendants with ties to Texas and Florida – Starwood Consulting, Starwood Capital, Corporate Poster Supply, and Thomas Henry Fred, Jr. – sent letters to businesses across the country with the goal of tricking them into paying $84 for posters about labor practices. To perfect their pitch, the letters had the look of invoices from government agencies or other authorities and warned recipients that they had two choic[...]
: First INFORM Consumers Act enforcement case filed against online marketplace Temu kkrown September 5, 2025 | 10:00AM First INFORM Consumers Act enforcement case filed against online marketplace Temu Online marketplaces and third party sellers looking for a refresher on the INFORM Consumers Act should look no further than the recent settlement with Whaleco, Inc., which operates the online marketplace Temu. The complaint alleges the company failed to provide online shoppers with required information and tools. This is the first case brought to enforce the INFORM Act. The INFORM Act, which went into effect in 2023, seeks to make online transactions more transparent. Among other things, the law requires online marketplaces to collect, verify, and disclose certain information about high-volume third party sellers. ( Informing Businesses about the INFORM Consumers Act has more on how the law defines terms, what’s required of online marketplaces, and the substantial penalties the FTC and state law enforcers may se[...]
: By Erin Clupp, Research Librarian in Norton Rose Fulbright’s Vancouver office. Congratulations! You’ve successfully completed library school and are a freshly minted information professional. What is an exciting time in your life can also be overshadowed by what comes next: the dreaded job hunt, heightened by the fact that we are still struggling through the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this being a challenging and unprecedented time to enter the workforce, there are still many exciting opportunities that await you. Here are some tips and words of advice that I hope are helpful and comforting as you navigate through this next phase of your career: 1) Manage your expectations but be kind to yourself First and foremost, job hunting can really suck. It’s important to acknowledge this and understand there will be periods of frustration, self-doubt, and worry (especially when we have bills to pay). This is normal! Rejection can be painful, and sending applications into that black hole where resumes seem to go can b[...]
: FTC sues American Immigration Center for claiming false government affiliation lfair October 16, 2018 | 12:16PM FTC sues American Immigration Center for claiming false government affiliation By Lesley Fair When the FTC warns consumers about government imposter scams, we’re usually referring to bogus calls that falsely claim to come from the IRS or some other official office. But as a case just announced by the FTC demonstrates, that’s not the only kind of false government affiliation that can deceive consumers. A $2.2 million settlement with American Immigration Center reminds other businesses of the dangers of conveying a misleading connection to a government agency. When consumers wanted to renew their green cards or apply for naturalization, where did they go? Online, of course, where they input terms like “USCIS,” “INS,” or “US Immigration” to search for the proper government site. According to the FTC, that’s how they ran across results with tag lines like “USCIS Forms – Easy Online Forms for Green Card[...]
: Public consultation on the draft BEREC Work Programme 2027 yannick.stephan Thu, 01/10/2026 - 09:00 Breadcrumbs Public Consultations & Calls for Inputs Deadline to submit contributions: 31 October 2026 In January this year, BEREC adopted the Outline BEREC Work Programme 2027 , which reflected BEREC's objectives for the upcoming year. BEREC launched a first Call for inputs on the Work Programme 2027 from 27 February to 15 April. During the call for proposals, several additional actions were identified. Considering the early input received, during the 68th BEREC ordinary meetings (1-2 October 2026), the Board of Regulators adopted the draft BEREC Work Programme 2027 [BoR (26) 142] for public consultation. Background BEREC prepares its annual work programme in accordance with Article 21 of the BEREC Regulation and the BEREC Strategy 2026-2030 to guide how it organises and prioritises its work towards clearly defined objectives. The 2027 draft work programme was developed inclusively and transparently, with cont[...]
: Le texte français suit. Dear CALLeagues, It was wonderful seeing over 160 of you in Moncton last month for a fantastic conference! I am still thinking about some of the sessions, from Dean Michael Marin's keynote on embedded librarianship and the role that law librarians have in legal education and practice, to sessions on generative AI use in law faculties and law firms, negotiating vendor contracts, and more. A huge thank you to co-chairs Michèle Leblanc and Laura Corscadden and the entire conference planning committee for all of their hard work. We have received wonderful feedback already, though a formal survey will be sent out in the coming weeks. Please do look out for that. As I settle into the president's role, I want to thank Jason Wong for an outstanding year at the helm. Jason's focus on community building and financial sustainability moved us forward in real, tangible ways, and his commitment to inclusion set a standard I hope to maintain. Thank you also to Mary-Jo Petsche for her four years on t[...]
: Practice Fusion case suggests 6 health privacy pointers lfair June 8, 2016 | 9:01AM Practice Fusion case suggests 6 health privacy pointers By Lesley Fair Combine two of the most talked-about consumer protection topics – health privacy and consumer-generated online content – and what do you get? A proposed FTC settlement with Practice Fusion, the largest cloud-based electronic health records company in the country, and six compliance tips for others in the industry. One of San Francisco-based Practice Fusion’s primary products is an electronic records system for outpatient providers. In 2009, the company launched “Patient Fusion,” an online portal where patients whose providers were already using Practice Fusion could view or download their health information or transmit it to another provider. Patient Fusion also let patients send and receive secure messages from their providers. Fast forward several years and the company decided to expand Patient Fusion to include a public directory where current and prosp[...]
