Category: News

A Joint Committee on Taxation report released today by Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) found that regulating Internet gambling would generate roughly $42 billion over 10 years.

The report is based on the requirement of a federal license for operators that would allow them to offer online gambling throughout the United States, while keeping the federal prohibition on any form of sports betting.

"This analysis further reinforces the fact that a regulated environment will generate billions in new revenue to offset the costs of health care reform or other vital government programs," said Michael Waxman, spokesperson for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative.

"With the completed analysis, and support for Internet gambling regulation growing daily, it’s only a matter of time before Congress acts and begins allocating the billions in new revenue sitting on the table to one program or another."

Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) has introduced legislation that would legalize Internet gambling and McDermott has a companion bill that would collect tax revenues on online gambling.

"We believe this tax revenue analysis will encourage immediate discussions and consideration of pending legislation to regulate Internet gambling," said Waxman.  

"With everyone acknowledging that attempts to prohibit the activity have failed, this provides even more incentive for Congress to act."

Currently the amount of revenue that remains uncollected while Americans gamble online is more than $100 billion annually.

Related Articles:

> Kentucky Supreme Court Hears Online Gambling Case

> Online Poker Players Expose Cheaters

> Americans Favor Legalizing Online Poker

A virtual pinball machine sounds like a really good idea. No less then 17 tables, on a LCD display (so the playfield doesn’t wear out). Best yet, the virtual pinball machine has some of the most famous Gottlieb games like 2001 and Gold Strike. Sure, it’s expensive, but compared to the cost of actually buying 17 pinball machines? It’s quite reasonable. And takes up a lot less space in the ol man cave.

The Multispin Digital Pinball machine uses a 32 inch LCD monitor for that play field, and a smaller monitor mounted on the back glass to replicate the scoring section of those classic games. There is just one thing that makes me nervous, and that’s the lack of flipper buttons on the pictures of the machine. Hammacher Schlemmers website says that it does have flipper buttons and a ball launcher just like the real thing, but I can’t seem to find it.

The Hammacher Schlemmer website lists the pinball machine as being currently available, however it will take 4-6 weeks for delivery, so order fast for Christmas. The Digital Pinball machine will set you back $6,000. I’ve got to say though, I think it’d be worth it.

[via Technabob]

By Scott M. Fulton, III, Betanews

During one of the more noteworthy weeks in Europe’s modern history, as the 27 member nations of the European Union prepare for a newer and more centralized executive authority, the EU will also be making way for a powerful regulatory authority for telecommunications: the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC). This is the name for the new European Telecoms Authority; and whereas in the US, there remains considerable debate over whether the Federal Communications Commission can and should have regulatory authority over Internet transactions, in Europe, the debate has officially been settled: BEREC will have authority to propose regulations for telecommunications in all forms, including the Internet.

But the power for approving, exercising, and then administering those regulations has been delegated to the European Commission. So although the new telecoms authority will be comprised of the national telecom regulatory heads from each member nation, the EC will have the authority to overrule them. Negotiations over this single provision extended for hours and eventually days, according to the EC, with the central point of contention being this and only this provision.

But in the end, the agreement reached early Thursday morning essentially gave the EC everything it has asked for, without any hint of compromise.

“When the Commission, in close cooperation with BEREC, considers that a draft remedy notified by a national regulator would create a barrier to the single market,” reads this morning’s communiqué from the EC, referring to the continent-wide telecommunications market, “the Commission may issue a recommendation that requires the national regulator to amend or withdraw its planned remedy. The new rules also enable the Commission to adopt further harmonization measures in the form of recommendations or (binding) decisions, if divergences in the implementation of remedies persist across the EU in the longer term.”

“Harmonization” is the EC’s term for getting everyone’s ducks in a row, and has been a favorite watch-word of Comm. Viviane Reding, whose authority over Europe’s Internet industry has just increased.

