“Luke Rudkowski interviews Ben Lawsky at tuesday New York State regulatory bitcoin hearing about the future of government intervention with bitcoin. Benjamin M. Lawsky is New York State’s first Superintendent of Financial Services who called for tuesdays special proceedings.”
“New York plans to create regulations that will guide virtual currency firms that operate in the state, possibly requiring them to hold a ‘BitLicense,’ the state’s top banking regulator said Tuesday, one day after a major arrest in the bitcoin universe. Benjamin Lawsky, New York’s Superintendent of Financial Services, said such regulatory guidelines would seek to bar misconduct like money laundering while not cornering in booming cryptocurrency technology. His comments came during the start of hearings this week – organized by the New York Department of Financial Services – on the future of online currencies.”
http://rt.com/usa/bitcoin-regulations-new-york-320/
“A rather Orwellian council proposal in California would see police able to remotely access the feeds from home security cameras in San Jose. The idea, forwarded by City Councilman Sam Liccardo, calls for citizens to volunteer their own CCTV systems, registering them with local law enforcement, so police can monitor whatever the cameras are trained on. The idea came about after local business owners volunteered CCTV footage following a series of arson crimes in a downtown district. San Jose’s independent police auditor, retired judge LaDoris Cordell, lauded the idea, calling it a logical step and stating ‘You tend to behave when the cameras are on you.'”
“TDs here have already called for tougher controls of the currency. Vincent O’Donoghue of the Irish Bitcoin Association today told RTÉ News that the currency should be recognised, so that it would be safer to use. ‘We’re calling on the Central Bank to have a close look at it. It’s something for the future. IT developing the way it, it would be disingenuous to ignore it.’ Debate has raged about the validity and safety of the currency, with sceptics fearful that it is unmanageable, while proponents such as web entrepreneur Jeremy Allaire believing it to be the future of both web and retail payment.”
http://www.thejournal.ie/call-for-central-bank-to-regulate-bitcoin-1282145-Jan2014/
“Today, snapCard announced a program to allow US taxpayers to pay the IRS using bitcoin. In a little over a week, this program will be extended to universal bitcoin bill-pay similar to that offered by most large banks, according to one of the company’s two co-founders, Ioannis Giannaros. Since launching two months ago, San Mateo-based SnapCard has aimed to make it possible to ‘buy anything on the Internet using any virtual currency.’ The company has built a browser bookmarklet that automates bitcoin checkout process on any ecommerce website. Users simply indicate the item they wish to purchase and snapCard handles the checkout and the payment behind the scenes.”
“The Royal Canadian Mint this week displayed its crypto-currency called Mint Chip at the annual National Retail Federation’s Expo in New York. The Mint plans a limited test of the currency later this month. Developed by the mint in 2012, Mint Chip is about as different philosophically from Bitcoin and other digital currencies as you can get. Backed by a government and tied to the national currency, it’s also gaining acceptance from some pretty big mainstream companies, which RCM hopes can distribute it. The mint has also played host to smaller companies who’ve developed consumer-facing applications for Mint Chip. Mint Chip has about eight patents associated with it.”
http://www.inc.com/jeremy-quittner/bitcoin-rival-mintchip-pilot-currency.html
“The U.S. is attempting to give multinational corporations a status that has hitherto been reserved to sovereign nations. According to documents recently leaked from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, the Obama administration wants corporations to be able to challenge the laws and regulations of foreign countries, and bring the dispute to a privately-run international court. The World Trade Organization currently grants the power to challenge a nation’s laws only to another nation. The Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement of 2005 (P4) is a treaty between Singapore, New Zealand, Chile and Brunei with the goal of facilitating trade in the Asia-Pacific region.”
http://www.thedailybell.com/editorials/34847/Wendy-McElroy-I-Pledge-Allegiance-to-PHRMA/
“The TSA has opened up enrollment in its ‘Precheck’ DHS Trusted Traveler program to anyone who wants to join — and pay the $85 fee for five years participation. As a Trusted Traveler, you are eligible to use the presumably-shorter airport security lines and you are exempt from removing your shoes, belt, light jacket, your 3-1-1 bag for fluid containers and taking your laptop out of your carry-on baggage. To enroll, you have to be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident who has not been convicted of serious felonies. The only active enrollment center is at the Indianapolis airport, but TSA plans to open three more by the end of the year and ultimately up to 300.”
“Will retirement saving soon go from opt-in to opt-out? A recent post from ex-Boston Globe reporter Kim Blanton on the Center for Retirement Research’s Squared Away blog noted that seven years after Congress encouraged employers to automatically enroll their workers in the company 401(k), ‘the retirement fix has run out of steam.’ Alicia Munnell (left) was happy to answer in a piece for MarketWatch on Wednesday. In order to make 401(k)s work better, the PPA should be changed to require all 401(k) plans to adopt annual auto-enrollment for their entire work force, Munnell, the center’s director, argued.”
http://www.thinkadvisor.com/2013/07/04/alicia-munnell-make-401k-auto-enrollment-mandatory
“Political campaigns will be allowed to accept — but not spend — the digital currency Bitcoin, under a proposed federal rule released Thursday. The Federal Election Commission draft would require campaigns to first convert any Bitcoins collected as donation to dollars. According to the proposal, the currency will count as an ‘in-kind’ contribution to a campaign — like a stock or bond. The FEC will not consider them currency. Because the value of the currency floats, campaigns will have to be careful not to accept donations above federal campaign contribution limits.”
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/bitcoin-campaign-donations-draft-rule-99566.html