International Law

What is Social Media? And Why Does It Matter to Franchise Systems?

Posted on June 02, 2008
This is a nice little metaphor explaining network effects.

Sunday Fraud From Around the Web

Posted on June 01, 2008
Interesting ABA Journal piece about the American fascination with criminals: "Americans have always had a peculiar relationship with crime and criminals. Each generation seems to fret about unprecedented lawlessness, while bestowing on its most outrageous criminals the kind of celebrity reserved for folk heroes and movie stars...

Self Reflective Sentences and Persuasion

Posted on May 30, 2008
Honestly, I will be brief, but I have already spoken 3 falsehoods. Ian Ayres, guesting at the Freakonomics blog, reflects that "People who say that they're going to be brief often aren't. Indeed, the very time taken to say that you are going to be brief works to negate the claim...

The Wisdom of Sam E. Antar

Posted on May 29, 2008
Do not trust, just verify. Verify, verify, and verify. White collar criminals build a wall of false integrity around them. White collar criminals measure their effectiveness by the comfort level of their victims. White collar criminals consider your humanity as a weakness to be exploited in the execution of their crimes...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Are You a Stupid Lawyer?

Posted on May 29, 2008
Well, James Morton is not a stupid lawyer, but he nearly fell for a neat twist on the advance fee scam. As reported in Lawyers Weekly, "Even seasoned lawyers can get caught up in a scam, as Toronto lawyer James Morton recently discovered. Last month, the former president of the Ontario Bar Association and current head of the litigation group at Steinberg Morton Hope & Israel LLP received an e-mail from a man who claimed to be from the United Kingdom...

Who is a Franchisor?

Posted on May 29, 2008
One of the trends I see now is a rise in license arrangements that tout themselves as "no royalties, we are not a franchise." Here is one example, Sign Biz which advertises: "Because they are not a franchise there are no monthly fees to run your business...

Barry Minkow on the Dangers of Herbalife

Posted on May 28, 2008
Barry Minkow's showmanship talents shine through here: he accuses Herbal Life of violating California laws by selling products which have a higher lead content that California state allows. HL responds by saying: the FDA made us do it. Brilliant drama.

10 Things I Know About Buying a Franchise

Posted on May 27, 2008
Mark Dubinsky, Mark Dubinsky, President of Dunkin Donuts Independent Franchise Owners, (DDIFO), which represents more than 1,700 member franchisee owners in 12 states, has a nice post about 10 things about buying a franchise. I am going to comment on his top four...

Kirk Wright Commits suicide in jail after Fraud Conviction

Posted on May 26, 2008
The Boston Herald has reported that Kirk Wright has committed suicide after being convicted in his criminal trial of fraud. "A man convicted in a multimillion dollar investment fraud whose victims included pro football players has committed suicide in jail, an official said Sunday...

How to Cheat Your Partners and Make it Stick

Posted on May 26, 2008
Several days ago, I wrote about an interesting post over at Freakonomics about signaling intentions in the prisoner's dilemma game. Stephen Dubner asked what one question would you ask one of three hypothetical partners, if you were going to choose them to play in a one shot prisoner's dilemma game...

What is New in Submarine Sandwiches?

Posted on May 25, 2008
Everyone has heard the claim that when you buy a franchise, you are buying a proven system with a name brand to attract consumers. But is it true? For a certain generation, the Dagwood and Blondie cartoon strip defined the 1950's lifestyle. So what better icon to use to launch a sandwich shop than Dagwood? Well, unfortunately as reported by the National Restaurant News, in January 2008, the launch has not gone well...

Why Hoaxes Work

Posted on May 25, 2008
Interesting observation by Michael Shermer on Sokal's book, Beyond the Hoax, about why we fail to think. Sokal was an academic who published, by design, a completely nonsensical article in post-modernism language in a refereed journal. It was a sensation - a modern Turing test for nonsense, which the post-modernists failed...

Hungry Jacks Franchisor Supports Franchisee Rights

Posted on May 21, 2008
In an interesting franchise story about termination and renewal, from Australia, we learn that: One of Australia's largest franchise operators is pressing the Rudd Government to introduce a good faith clause as he fights to stop the forced closure of three fast-food outlets ...

How to Rob a Store and Get Away with It.

Posted on May 20, 2008
At the Freakonomics blog, there is an interesting discussion about the prisoner's dilemma game. The idea is that you get to ask three people one question and then decide which one you want to play the game with. The description of the game is taken from William Poundstone's book of the same name...

Why Your Franchisor's Ad Campaigns Matter to You

Posted on May 19, 2008
Bruce Shaefer , from Franchise Valuations, has a useful pre-purchase tip in his video which discusses how to evaluate the franchisor's ad campaigns. The video is short, but Bruce makes a number of important points -which I am going to expand on in this post...

$250 Realistic Income Potential

Posted on May 18, 2008
Over at Franbest, I read an adsense ad that stated: $475K+ 1st Year Potential Better than a Franchise, Turnkey Business. Only $13,000 Startup Fee! Since this screamed out at me "business opportunity fraud" I thought that it would be amusing to read what this opportunity was about...