Also within Comm. Reding’s power will be the ability to order a country’s telecom company, once it steps over the regulatory body, to divest itself of its services division if it wishes to maintain control of a majority of lines or transmitters in its given nation. This is the functional separation option introduced in the original proposal two years ago, based in principle on the spinoff of Openreach from UK-based parent BT in 2003, in one of the EC’s first telecom-related antitrust actions.

A final draft of what’s now called the Internet Freedom Provision will not, as some European journals had reported, guarantee broadband Internet access as a fundamental human right. What it will do, however, is guarantee that an individual’s right to choose any available application over the Internet is not suppressed by a service provider’s maintenance measures, privacy policies, or lack thereof. In its entirety, the new annex of the Provision reads as follows:

Measures taken by Member States regarding end-users’ access to or use of services and applications through electronic communications networks shall respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of natural persons, as guaranteed by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and general principles of Community law.

Any of these measures regarding end-users’ access to or use of services and applications through electronic communications networks liable to restrict those fundamental rights or freedoms may only be imposed if they are appropriate, proportionate and necessary within a democratic society, and their implementation shall be subject to adequate procedural safeguards in conformity with the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and general principles of Community law, including effective judicial protection and due process. Accordingly, these measures may only be taken with due respect for the principle of presumption of innocence and the right to privacy. A prior fair and impartial procedure shall be guaranteed, including the right to be heard of the person or persons concerned, subject to the need for appropriate conditions and procedural arrangements in duly substantiated cases of urgency in conformity with the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The right to an effective and timely judicial review shall be guaranteed.

Final votes in the European Parliament on the creation of BEREC will take place later this month, although at this point, they’re seen to be largely ceremonial. The new authority — and the authority over that authority — could come into existence in the first quarter of 2010.

Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009

 It’s numbers time again! The latest hardware sales figures from Japan’s Media Create has been release, and competition is getting tighter as the…

Halo and Blu-ray — together? Yes, you are not imagining that first sentence. Halo will indeed be on Blu-ray, through the Halo Legends anime project.T…

The industry is all a buzz with the latest entry in the “I’m the thinnest laptop” competition. The latest Dell Adamo is definitely a strong contender, at 9.99 mm at some points. Of course, that’s just the official figure. I would have tested it myself but I forgot my calipers.

The Adamo definately does the sleek, simplistic look well.  About two inches bigger in both directions than a sheet of paper and only 3.2 lbs, you could almost forget you were carrying this thing around. Although forgetting you have $1800 in your arms might not be the most desirable…

Dell replaced the usual manual cover latch with a heat-sensitive capacitor. Just swipe your finger across the front edge and the lock disengages. When you open the Adamo, the screen doesn’t so much fold up as the keyboard folds down. It rests in the crazy position you see below. And it’s not just for looks, kids. The open space under the unit allows for more effective airflow, meaning no more burning laps while you work. The keyboard has full sized, metal keys, and the angle didn’t interfere with my typing at all. The touchpad on the other hand, is a little on the small size. This thing has multitouch support, but even my small hands found trouble getting multiple fingers on there. Another thing I didn’t like was that when you adjust the angle of the screen, it moves the angle of the keyboard as well.

Now I’m sure the question you’re all wondering is how in the world does this thing sit on your lap? Its actually pretty comfortable, and you can type without fear of knocking it off your lap with each keystroke. However, it does only have two points of contact so its not as secure against people bumping into you as other laptops.

As for the device’s internals, nothing jumps out at the eye. The screen is 13.4″. Powered by a 1.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with integrated graphics and 4 GB of DDR3 RAM. You get 128 GB of SSD, no word on whether that is upgradable yet. Wireless comes in two flavors, 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.1. The only ports on the laptop are 2 USB 2.0 jacks, audio, and a DisplayPort out. Ethernet, HDMI, and the like can connect through the use of an external dongle.

Another cool feature is the replaceable battery. But you’ll have to be replacing it every 2 and a half hours. Not very long for a laptop that is designed for maximum mobility, but at that size? Can’t beat it.

You can expect the Adamo sometime this holiday season. Windows 7 comes standard as well as the diamond-etched logo on the cover. If you’re into that sort of thing.

