For those unfamiliar with the Canadian telecommunications landscape, there are basically two companies which run the entire sector, and those companies are known as Bell Aliant and Rogers Communications. These companies may be bitter business rivals, but there are times when even rivals get together to make deals, and it was their different interpretations of a comma that led to a legal battle between the two which ended up costing a combined one million dollars in legal fees. Both companies entered into a five-year deal, which stated “This agreement shall be effective from the date it is made and shall continue in force for a period of five years from the date it is made, and thereafter for successive five year terms, unless and until terminated by one year prior notice in writing by either party.” Bell believed that the second comma in that section meant that either company could cancel the contract at any time with one year’s notice; while Rogers believed that the contract would last the full five years, and could then be cancelled after a one year notice. Ultimately, the courts sided with Rogers, but this is just one example of how punctuation can cost people a lot of money.