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  • Top Paulson Exec Contradicts SEC’s Claim Against Goldman

    Paolo Pellegrini, a former top Paulson & Co employee, testified to the Securities and Exchange Commission that he told collateral agent ACA that his hedge fund would short the security at the center of the Goldman Sachs lawsuit, reports CNBC. This is hugely significant. If true, it significantly weakens the government’s case against the investment bank, because it implies that Goldman could not have misled ACA about Paulson’s involvement. Indeed, one of the hedge fund’s own managers may have told the collateral manager that a short interest was the fund’s goal.

    Here’s an excerpt from CNBC’s report:

    In one part of Pellegrini’s testimony, a government official asked him: “Did you tell (Schwartz) that you were interested in taking a short position in Abacus?”

    “Yes, that was the purpose of the meeting,” Pellegrini responded.

    “How did you explain that to her?” the government official said.

    “That we wanted to buy protection on traunches of a synthetic RMBS portfolio.” Pellegrini said.

    The SEC does not mention this exchange in its complaint against Goldman.

    In the exchange above, Laura Schwartz was a manager at ACA. Pellegrini indicates that the entire purpose of this meeting that took place in Jackson Hole, WY was to discuss the short position that Paulson desired. Unless the SEC intends to say that Pellgrini is lying, it’s hard to imagine how this doesn’t virtually dismantle its case.

    You may recall that the one clear dispute of fact from the start between Goldman and the SEC centered on what the bank told ACA about Paulson’s intent. Goldman claims that it never led ACA to believe that Paulson would be an equity investor. The SEC says it did. Pellegrini’s reported testimony provides strong support for Goldman’s side of the story.

    If the SEC loses the battle in attempting to show that Goldman misled ACA, it’s left only with its claim that the bank misled investors. That, however, is more a question of law. It’s not at all clear that whoever helped choose the collateral pool is material to investors. As explained earlier, so long as an investor has accurate information with which to perform statistical evaluation of a security, it’s hard to see how the details of its portfolio’s origin matter.





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  • Patrick Admin Officials Hold Open Office Hours

    Wade Roush wrote:

    The Patrick Administration announced today that representatives of the Massachusetts: It’s All Here campaign to support business growth in the state will be available for meetings with college students, entrepreneurs, and small business executives at their new location in the Cambridge Innovation Center at One Broadway, Cambridge. Officials who will be available by appointment for office hours at the CIC include Gregory Bialecki, Secretary of Housing and Economic Development; Eric Nakajima, Senior Innovation Policy Advisor; Anne Struthers, Executive Director of Business Development; and Kofi Jones, coordinator of Massachusetts: It’s All Here. Xconomy broke the news about the opening of the state’s CIC outpost in early February.












  • The Fed’s Annual Earnings Increase

    It’s earnings week — and the Federal Reserve system is offering up details on its 2009 balance sheet.

    The bank notes that though the total value of its assets “did not change significantly,” the composition of those assets changed dramatically. The bank shed $1.3 trillion in central bank liquidity swaps, loans and commercial paper. But it increased its holdings of mortgage-backed securities by $919 billion, “to provide support to mortgage and housing markets and to foster improved conditions in financial markets more generally.” (For reference, U.S. housing assets are worth $16.7 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve. Their value peaked at $22.9 trillion in 2006.)

    The Fed’s overall earnings increased to $53.4 billion — including a surprising $20.4 billion in earnings on its mortgage-backed securities, many of which the Fed gained through its bailouts of AIG and Bear Sterns. Those assets were took a loss in 2008.

  • Science for Citizens | Bad Astronomy

    scienceforcitizensMy pal Darlene Cavalier from Science Cheerleader twigged me on to a project she’s helped develop: Science for Citizens, a collection of websites for projects where citizens — that’s you! — can help do science. There are a lot of interesting projects there, from using Hubble to bird watching.

    There are a lot of familiar ones there — Stardust@Home, for example — as well as educational projects for kids and older students. It’s a treasure trove of ideas! I’m a big fan of citizen science, in fact. Amateur astronomy has and probably always will be an important aspect of astronomy, since there is a vast amount of excellent science that can be done with smaller, personal observatories. Lots of other fields of science are figuring this out as well, so you should take a look and see if anything there captures your interest. There’s something there for pretty much everyone.


  • Friday at Yale: A Talk About Science and the Media | The Loom

    Attention, people of Yale, New Haven, and environs! I will be giving a talk Friday called “Science and the Media: A Match Made in Heaven, or a Cosmic Train Wreck?”

    I’ll offer my bipolar musings on the once and future state of science journalism. It’s free and open to the public

    It’s sponsored by the Yale Training Program in Biophysics, the Department of Molecular Biology and Biophysics, and the Poynter Fellowship in Journalism at Yale.

    Here are the details:

    When: Friday, April 23, 2010 4:00 PM
    Where: Bass Center for Molecular and Structural Biology (BASS), Rm. 305
    266 Whitney Ave., New Haven, CT 06511

    More information here. and here.