NEW YORK, Nov 5 (Reuters) – A Ropes & Gray lawyer’s arrest in an insider trading case has embarrassed the corporate law firm in the latest scandal to cast a harsh spotlight on legal partnerships that oversee billions of dollars in deals each year.

U.S. prosecutors alleged on Thursday that Arthur Cutillo, in Ropes & Gray’s litigation department, gave out inside information about deals by the law firm’s clients.

These deals include buyouts by private equity firms like TPG [TPG.UL], Bain Capital and Silver Lake, all of whom used Ropes & Gray as their counsel. Cutillo joined the firm in 2005 and his practice focused on intellectual property.

Cutillo is one of 14 people newly charged in the biggest hedge fund-related case in history. The charges come nearly three weeks after Raj Rajaratnam, billionaire founder of hedge fund firm Galleon Group, and five others were arrested.

“For a law firm to have this out there is very, very uncomfortable because there is this immediate sense that that’s a major black eye,” said an mergers and acquisition lawyer at a major law firm. “No law firm wants to see its name in the lights in this way.”

Ropes & Gray said it was deeply disappointed and that the allegations suggest “an extreme breach of this person’s duty of trust to our clients and to the firm.”

Ropes & Gray, which was has more than 1,000 lawyers and professionals, said it was moving quickly to protect clients and co-operating fully with authorities.

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

Cutillo is not the first lawyer to be allegedly involved in an insider trading scandal.

His arrest comes just days after a respected Toronto lawyer apparently committed suicide, while his alleged accomplice pleaded guilty to U.S. and Canadian criminal charges stemming from a 14-year insider trading scheme.

The lawyer, Gil Cornblum, worked in the Toronto office of Dorsey & Whitney LLP. He was a partner there when Dorsey fired him in May 2008, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The SEC alleged some trades took place between 1994 and 1998, when Cornblum was “articling” in a Toronto law firm and later worked in the New York office of Sullivan & Cromwell.

One of the defendants in the case unveiled on Thursday, Michael Kimelman, is also a former Sullivan & Cromwell attorney, although he was at the elite New York-based firm for less than two years and left more than 10 years ago.

“Beyond policies and procedures, it’s fundamentally about the culture of the institution,” said John Reiss, global head of White & Case’s mergers and acquisitions group, without referring to any specific firm. “It’s the institution’s job to assure, quite simply, that people know not to communicate in any context private information.”

HUMAN NATURE

But mergers and acquisition lawyers at some rival law firms sympathized with Ropes & Gray’s predicament, saying the scandal could happen anywhere and clients are ultimately likely to see this as a one-off case due to a rogue employee.

“The policies are sufficient. It’s just human nature is what it is,” said Harold Gordon, a partner in Jones Day’s SEC practice. “It is virtually impossible to stop a rogue attorney from revealing client confidences if they are going to insist on doing that.”

These experts added that despite other recent insider trading cases involving corporate lawyers, law firms have enough policies and procedures in place and that such cases happen due to bad actors that no one can totally stop.

Indeed, one private equity firm said that a single rogue employee would not influence their decision to use the firm.

A spokesman for Ropes & Gray declined to comment further.

In a sign that it is business as usual for now, the firm advised TPG and Canada Pension Fund on a $4 billion buyout of IMS Health Inc (RX.N) — the biggest leveraged buyout deal of the year — announced on Thursday.

By Paritosh Bansal
(Additional reporting by Megan Davies; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

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One of our connects already did one for us, but there’s nothing like having a handset (and a box) in your own possession. Also what our guy reported seems to be spot on: this thing is thinner, lighter, and a lot more pocketable than Sprint’s HTC Hero. The only other change, we’re told, is that the DROID Eris has a proximity sensor on the screen. We’ll put together something more formal in a little bit, but in the meantime check out a couple photos after the jump!

So you live in Kansas, and you want to learn how to snowboard before that big trip to the mountains. What do you do? Well, you can always wait to get up the hill to buy some lessons, or you can pick up a Thrustmaster T-Freestyle NW controller, and you’ll be carving down a half-pipe in no time.

