If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again. That is the old-fashioned premise behind a relatively new web marketing strategy known as remarketing or retargeting. And if you have had the experience of seeing ads for a specific company or product popping up over and over again as you surf the web, chances are you have already experienced it firsthand.

We are all familiar with the abandoned shopping cart – going partway through the process of selecting and configuring that perfect something [insert your own shopping proclivity here] on a retailer’s website before bailing out just . . . [more]

This is a post in a series appearing each Friday, setting out some articles, videos, podcasts and the like that contributors at Slaw are enjoying and that you might find interesting. The articles tend to be longer than blog posts and shorter than books, just right for that stolen half hour on the weekend. It’s also likely that most of them won’t be about law — just right for etc.

Please let us have your recommendations for what we and our readers might like.

Last April, David Canton noted an Alberta Court of Appeal decision that Leon’s Furniture was justified in collecting licence plate information from people picking up furniture at the store. The AB CA held that the licence plate number was not personal information.

Recently the Supreme Court of Canada refused leave to appeal, a decision that disappointed some privacy authorities.

Are licence plate numbers like Internet Protocol addresses (at least in the eyes of the federal Minister of Justice), in that they point to a machine and not to a person, and a machine that may be used by more . . . [more]

‘Tis the season! For the holidays, et cetera, but more particularly for CLEs which meet the Law Society for Upper Canada’s new requirements for professionalism and ethics. Every lawyer called to the bar in Ontario must complete three hours of continuing legal education approved by LSUC that is directed to instructing on professionalism and ethics. In the mad rush to meet the year-end deadline, CLEs are popping up all over the place directed to this topic.

IT Professionalism and Ethics CLEs: An Introduction

For outsourcing and information technology lawyers, it was a challenge earlier this year to find relevant seminars. . . . [more]

The American group blog Concurring Opinions has posted A Guide to the Eight Most Suspect Types of Law Review Articles. My favourite is number 4:

4. The One-Off

“In my previous article, I made a significant contribution to the literature. In this piece, I will coast on the vapors of that article.”

In the comments section, someone has suggested a ninth category be added:

9. Straight from the Framers!

“In this article, I uncover the original meaning of a clause (phrase, word, or letter) that no one has ever heard of, that no court (or litigant) has ever referred

For authors on SLAW, you know that in today’s world, obtaining a publishing agreement with a traditional publisher means that you have to show your publisher how YOU will market and promote your own book. Those authors with a broad reach will of course be more attractive to a publisher. By the time you contact a publisher, you likely have some blog postings and perhaps print articles on your CV, but how about Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other online marketing tools? What to do and where to do them? And a biggie – how much time to spend marketing rather . . . [more]

Site news for those who read Slaw only via RSS or email

1. Comment Watch:

In the last week there were 44 comments. You might be particularly interested in these:

• The comments on Bob Berring’s post, “Legal Research Training’s End”
• The thoughtful comment by Makwaminising_nini on the post “Dunkin’ the Victim: a Note on Legal-Political Background of the Current Attawapiskat Campaign” by Michael Posluns
• The 9 comments on Simon Fodden’s post “Apple’s Siri on iPhone 4s and Legal Privilege

You can subscribe to the comments on Slaw either as a separate matter (RSS, email) or as part . . . [more]

The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear the Indalex Limited case, which will determine if underfunded pension plans should be treated as a priority when it comes time to liquidate the assets of a bankrupt company.

Although the case deals first and foremost with duties and priorities under the Ontario Pension Benefits Act (PBA) and corporate insolvency under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangements Act (CCAA), the Supreme Court’s pending decision has ramifications for organizations, creditors (lenders) and pension plans across Canada.

This appeal stems from the decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal back in April 7, 2011, . . . [more]

Disability insurance is the most complicated type of personal insurance you can own. Even experienced insurance agents can find it challenging, so I pity the poor lawyer that attempts to find enough time in the day to read and understand their policy.

If you’ve read my prior columns, you already know that there is a huge financial risk of going without disability insurance. As a result, it’s extremely important understand how your disability insurance will pay a benefit in the event of a claim. Without getting into too many details, here are 4 questions you should ask about your disability . . . [more]

At the most recent Osgoode Society book launch, Roy McMurtry encouraged those present to review the full array of back list titles published by the Society that were on display. Included among them was an earlier book by Robert J. Sharpe – The Last Day, The Last Hour: The Currie Libel Trial. Originally published by The Carswell Company Limited in 1988, it was subsequently republished in paperback for the Osgoode Society by the University of Toronto Press.

I recently stumbled across an early review of the Osgoode Society best seller that appeared in the July/August 1989 issue of CLIC’s . . . [more]

Several amendments are proposed to PIPEDA, (Bill C-12) the federal private sector privacy legislation. It is sitting now at first reading stage, and we are not yet sure how long it will be before it is passed.

This post summarizes an IT.Can teleconference on the subject presented today by David Fraser of McInnes Cooper and Lisa Lifshitz of Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP.

The definition of personal information has been changed slightly. It is now simply defined as: “information about an identifiable individual”. Along with that comes a new definition of “business contact information”, which expands the “business card” exception that . . . [more]

When John Palfrey was appointed vice-dean of library and information services at Harvard Law School a couple of years ago, one of the first things he did was create the Harvard Library Innovation Laboratory. Under the direction of Kim Dulin and David Weinberger (also of Berkman Center fame), HLIL explores the ways in which software can “hack libraries…in the good sense of discovering and delivering more capability and value.” Specifically, as they say on the FAQ page,

1. We think in public.
2. We build software that demonstrates how libraries can bring yet more value to scholars and researchers.