  • Barack Obama Leaves The Door WIDE Open For A VAT Tax

    Obama Sarkozy

    Here’s the key nugget to take away from Barack Obama’s interview with CNBC’s John Harwood:

    JOHN HARWOOD: If reducing consumption is a good idea, could you see the potential for value-added tax in this country?    

    PRESIDENT OBAMA: You know– I know that there’s been a lot of talk around town lately about the value-added tax– that is something that has worked for some countries.  It’s something that would be novel– for the United States.  And before, you know, I started saying, “This makes sense or that makes sense.”  I want to get a better picture of what our options are

    And my first priority is to figure out how can we reduce wasteful spending so that– you know, we have a baseline of the core services that we need and the government should provide.  And then we decide how do we pay for that.  As opposed to figuring out how much money can we raise and then– not have to make some tough choices on the spending side.

    Translated: We’re going to wait until the deficit reduciton committee makes its suggestions after the November elections, and when the committee makes its suggestion, then we can act.

    Join the conversation about this story »

  • Palm…..A Caveat Emptor

    “There is a tide in the affairs of men.

    Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;

    Omitted, all the voyage of their life?

    Is bound in shallows and in miseries”

    These words written by William Shakespeare from “Julius Caesar” should be the epitaph on Palm’s tomb when it is bought out or closed down in the coming months. 

    Palm has squandered opportunities to sew up the PDA/ smartphone market on no fewer than three occasions since the turn of the century and finally enough should be enough. Palm blew their unrivalled position as the leader of the nascent PDA market, then blew the opportunity to be the first dominant player in the smartphone market and then this time last year we were all waiting for the launch of the Palm Pre with breathless excitement (yes we were). Here at last was a phone to rival and maybe outgun the iPhone being launched on a CDMA network. Everyone anticipated that the Sprint exclusive would be short-lived and that the real fun would start when the handset moved to Verizon.

    How wrong we were, and frankly we should have known better. ‘Twas ever thus with Palm. Through a combination of poor styling, poor marketing, poor everything, Palm completely missed their moment yet again and before they knew it Android handsets were being launched daily and the chance had gone. Somehow and for some reason Palm has always been jinxed and the only question being asked now is who will buy them and inherit the wonders of webOS.

    So here’s my advice for any of the pretenders. “Don’t do it!” Let this one quietly wither and die as its cash slowly runs down. Nothing good can come from it. I am not the remotest bit superstitious, but for some reason and without fail any product that comes out of this stable seems doomed to pull defeat from the jaws of victory.

    In the past few days I have read countless speculative articles from analysts far more qualified than me making the case for literally everyone to buy Palm, or rather the rights to webOS, either to take a stance in the mobile market or as a defensive measure. By consensus the front runners seem to be HTC, who should buy because they make best handsets for other people’s operating systems, and Lenovo, who should buy because they would then be able to make great tablet computers and/or smartphones. Maybe RiM could solve their image problems by an acquisition or even Nokia with its 40%+ global share might find Palm a good way to gain a significant foothold in the US market (if you call 4% and declining a foothold).

    At $1bn no one is going to be put off by the price, and the momentum of the deal dictates that somewhere right now, there are corporate development people burning the midnight oil working out how to make Palm look like a no brainer in a 200-page, artfully created Powerpoint presentation. Soon, executives will gather deep into the night to make their momentous decision, and the bankers will earn their spectacular fees. This isn’t sound financial advice, but here’s my advice to them all. Save your money, buy yourself an Incredible, a Galaxy S, and HD2 or an EVO 4G and get a good night’s sleep. There are better deals and better companies to be had in the morning.

    Check out BestBuy Mobile for other cellular news, videos, and How Tos.


  • Daily Data Dump (Wednesday) | Gene Expression

    Low Vitamin D Levels Associated With More Asthma Symptoms and Medication Use. Not a randomized double blind study. Rather, they look at the correlation, and they did some cell biology experiments. Looks like high levels of vitamin D enhances the action of corticosteroids.

    Recreational genome sequencing for the whole family. I’m kind of irritated as the “ethical concerns” about this information. Information may not always want to be free, but this is pretty much an inevitability. Since there’s no plausible way you can cordon it off you need to educate people to use the information wisely. Unfortunately most of the populace is not too intelligent, but that just means you need to work hard in making the heuristics simple and obvious.

    Genetic Basis for Health Benefits of the ‘Mediterranean Diet’. Turns out it might be a matter of gene expression.

    Thinking About Tomorrow. Delaying gratification is really important, and often hard.

    Why Texas is doing so much better economically than the rest of the nation. Daniel Gross focuses on the fact that Texas is globalizing and export-oriented. I note that only Utah has a lower median age. I suspect that the young work force in its peak years makes it easy for Texas to have a low public service state and focus on private sector wealth generation.

  • Kaweah Delta hospital orders 100 iPads

    Kaweah Delta iPadIt was pretty obvious to us when we first saw the that it would definitely be big in the medical field. As it turns out, it looks like hospitals are catching on—case in point, California’s Kaweah Delta. The hospital has ordered 100 iPads for use around their campus. Nick Volosin, the hospital’s director of technical services, sees the iPad as replacing laptops for things like email, checking X-rays, EKG results, and more.