Made from real maple, the T-Freestyle is designed to work as either a snowboard or skateboard controller, the wooden deck replicates that flex and resistance that a real board posses, allowing for a better gaming experience. Thrustmaster also built in their new “rolling motion board” technology, which allows the controller to move like a real snowboard or skateboard, without dumping you on your tail.

The Thrustmaster T-Freestyle NW should be available at your favorite retailer at the end of this month, for the quite reasonable price of $29.99.

While I guess there are still some people who think that sitting around on your computer isn’t “interacting” with other people, I would have thought that the myth that computer users are loners died off a long time ago. However, apparently we still need studies to debunk that. The latest, from Annenberg and Pew found that people who use social networks have a larger social circle than those who don’t. And, no, the study didn’t just count how many friends you have on Facebook, but found out from people the number of people with whom they felt comfortable talking over important issues. That number was noticeably higher for those who used modern technology more frequently. So again, even though I had thought the stereotype died off ages ago, here’s a bit more evidence that being an internet geek doesn’t mean you’re a loner.

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By Jacqueline Emigh, Betanews

In New York City today, Verizon Wireless rolled out new additions to its expanding Android and LG Chocolate phone families, while also delivering sneak previews of a new, consumer-friendly ruggedized phone called the Casio G’zOne Brigade (shown above).

Like its previously announced top-of-the-line Android phone, known simply as the Droid, the less expensive Droid Eris will be available for the first time in Verizon stores tomorrow — which is also when pricing will be revealed.

Verizon hasn’t yet set pricing or an availability date for the Brigade, but sales of the Push to Talk phone from Casio will start some time over the next few weeks, said Kris Dunlap, Verizon’s Push to Talk product manager, during a demo at a press event in Manhattan.

In keeping with its lower price point, the Droid Eris has a lower resolution HVGA display in comparison to the Droid’s WVGA screen, and a slower processor running at 528 MHz.

More significantly, the Eris currently runs Android 1.5, in comparison to the higher-end phone’s GPS-enabled Android 2.0. That means it won’t be able to handle Google’s turn-by-turn voice navigation until a 2.0 upgrade becomes available for the phone, officials said at the event.

Both Verizon Android phones, though, will come with the same Google applications suite and Verizon’s Visual Voicemail, and both will allow downloads from the 10,000+ applications in Google’s online App store.

Unlike the Droid, which is made by Motorola, the Droid Eris is manufactured by HTC. The Eris is similar in form factor to HTC’s Hero, a phone offered by Sprint, but it’s slightly thinner.

In another demo at the event, Lauren Southwick, a Verizon marketing manager, showed an app called Join the Band running on the Chocolate Touch. Verizon’s new touch-enabled Chocolate phone is strongly focused on music playback, with features that include an FM tuner, the ability to sync music from the phone to a PC, and a music player for MP3, WMA, and unprotected AAC and AAC+, for example. You can use a special button on the phone to upload photos taken with a built-in 3.2 megapixel camera to social networking sites like Facebook.

In Join the Band, you can play along with any song you choose on a virtual drum set or piano keyboard. I thought the piano did a fine job when I banged out “Chopsticks” on it.

The Chocolate Touch’s video-capable camera can take four types of shots: Normal, Panorama, Intelligent, and Facial Makeover. Southwick sent a Panorama shot she took at the event to one of my e-mail addresses.

Verizon’s upcoming Brigade, on the other hand, is the third in a series of ruggedized and water-resistant phones targeted not just at people who work out-of-doors, but at those who like to bike, camp out, fish, and do other outdoor hobbies in their spare time. Like the other two recent tough phones, it meets 810F military specifications for conditions such as vibration, humidity, fog, and low and high temperature storage, Dunlap said.

Verizon hasn’t readied a spec sheet yet on the Brigade. But the new horizontal clamshell device — which will be available to all Verizon Wireless users, not just Push to Talk customers — will be the first ruggedized phone from Verizon to come with a hard QWERTY keyboard.

