New book “Practical Guide to E-Commerce and Internet Law” is out!

My latest book Practical Guide to E-Commerce and Internet Law is out. It was co-authored with my colleague Elisa Henry, and IP and IT law expert and is published by LexisNexis. Other McMillan attorneys also contributed: Yasin Bismilla authored Chapter 6 on Patents, Michael Reid authored Chapter 7 on Website Development and Chapter 8 on Website Hosting, and A. Max Jarvie authored Chapter 5 on Domain Names.

Understanding the ever-evolving challenges, responsibilities and ramifications related to having an online presence is anything but straightforward. This book offers a thorough discussion of the Canadian legal framework pertaining to e-commerce and contractual arrangements, intellectual property law, privacy and anti-spam law, competition law, as well as legislation that may affect advertising and social media activities. Of particular practical value are the following precedents that are included with the volume, along with relevant practitioners’ notes, comments and tips:

  • E-commerce terms and conditions
  • Cookie policy
  • Copyright assignment
  • Website development agreement
  • Website hosting agreement
  • Website terms of use agreement
  • Website linking agreement
  • Web advertising agreement
  • Anti-spam commitment
  • Social media policy
  • User-generated content policy
  • Contest and promotional rules

These precedents are also included on a CD-ROM so readers can easily use and customize the documents for their own needs.

Written in plain English and an easy-to-understand style, this book is accessible to all readers – even those without an extensive legal background. Because it provides advice addressing the most common issues arising in connection with electronic commerce, this book is especially useful to organizations that have an online presence, as well as their legal, marketing and public relations advisors. In particular, an organization will benefit from learning how to:

  • Properly draft and communicate the privacy policy, terms of use agreement and e-commerce agreement relating to their website;
  • Protect its creations, brands and inventions, using intellectual property tools (copyright, trademarks, domain names and patents);
  • Comply with privacy and anti-spam laws in its electronic business and marketing practices (behavioural marketing, e-mail marketing and electronic communications practices);
  • Comply with laws regulating online advertising and contests;
  • Better understand social media risks (e.g. potential damage to reputation and brand) and how to handle these risks (i.e. managing employees who are active on social media, managing risks when operating a website which includes a blog or user-generated content, etc.); and
  • Enter into an agreement for the development or hosting of a website

In addition, this book will be helpful for business professionals who are assisting with an organization’s compliance with e-commerce and Internet laws, including IT, e-commerce, risk and compliance, sales, operations, marketing, privacy and human resources managers.

To see a complete list of the 15 chapters or for more information about the book, click here.

This content has been updated on June 25, 2015 at 23 h 04 min.