: Hannah Steeves, the Instruction & Reference Librarian at the Sir James Dunn Law Library, Dalhousie University (Halifax), recently wrote an article on "Using Vinyl & Spotify to Understand Legal Information Online" . It originally appeared on Slaw.ca on February 15, 2022 . Most legal research is done online through a combination of open and subscription databases. Legal information is available at our fingertips through Justice Laws, LEGISinfo, CanLII, Westlaw, Lexis, ProView, SOQUIJ, [insert your preferred database here], and the list goes on. The availability of electronic resources has radically changed—and will continue to change—the way legal professionals conduct research. However, despite my enthusiasm for the improved accessibility and retrievability, I think the lack of engagement that new legal researchers have with print resources creates comprehension issues. The disconnect between a source’s print and electronic formats reduces their understanding of the process used to create the document. Unders[...]
: First FTC ROSCA case challenges bogus BOGO and "free" claims wfg-adm109 October 21, 2014 | 12:02PM First FTC ROSCA case challenges bogus BOGO and "free" claims By Lesley Fair It’s called ROSCA – the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act – and it prohibits marketers from charging consumers for an online transaction unless the marketer has clearly disclosed all material terms of the deal and received the consumer’s express informed consent. Your e-commerce clients will want to know about the FTC’s first ROSCA case , filed recently in Nevada. According to the lawsuit, Health Formulas, LLC and a tangle of related California- and Nevada-based companies and individuals – consumers may know them as Simple Pure Nutrition – pitched a variety of products for weight loss, muscle building, virility, and skin care. The defendants advertised diet supplements like Pure Green Coffee Bean Plus and RKG Extreme as a shortcut to drop the pounds: “Burn fat without diet or exercise,” “Extreme weight loss!” “Shed pounds fast!” “[...]
: Public consultation on the draft BEREC Report on Virtual Worlds and Web 4.0 yannick.stephan Tue, 17/03/2026 - 09:26 Breadcrumbs Public Consultations & Calls for Inputs Deadline: Monday, 20 April 2026 (17:00 CEST) During the 66th BEREC plenary meeting (12-13 March 2026), the Board of Regulators approved the Draft BEREC Report on Virtual Worlds and Web 4.0 (BoR (26) 39) for public consultation. The report in a nutshell Virtual worlds (VW) and web 4.0 are at the basis of a transition to the 4th generation of internet based services, leading toward industry 4.0 and smart society. This shift is driven by artificial intelligence (AI) integration in networks and services. Hence, web 4.0 and immersive services are meant to have a significant economic and social impact by transforming the way in which industrial production evolves and automates its processes. At the same time, they transform the fruition of online content and applications by users. This draft BEREC Report provides a fully-fledged analysis. The first [...]
: New FTC warning letters cite unsupported Coronavirus-related health and earnings claims sgressin April 24, 2020 | 12:44PM New FTC warning letters cite unsupported Coronavirus-related health and earnings claims By Seena Gressin The FTC is not the pen pal you want if you operate a multi-level marketing company but aren’t closely monitoring your distributors. In its latest round of warning letters, the FTC warns ten MLM companies that they are responsible for the claims made by their participants. The letters direct the companies to report within 48 hours what actions they’ve taken to stop their distributors from claiming their products can treat or prevent Coronavirus disease, that MLM business opportunity participants are likely to earn substantial income, or both. The FTC says that the health and earnings claims are unsubstantiated and therefore violate truth-in-advertising laws. The products at issue are not scientifically proven to treat or prevent COVID-19, the disease that Coronavirus causes. The FTC pre[...]
: From time to time, this blog will highlight initiatives, ideas, or activities coming from members, committees or special interest groups (SIGs). Today: An Update About Web Tracking Tools , by Katie Thomas, Resource and Reference Librarian, Stikeman Elliott LLP (Toronto). The CALL Knowledge Management SIG had a session on November 30 th that looked at Web Tracking Tools. There are a lot of website tracking tools out there so it helps to have a guide to get you started. I based my presentation on the AALL Cool Tools (access only for attendees of American Association of Law Libraries 2021 conference) session where eight trackers were evaluated. In our session I asked the participants to write down sites they would like to track and they were all different. So, there is a need! First, what criteria should be used for evaluating? It depends. Every workplace is different and different things needs to be monitored. However, there are three that stand out. 1. Ease of Use You don’t want to spend time setting things[...]
: In this Deconstructed video, we rebuilt Alcatraz Island entirely in 3D, piece by piece, to understand how Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary actually operated at its peak in the 1950s. We explore the Cellhouse building, the prison cells, the dining hall, the shower room, the hospital, the administration building, and the infamous dungeon of Alcatraz, breaking down the prison’s internal layout and layered security systems, even down to the complex mechanical system that controlled every cell door. We also examine what life inside was really like and how three inmates managed to escape.We also created a detailed cutaway poster inspired by the video, showing the entire island of Alcatraz and how its buildings were arranged, from the main cellhouse and yard to the guard towers and support structures across the rock.👉 Get the poster here, every order helps support the channel so we can keep creating projects like this: https://crowdmade.com/collections/deconstructed/products/deconstructed-alcatraz-poster-deconstructed[...]
: Nixing the Fix: Warranties, Mag-Moss, and restrictions on repairs lfair March 18, 2019 | 10:24AM Nixing the Fix: Warranties, Mag-Moss, and restrictions on repairs By Lesley Fair First, the bad news: That nifty purchase needs a repair. Now the good news for consumers: It’s still under warranty. But where can they go to get it fixed? Can the manufacturer restrict a consumer’s ability to go to the independent repair shop of their choice? Can the manufacturer use glue, non-standard screws, and proprietary diagnostic software that make it difficult for independent repair shops to fix things? Do limitations like these affect consumers’ rights under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act ? That’s the topic of Nixing the Fix: A Workshop on Repair Restrictions , an FTC event scheduled for July 16, 2019 . Enforced by the FTC, the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act helps consumers make informed buying decisions and gives them access to remedies if the widget starts to fidget during the warranty period. One key consumer protection unde[...]