Tag Archives: Crony Capitalism

Copyright Claim Blocks Online Posting of Important Technical Standards

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“The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) asked a federal judge today to protect the free speech rights of an online archive of laws and legal standards.  As part of its work, Public Resource acquires and makes available public safety documents such as fire safety codes, food safety standards, and other regulations that have been incorporated into U.S. and international laws.  The association of Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors (SMACNA) claimed an online post of a federally-mandated 1985 standard on air-duct leakage violated its copyright and demanded the post be removed.  EFF and Public Resource asked the court to rule that posting the standards does not infringe any copyright.”

https://www.eff.org/press/releases/free-speech-battle-over-publication-federal-law

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Former White House ‘intellectual property czar’ jumps to anti-piracy lobby BSA

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techdirt1

“Just weeks after leaving the White House, Victoria Espinel will take over as the head of the Business Software Alliance, a group with a shameful past of overaggressive anti-piracy and pro-software patent positions, driven in large part by legacy software companies long past their innovation stage, and well into their ‘litigation’ against innovators stage. The organization tends to take its orders mainly from Microsoft and Autodesk, two proponents of very strong copyright and patent enforcement, because it helps those legacy companies ward off competitors and disruptive innovators.”

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130828/11481424336/former-white-house-ip-czar-immediately-jumps-ship-to-microsoft-driven-anti-piracy-lobbying-group-bsa.shtml

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Watch out, startup communities: The Congressmen are coming

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“The tech industry and startup world are only just waking up to the need to maintain an ongoing dialogue with Congress, while the political class is starting to realize that innovation and entrepreneurship are vital pieces in the nation’s economic puzzle. In the weeks ahead, however, the gap between the two worlds will shrink just a little as Congressmen fan out across the country to visit startup communities in their home districts. Starting today and proceeding throughout September, 44 members of Congress will be meeting with startups in their home districts from Tennessee to Ohio as part of Startup Day Across America.”

http://pandodaily.com/2013/08/29/watch-out-startup-communities-the-congressmen-are-coming/

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U.S. seeking $6 billion from JPMorgan to settle mortgage claims

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“U.S. government housing finance authorities are pressing JPMorgan Chase & Co for at least $6 billion to settle lawsuits over bonds backed by subprime mortgages, according to a person familiar with the matter.  The FHFA litigation is among a raft of legal issues JPMorgan is trying to work through in addition to investigations over its $6.2 billion ‘London Whale’ derivatives loss of last year. The FHFA, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, sued JPMorgan over some $33 billion of securities two years ago and also sued at least 16 other financial institutions.  Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were seized by the government in 2008 and received $187.5 billion to stay afloat.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/27/us-jpmorgan-mbs-idUSBRE97Q0YE20130827

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JPMorgan Bribe Probe Said to Expand in Asia as Spreadsheet Is Found

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“The Justice Department has joined the SEC in examining whether JPMorgan hired people so that their family members in government and elsewhere would steer business to the firm, possibly violating bribery laws. The scrutiny began in Hong Kong and has now expanded to countries across Asia, looking at interns as well as full-time workers, two people said. The employees include influential politicians’ family members who worked in JPMorgan’s investment bank, as well as relatives of asset-management clients, the people said. Wall Street firms have long enlisted people whose pedigree and connections can win business, a practice that doesn’t necessarily violate the law.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-29/jpmorgan-bribe-probe-said-to-expand-in-asia-as-spreadsheet-found.html

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The Undead Corporate Welfare Programs For Automakers

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“Originally created by Congress in 2007, the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Program provided low-cost government loans that were subsidized, guaranteed, and then in part eaten, as we now know, by hapless and strung-out American taxpayers.  Ford was the top beneficiary. While bragging vociferously that it hadn’t been bailed out by the government, as opposed to GM and Chrysler, it received a $5.9 billion loan under that program ostensibly to retool its plants and start producing electric vehicles. Nissan got $1.4 billion to build its plug-in EV, the Leaf. Tesla got $465 million. It is building a few, very expensive plug-in EVs a day. Others weren’t so ‘successful.'”

http://www.testosteronepit.com/home/2013/8/27/the-undead-corporate-welfare-programs-for-automakers.html

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Americans are Now Traveling Overseas for Surgery

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“Growing up I recall hearing stories of how wealthy foreigners would frequently travel all the way to these United States in order to receive top notch medical attention. Fast forward a decade or two, and all I hear about now is how it is us Americans being forced abroad in order to receive affordable care. The article below from the New York Times, ‘In Need of a New Hip, but Priced Out of the U.S.’ is a fantastic, but depressing read on the subject. While this is an extraordinarily complicated subject, one on which I claim zero expertise, one thing is for certain. If a U.S. citizen has to travel to Belgium to implant a medical device made right here in the USA, we have a very, very serious problem.”

http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2013/08/06/americans-are-now-traveling-overseas-for-surgery/

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How a $1 Bag of Salt Water Becomes a $546 Bill at Hospitals

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“Much like every other aspect of the U.S. ponzi economy, the healthcare system is one gigantic centralized oligopolistic racket. The New York Times has done some excellent coverage on this topic as of late, most recently in an article I highlighted earlier this month about how Americans are now finding themselves forced to travel overseas for surgery. That article demonstrated how the medical industry is simply one huge convoluted racket, in which contracts are secret and no one has any clue about anything except for a small group of players involved.”

http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2013/08/27/how-a-1-bag-of-salt-water-becomes-a-546-bill-at-hospitals/

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Defiling the Memory of President Eisenhower

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“On a Tuesday night, 52 years ago. President Dwight D. Eisenhower appeared on TV sets across America. Three days later, he would leave the Oval Office to John F. Kennedy. It all happened very fast. No one was prepared for the grim prophecy Eisenhower would tell that night in his farewell address.  In 1961, the words ‘military-industrial complex’ probably sounded nuts. But writing in 2013, I can say with confidence that an alert and knowledgeable citizenry is far more absurd. Back when Ike made his address, defense spending was about $350 billion in today’s dollars. Today, it’s over half a trillion dollars.  What would Eisenhower say today? Probably, ‘I told you so you, idiots!'”

http://dailyreckoning.com/defiling-the-memory-of-president-eisenhower/

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Man still “smarting” from police detainment after refusing “smart meter”

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“Because this man was the last holdout in this particular Guthrie neighborhood, the Guthrie Police Department sent three officers to the man’s house to protect the OG&E installer, while allegedly detaining the man, echoing a story out of Naperville, Illinois last month where two women were arrested for ‘interfering with the installation process.’ OK-SAFE, Inc. and Axxiom for Liberty report that the man said he was frisked and handcuffed, and would inexplicably leave no paperwork. This encounter was confirmed by Karen Kurtz, a spokesperson for OG&E. ‘We did have police out at that gentleman’s residence,’ Kurtz said. ‘It wasn’t a show of force at all.'”

http://www.reddirtreport.com/Story.aspx/25162

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