FTC, Partners to Announce 'Operation Tele-Phoney' Law Enforcement Sweep

Posted on May 18, 2008
Public Service Announcement FTC, Partners to Announce 'Operation Tele-Phoney' Law Enforcement Sweep: "Includes Actions Brought by More than 30 U.S. and Canadian Agencies Targeting Telemarketing Fraud" The Federal Trade Commission, together with more than 30 law enforcement partners from the United States and Canada, will announce the results of ‘Operation Tele-PHONEY’ at a joint press conference at FTC Headquarters in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, May 20, 2008 at 10:30 a...

DVD Vending Machine Fraud

Posted on May 17, 2008
Vanessa Blum reports on the sentencing submissions in the Russell MacArthur business opportunity fraud, the American Entertainment Distributors: "A once in a lifetime opportunity." "A part time business that earns a full time income." "Call now!" "Don't miss out!" The late night television ads for the Box Office Express DVD rental machine peddled a dream...

The Mary Kay Reseller Lawsuit

Posted on May 16, 2008
I am going to give a MK supporter equal consideration or time about the Mary Kay reseller lawsuit. A former MK distributor, frustrated about the lack of internet selling, decided to set up an opportunity allowing MKer's with excess inventory to sell their inventory to them, and they would resell -primarily through eBay...

We're more likely to listen to expensive advice

Posted on May 15, 2008
From the BPS Research Digest: We're more likely to listen to expensive advice: "Whether its political spin doctors or orange-skinned health gurus, there seems no shortage of people seeking to charge others good money for the benefit of their wisdom. Regardless of the quality of this advice, one thing is for sure: The fact that someone has paid for it, means it is more likely to be heeded...

"Free Trial" Weren't Free, Patches Didn't Work As Claimed, FTC Alleges

Posted on May 14, 2008
I love the short cons, as little tricks that you have to solve to figure how the bs works. The long cons are always made up of a series of short cons with a plot. The FTC reported on a interesting case, "Free Trial" Smoking Cessation Patch Promoter Halts Deceptive Practices; Trials Weren't Free, Patches Didn't Work As Claimed, FTC Alleges: "An operation that offered 'free trials' of its herbal products, including smoking cessation patches, has agreed to halt its allegedly deceptive practices, pending trial...

How to Make Better Choices - Demand for Real Laws

Posted on May 13, 2008
The WSJ Blog has an encouraging story about the interaction between law, psychology and practical choice. Thaler and Sunstein favour regulation that takes into account how people actually make choices. Listen to their discussion about laws requiring disclosure from credit card providers...

Scam Classic: The Enron Implosion

Posted on May 12, 2008
I am a fan of the modern version of the Yellow Kid con criminal schemes, as recounted over at the Con Man's Blog. I am going to reprint the entire post, in an effort to get my readers to subscribe to the blog. Legal Thriller Style Scam Classic: The Enron Implosion: An extroverted accountant looks at your shoes while talking to you instead of his own...

Gold-Quest International Ponzi

Posted on May 07, 2008
Gold-Quest International, et al.: "SEC stops multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme." "The Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday obtained a court order halting a $27 million fraudulent scheme involving investors in the United States and Canada. The SEC sued Las Vegas-based Gold-Quest International and its principals, David M...

The Danger of Promissory Note

Posted on May 01, 2008
Osler, a leading Canadian law firm, has an article on a recent case mine, entitled "Does the Arthur Wishart Act Change the Law of Set-off in Ontario?" "This case could also potentially change the manner in which franchisors must allocate funds received from franchisees to various categories of debt...

Is PrePaid Legal a Scam?

Posted on May 01, 2008
Barry Minkow certainly thinks so. He has set up this website, explaining why he thinks that PrePaid Legal is a scam. Robert Fitzpatrick writes: "To examine this trend of financial decline, the report focuses primarily on data of Pre-Paid's "sales" force, which is the driver of its marketing...

Tracy and I need Your Help

Posted on April 24, 2008
The promise of interactive ads, delivered by Adsense, is: "AdSense for content automatically crawls the content of your pages and delivers ads (you can choose both text or image ads) that are relevant to your audience and your site content--ads so well-matched, in fact, that your readers will actually find them useful...

Canadian House of Cards Continues to Fall

Posted on April 24, 2008
According to the the FTC, Canadian House of Cards Continues to Fall, as Bogus Biller Settles FTC Charges: "Ex-wife of Ringleader Was One of Only Two Remaining Defendants in Case" "The Federal Trade Commission today announced the issuance of a stipulated final court order against Emma G...

Fooling Some of the People All of the Time

Posted on April 23, 2008
Very interesting story from the Wall Street Journal about David Einhorn's dealing as a short seller of Allied Capital. It is a surprisingly dark story, in which Mr. Einhorn's usual winning touch vanishes for most of the narrative. As he struggles to figure out why, he appears naïve at certain times, petulant at others...

How to Find Quality Information about Franchise Systems

Posted on April 23, 2008
In this seven minute video from Businessweek, the founder of Blue Mau Mau, Don Sniegowski, and frequent contributer Paul Steinberg, franchise attorney, are interviewed. Don explains the origin of the name "Blue Mau Mau" as referring to a species of small fish which travels in large groups - a reference to small fish franchisee investors...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.