Ottawa Business Journal

Ontario's Consumer Protection Act could catch some businesses off-guard and have them scrambling to update IT systems to meet legislative requirements, according to lawyers in the know.

The act will become law on July 30 and is designed to provide consumers an extra layer of protection for phone and Internet purchases. It will cover any consumer contract over $50 and sellers must provide consumers the opportunity to accept or decline the contract and correct any errors before agreeing to it. If a seller fails to meet its obligations, consumers automatically have the right to cancel the contract within a 30-day period and be reimbursed fully. Consumer complaints against a company will be available as a public record for a minimum of 21 months.

The act could affect any firm that conducts Internet- or phone-based business with Ontarians and for some companies it will mean changes to call centre scripts and shopping cart procedures at online checkouts.

[Ministry webcast: Consumer Protection for the 21st Century]

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Knowledge@Wharton

Corporate Fraud on Trial: What Have We Learned?

The high-profile corporate scandals involving former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers and former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski are back in the news, refocusing attention on corporate fraud and inviting such questions as: What has changed since these allegations emerged a few years back? And will the criminal trials of these two men, under way this week, serve as a deterrent to other high-profile executives who might be tempted to forget the rules of fair play in corporate America?

Some observers caution that it’s a little early to determine whether the most recent round of corporate reform efforts -- primarily the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, passed by Congress in 2002 and designed to increase corporate transparency and safeguards for investors -- will have much impact on America’s executive suites and board rooms. Moreover, says Wharton legal studies professor Thomas Donaldson, there are limits to the compliance approach to ethics. “Corporate governance is a hot topic, but we are overly optimistic about what corporate governance can do.” Simply rearranging the chairs at the higher echelons of a company, he adds, will not prevent the types of fraud that have occurred over the past several years. Penn law school professor David Skeel agrees. “To the extent that we think we can head off the next round of scandals -- think that if we just get these cases right it won’t happen again -- we’re kidding ourselves.”

[...]

The “big truth,” says Donaldson, “is that there is only so much we can gain from corporate compliance programs and corporate governance.” Or, as Skeel puts it: “The devious behavior of men and women knows no bounds.”

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ITBusiness.ca

Believing Canadian business needs more people with expertise in protecting computers and networks from intruders, viruses and other threats, the University of Ontario Institute of Technology has launched Canada's first graduate degree program in information technology security.

The university in Oshawa, Ont., will accept the first students this September in its two-year Master of Information Technology Security (MITS) program. The Faculty of Business and Information Technology has laboratory facilities sufficient for a maximum of 48 students in the program, said Dr. Clemens Martin, director of IT programs.

To enter the program, students will need a four-year bachelor's degree with at least a B average over all, and a minimum of two full years' work, or part-time equivalent, in information technology. Students with undergraduate degrees in information technology, engineering, science or a related field will be preferred, and course work in discrete mathematics, advanced programming and one of computer architecture or machine organization is specifically required.

The program mixes academic and practical approaches. The university has forged a partnership with the U.S.-based SANS (SysAdmin, Audit, Network, Security) Institute, and its curriculum includes areas covered in the SANS Security Essentials Course and in the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) exam, preparing students for the SANS and CISSP certifications in information technology security.

At the same time, Dr. Martin said, courses will combine practical laboratory work with theory. “It’s a master’s level program,” he said. He noted that many employees in the work force are held back by not having higher-level university degrees, so the program’s academic credentials are important, but the certifications will make graduates more immediately employable.

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