Canadian Law

Scammers On The Prowl

Warning – If you receive a call from someone claiming to be from the “Software Maintenance Department of Online PC Care“, do not give them any information and do not give them access to your computer.

I’ve been receiving calls from these India based scam artists and identity thieves for a while now. And the routine is generally the same.

They call you at random from an VOIP site based in the states and with an Indian accent claim to be calling people in your city in regards to software that is alledgely downloading material without your knowledge or consent.

They ask you for five minutes of your time and ask to gain access to your computer remotely to correct the alledged issue. Then they proceed to install malicious software on your machine, in essence creating the issue they claim to be correcting whilst gaining access to sensitive financial and/or personal information on your hard drive.

Basically they peddle anti-virus software that they first ask you to install and then later demand renewal fees for, which is usually upwards of $150. And they can claim you consented to all of this nonsense because they’ve recorded you, if they happen to have charged your credit card using information they got from your hard drive.

An online version of this scareware scam can also be found at certain sites, that install software through your internet browser. But of course there are plenty of more reasonably priced anti-virus programs out there, some of which i’ve listed under “Consumer Security” on my Consumer Links page.

Not only do these programs address the issue alledged by the con artists but Microsoft itself issues patches against these problems via their web site. And no, Microsoft does not call people over these issues.

They will of course alter their pitch at will in their attempts to gain access to your computer. But in the end the results are the same if you allow these people access ; An infected computer and a large credit card bill, at least.

Meanwile, you can address any concern in regards to any infection by using Microsoft Safety Scanner, which costs nothing and does not conflict with your existing anti-virus software.

July 13th, 2011 Comments Off on Scammers On The Prowl Canadian Law, Consumer Information Rob McIntyre

Postal Services To Resume Tuesday

Canada Post has stated in an email to customers that postal services will be restored Tuesday, the 28th of June, including mail delivery.

“Canada Post has initiated the process to resume operations following the passage of back to work legislation (Bill C-6, An Act to provide for the resumption and continuation of postal services). In accordance with the Act, employees will begin to report to work for their regularly scheduled shifts on Monday June 27 and on Tuesday June 28.”

All of the mailboxes will be unsealed on Monday but local post offices will open on Tuesday.

June 27th, 2011 Comments Off on Postal Services To Resume Tuesday Canadian Law, Consumer Information Rob McIntyre

Postal Update : Back To Work Legislation Passes

Bill C-6, the “Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act“, has passed Parliament. 158 members votes for the bill whilst 113 voted against the bill.

June 25th, 2011 1 Comment Canadian Law, Consumer Information Rob McIntyre

CPCC Seeks No Levy for Cloud Services

The Canadian Private Copying Collective will not be seeking levies for cloud services according to a press release issued on July 21st, 2011.

“The CPCC views these services, and specifically the iMatch offering, as a matter of licensing between the right holders and the cloud service providers, not one of private copying”

The current government has yet to introduce their copyright reform bill and Parliament is scheduled to adjurn for summer today, until the fall session begins on September 19th, 2011.

June 23rd, 2011 Comments Off on CPCC Seeks No Levy for Cloud Services Canadian Law, Consumer Information, Music Industry, Music Technology Rob McIntyre

Makes You Think, Doesn’t It ?

Today the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has approved a settlement of $50.2 million dollars in the “Pending List” class action quit against the four major labels in Canada.

Appearently several years back several recording artists, composers and their estates had noticed their recordings had been released by these labels, with no licencing agreement or royalty payment.

From June 2007 to December 31st, 2009 countless compilations were released that included recordings that the major labels assumed were available to them without prior negotiation because they had assigned a royalty rate to these recordings.

Unfortunately the rights agencies that collected royalties on behalf of the artists found it rather difficult to confirm what was on these lists and coult not truly determine how much was owed to specific artists.

This of course eventually resulted in a class action suit in 2008 that alledged the labels had performed hundreds of thousands of copyright violations, that resulted in the unauthorised sale of recordings.

I find it rather interesting that the labels hindered the collection of royalties associated to this scheme whilst opposing private copying on the grounds that it would hurt artists.

Private copying does not enable the consumer to sell copies of the recordings.

May 31st, 2011 Comments Off on Makes You Think, Doesn’t It ? Canadian Law, Consumer Information, Music Industry, Music Technology Rob McIntyre

Postal Strike To Begin on June 2nd

Canada Post has issued a statement in regards to having recieved a 72 hour notice from the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.

A postal strike is scheduled for 11:59 EDT on June 2, 2011. But some retailers do offer alternatives.

The following Canadian retailers offer an option to ship to their local stores :

Bestbuy.ca
Futureshop.ca
www.sears.ca
thesource.ca

The following Canadian retailers offer courier shipping :

chapters.indigo.ca (Greater Toronto Area)
Sony Style Canada (Major Cities/By Appointment)
Tigerdirect.ca – FREE SHIPPING* on selected PC Deals at TigerDirect!

There is a possibility that Amazon.ca might use courier services like UPS or possibly DHL for some of their domestic shipments durring the strike but there is no news in regards to this possibility on their web site yet.

It should be noted that Amazon.com do offer courier service regularily to Canadians.

They use DHS Global Mail for Standard and Expedited Shipping, and UPS or DHL for Priority Shipping. BUT shipments valued above $20 Canadian may incur importation fees, which in this case would be administed by the courier, in addition to the standard duties and taxes.

International shipments valued at less than $20 are not subject to duties, taxes or importation fees because of the Low Value Shipment (LVS) process at the Canadian Border Services Agency, with some restrictions.

Additional information in regards to possible alternatives and the strike will be added to this blog as we near the strike date.

May 31st, 2011 3 Comments Canadian Law, Consumer Information Rob McIntyre