Dunlap also pointed to its large display, estimating that the Brigade’s screen is about the same size as that of Verizon’s Voyager. The Brigade will come with a 3.2 megapixel camera with flash, video capture, and LED light.

The Chocolate Touch and Brigade phones also support Verizon’s V Cast video and music services and VZ Navigator turn-by-turn navigation, while the two Droid phones from Verizon do not. Chocolate Touch will be available from VZW starting tomorrow for $79.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate.

Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009

Thinking of buying a Logitech keyboard or mouse? Now would be a good time. You can get the opulent G19 keyboard for $150 (technically, big savings), a G9x for $75, a G500 for $45, or a Performance MX for $75. And everything’s got free shipping!

Seriously, Logitech makes some of the best mice in the world, and these are great deals. For gaming, either of the G series mice will do, but for regular tasks, multiple CG writers swear by the Performance MX (or at least its MX revolution cousin). The deals are all at LogicBuy, which must have hijacked a truckload of these things.

G19 Keyboard
G9x Gaming Mouse
G500 Gaming Mouse
Performance MX Mouse

Found all these over at Tom’s Hardware, where they’ve got a few more deals of this sort today.

Just a few weeks ago, in writing about the pointlessness of “derivative rights” in copyright law, I questioned the “example” of an answer key for a textbook, noting that there was no reason to have it covered by copyright:

But, to me, this seems ridiculous on a basic common sense reading. I can’t fathom how anyone can (at least honestly) claim that copyright really has an idea/expression dichotomy and then say that Section 106(2) makes any sense at all. What’s wrong if someone else wants to produce an answer guide to an original textbook? Why would it ever make policy sense to deny such a right? In most cases, you would assume that the original creator of the textbook would have a better understanding of the topics and the answers, so an “unauthorized” answer key is unlikely to be as valuable. But why should it be prevented? On top of that, if the answer key is just answering questions, then how could it be infringement? Those answers are accurate “facts” responding to questions. If an answer key is infringing, then wouldn’t that make student answers infringing as well?

Apparently, though, others don’t agree — and they’re the folks who make the rules. Michael Scott points us to the news that a court has ruled that answers to a textbook questions are a derivative work, and someone who was selling such answers online was infringing on the copyright of the textbook publisher. This still makes no sense to me. First, there’s no “copying.” Second, isn’t answering a question a “factual” statement? How can answering a question be copyright infringement? From a policy and common sense perspective it makes no sense. But, that’s what you get with the way copyright law is these days. It’s not about the incentive to create, but about stifling competition and free speech. In the meantime, I can’t wait to see the next student sued for copyright infringement for answering his homework questions.

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What does it mean to Destress Yourself? Excellent question!

Destress Yourself means managing stress at a very advanced level. It means to discover your stressful habits and turn them into successful practices.

Whether you have stress at work, stress at home, stress in your relationship, stress with your finances, or just difficulties coping with stress, you can destress yourself. You can discover stressful habits and turn them into successful practices.

What are stressful habits? Oh my gosh, there are millions of stressful habits and yet everyone has their own unique ways of causing their own stress. Yes, we cause our own stress.

How do we cause our own stress? Well, the first method to our madness of causing stress is denial. We deny that anything is wrong. We deny that we are in the constant state of going no where and we say that everything is fine and that “someday” things will be different. We deny our stress by playing the victim. “Oh poor me, I have such a terrible life.”

Sounds cruel, does it not? Guess what? You can have, be, do, whatever your heart desires. How do you have, be, do? Well, you decide what you want and find out how to get there. How do you get there? Google it! Read about it or ask someone who can show you it.

How do you decide what you want? Well, we have a destress yourself class that can help you and show you a step by step process on how to destress yourself. This class will help with your discovery and evolution from a stressed life to a destressed life.

When you destress yourself you change your thoughts, feelings, actions, and attitude. You change your thoughts, feelings, and actions of stressful habits to successful practices.

If you are unhappy something must be done.

