Law Commons^™

Toward A Canadian Right To Repair: Opportunities And Challenges, Anthony D. Rosborough

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This Article draws a picture of the past, present, and future of the right to repair in Canada. It looks to early successes toward automotive right to repair, challenges faced in proposing consumer protection reforms in Ontario and Quebec, and the utility of a proposed copyright “Technological Protection Measure (TPM) exception” allowing circumvention for repair purposes. In light of right to repair priorities identified by Canada’s current federal government, the Article identifies a selection of reforms that could achieve these goals. Such reforms include creating regulations under the Copyright Act governing the use and implementation of TPMs, passing an exception …

Workplace Privacy In The Age Of Social Media, Tess Traylor-Notaro

Global Business Law Review

This note addresses the lack of adequate protections in Ohio for social media privacy laws in the workplace and compares proposed legislation in Ohio to legislation that has passed in other states. It examines the provision of the SCA including the definition of "user" and whether social media sites fall under its umbrella. It also looks at the safeguards and limitations of the SCA and how it is used to protect a private employee’s social media account. It analyzes the state statutory laws in Arkansas, Illinois, and California passed specifically to prevent employers from requesting passwords to personal Internet accounts. …

Ability To Pay, John A. E. Pottow

Articles

The landmark Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 ("Dodd-Frank") transforms the regulation of consumer credit in the United States. Many of its changes have been high-profile, attracting considerable media and scholarly attention, most notably the establishment of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB"). Even specific consumer reforms, such as a so-called "plain vanilla" proposal, drew hot debate and lobbying firepower. But when the dust settled, one profoundly transformative innovation that did not garner the same outrage as plain vanilla or the CFPB did get into the law: imposing upon lenders a duty to assure a borrower's ability to repay. Ensuring a borrower's …

Financial Literacy Or Financial Castigation?, John A. E. Pottow

Articles

This year, the Canadians- through their government-convened Task Force on Financial Literacy - have proudly produced, "Canadians and their Money: Building a Brighter Financial Future." Armed with 30 recommendations, its most dramatic innovation is to recommend the creation of a Financial Literacy Leader. I have been asked to provide an American perspective on this report specifically and the broader agenda of "financial literacy" more generally as a consumer welfare intervention. Let me start by acknowledging the critiques of the Canadian Task Force. For example, my Canadian colleague, Saul Schwartz, has already drafted a compelling analysis of the political economy behind …

Protecting Privacy And Enabling Pharmaceutical Sales On The Internet: A Comparative Analysis Of The United States And Canada, Nicole A. Rothstein

Federal Communications Law Journal

The Internet raises enhanced and unique concerns regarding informational health privacy and Internet pharmacy sales. As technology advances and the Internet changes the way people obtain medical services and products, protecting consumers and their informational health data in online pharmaceutical transactions is paramount. This Comment charts and compares the existing legal frameworks in the United States and Canada relative to informational health privacy. Following this discussion, each legal framework comes into sharp focus with regard to Internet pharmacy sales. Ultimately, this Comment concludes that based on the highly sensitive nature of personal medical information, a baseline privacy standard should be …

Consumer Redress Through Alternative Dispute Resolution And Small Claims Court: Theory And Practice, David S. Cohen

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

There are significant difficulties in providing consumers with redress because dispute resolution costs are high relative to the sums being sought. Consumers also manifest a reluctance to enter legal processes for other reasons. This prompted the creation of user-friendly small claims courts and encouraged the discussion and sometimes the use of non-judicial, alternative dispute resolution forums for addressing consumer redress. This paper explores the theoretical and practical distinction between these two types of dispute resolution forums. The practical differences are examined on the basis of observation of both types of forums and discussions with practitioners of alternative dispute resolution.

The …

What Role Should The Federal Government Play In Consumer Protection?, David S. Cohen

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The purpose of these remarks is to comment on and to reinforce many of the points made by Professor Neilson in his "Comment on the Recent Federal Proposals for the Rationalization of Trade Practices Regulation in Canada".' More broadly, I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on the motives and agenda of the current policies and constitutional reform proposals which address the role which the federal government should play in consumer protection generally.

The Public And Private Law Dimensions Of The Uffi Problem: Part Ii, David S. Cohen

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The subject of this paper, then, is the private and public law dimensions of the formaldehyde problem. The topics which I have chosen to discuss are directly relevant to any inquiry into the nature of the bureaucratic and entrepreneurial processes which together created the UFFI problem. My concern is not to fix blame, and I have chosen not to draw conclusions in respect of the doctrinal and policy issues which I discuss. Rather, I have attempted to describe the regulatory process which was associated with the development of the product, and to discuss the role of the courts in reviewing …