If you are not living life with happiness, joy, energy, and vitality then you must do something about it.

You can learn to be happy by destressing yourself and I can show you how, for free.

Subscribe to this blog for the updated posts, visit my website, sign up for our free weekly newsletters, visit our store and download the free stress management audios.

If you would like to live the life you dream of, let me help you.

Learn to destress yourself, for free, by me, and learn what permanent stress relief really is.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Hope this is helpful.

Until next post… Don’t forget to have fun and be playful!

Elizabeth

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Google has quietly gotten rid of PageRank in Webmaster Tools. Barry Schwartz at Search Engine Roundtable points to a thread featuring an explanation from Google Webmaster Trends Analyst Susan Moskwa.

"We’ve been telling people for a long time that they shouldn’t focus on PageRank so much; many site owners seem to think it’s the most important metric for them to track, which is simply not true," says Moskwa. "We removed it because we felt it was silly to tell people not to think about it, but then to show them the data, implying that they should look at it."

Search marketers are wondering why Google tells people not to focus on PageRank and removes it from Webmaster Tools, but still keeps it in the Google Toolbar. "Back in 2007, Google wanted feedback on removing PageRank from the Toolbar," says Schwartz. "I felt it was a good idea but the idea died out. Google cannot remove PageRank from the Toolbar, it is too much of their branding. No matter how much Matt Cutts and the Google search quality and webmaster trends team want it removed, I cannot see Google’s executives allowing it."

Andy Beal of Marketing Pilgrim says the role of PageRank has been reduced to nothing more than a "comfort blanket for SEO Noobs." He adds, "I say this, with a high degree of confidence that most experienced SEOs pour over the data in Google Webmaster Tools, whereas those new to the industry likely let the toolbar be their only guiding light."

He also notes, however, that PageRank data can still be useful. For example, it can be a good indicator of a site’s behavior in Google’s index. "Any green means ‘go.’ No green, means there’s something to investigate," says Beal.

Despite this usefulness though, Moskwa pretty much closes the case on Google’s position on it. In fact, she even points to a FAQ page about crawling, indexing, and ranking, which says that webmasters shouldn’t even bother thinking about it. It also says that PageRank is just one of over 200 signals that can affect how your site is crawled, indexed, and ranked.

What are your thoughts on PageRank? Discuss below.

This morning, when the President gave his opening remarks at the Tribal Nations Conference, the day looked very different.  By 5:02 EST when he was scheduled to give closing remarks, it was clear that all Americans were rightly concerned with the tragedy in Texas, and the President took his time to give his thoughts and prayers:

Now, I have to say, though, that beyond that, I plan to make some broader remarks about the challenges that lay ahead for Native Americans, as well as collaboration with our administration, but as some of you might have heard, there has been a tragic shooting at the Fort Hood Army base in Texas.  We don’t yet know all the details at this moment; we will share them as we get them.  What we do know is that a number of American soldiers have been killed, and even more have been wounded in a horrific outburst of violence.

My immediate thoughts and prayers are with the wounded and with the families of the fallen, and with those who live and serve at Fort Hood.  These are men and women who have made the selfless and courageous decision to risk and at times give their lives to protect the rest of us on a daily basis.  It’s difficult enough when we lose these brave Americans in battles overseas.  It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil.

I’ve spoken to Secretary Gates and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, and I will continue to receive a constant stream of updates as new information comes in.  We are working with the Pentagon, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security, all to ensure that Fort Hood is secure, and we will continue to support the community with the full resources of the federal government.

In the meantime, I would ask all Americans to keep the men and women of Fort Hood in your thoughts and prayers.  We will make sure that we get answers to every single question about this horrible incident.  And I want all of you to know that as Commander-in-Chief, there’s no greater honor but also no greater responsibility for me than to make sure that the extraordinary men and women in uniform are properly cared for and that their safety and security when they are at home is provided for.

So we are going to stay on this.  But I hope in the meantime that all of you recognize the scope of this tragedy, and keep everybody in their thoughts and prayers.