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    Kaweah Delta hospital orders 100 iPads originally appeared on Gear Live on Wed, April 21, 2010 – 12:08:25


  • Vegetarian Sources

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  • Google Turn by Turn Navigation Goes Live for UK Android 2.1 and 1.6 Smartphones

    Found under: Google, Maps, Navigation, Android, ,

    Googles turn by turn Maps Navigation system is finally coming to other markets than the USA. Android 2.1 and 1.6 smartphones owners in the UK will finally be able to use Google Navigation and hopefully other worldwide markets will follow soon.In case you happen to reside in the UK you can now download the updated Google Maps Navigation Beta application on your Android device and start enjoying the navigation features. Youll have to look for version 4.1.1 since thats the one that bri

    Read More

    Read more in mobile format

  • Moving our Planet Forward

    Communities of activists and advocates are keeping busy this week in the run-up to tomorrow’s commemoration of the 40th annual Earth Day. Last night I had the pleasure of hearing from EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and a panel of climate and energy experts hosted by Planet Forward, an innovative project of The George Washington University.

    Administrator Jackson outlined her agency’s plan to work with Congress toward comprehensive policies to reshape our energy future and speed the transition from polluting fossil fuels to clean energy sources. She engaged the audience in a frank conversation about the need to pay more attention to environmental issues, not just to preserve ecosystems and resources but to protect human health, build public policies around sound science, and guarantee equitable access to basic resources.

    One of Administrator Jackson’s main initiatives at EPA is to expand the conversation around environmental issues to include new concerns and new voices. I couldn’t agree more with this goal; climate and energy is an issue of social justice, of public health, and of economic and national security concerns as much as ecological ones. Jackson’s own background as a native of New Orleans, an engineer and a mother speaks to what inspires so many in the environmental movement; not the spotted owl or old-growth forests (though they are important!) but the need to stop skyrocketing childhood asthma rates, clean polluted waterways, and create millions of jobs in green industries.

    The Planet Forward event also featured panelists from the Hill, a major Mid-Atlantic utility, Mother Jones magazine, and the Natural Resources Defense Council speaking to the prospects for the Senate climate bill expected to be released next week. They are all looking for a bi-partisan bill that spurs clean energy innovation and protects consumers while setting strong targets for reducing emissions and honoring our obligations under international climate deals. It’s a lot to ask for, but it’s exactly the kind of policy we need to honor our obligations to be good stewards of our earth and protect all its inhabitants. The speakers at last night’s event show once again that comprehensive climate legislation is a goal shared by the business, scientific, and environmental communities among many others.

    Planet Forward aims to engage all people – from professional environmental advocates to tree-planting children – in the conversation around climate and energy challenges. Using new media like twitter and Facebook, encouraging the public to submit videos of everyday actions to reduce energy use, and hosting online discussion forums are all part of the effort. As we get ready for to fight for comprehensive climate legislation in the Senate, we’ll need all the resources we can mobilize, including such innovative online communities. Tomorrow we mark the 40th annual Earth Day, and we hope you will join in the efforts to move our planet forward.

  • “Multiregionalism vs. Out of Africa” | Gene Expression

    John Hawks has a post up, Multiregional evolution lives!, in response to Rex Dalton’s reporting on Neandertal-human admixture. He notes:

    These ongoing studies are concluding that present-day genetic variation is inconsistent with a simple model where a random-mating ancestral population gives rise to today’s global population by means of a staged out-of-Africa dispersal. They next look at a model with some substantial (possibly complete) isolation between ancient human populations followed by a subsequent out-of-Africa dispersal. They show that this model fits the data significantly better.
    So far, so good.

    For a moment, I’m going to adopt a critical perspective. Previous results haven’t yet been able to answer an important possible question: Can they distinguish the effects of intermixture outside Africa from an ancient population structure inside Africa? Increasingly it looks like population structure inside Africa may have been very important to the evolution of Late Pleistocene Africans. How can we distinguish these kinds of structure from each other?

    The short answer is that maybe we can’t, yet. Human population history was not simple. If we take a simple model and add more parameters, it will fit the data better. The question is whether there may be some even better model with the same number of parameters. Population structure within Africa, selection on some loci but not others, asymmetrical migration — all these and more might be possible.

    The Out of Africa + total replacement model had a clean elegance, but it might not be viable in the near future. That being said it seems to me that the old Multiregional model implied, though proponents were often careful to reject this characterization, more regional parity than was the case. I do not expect the predominant African ancestry of modern humans to be rejected for example. There are other frameworks out there, such as Alan Templeton’s Out of Africa again and again (Richard Dawkins favors this in The Ancestor’s Tale).

  • Genzyme Expects $175M Expense for Manufacturing Problems in Allston

    Ryan McBride wrote:

    Genzyme has given its first-quarter 2010 earnings a $175 million haircut. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech firm (NASDAQ:GENZ) said today that it expects to pay that amount to the FDA due to deficiencies at its manufacturing plant in Allston, MA.

    The company and the FDA are negotiating terms of a consent decree, under which the firm would agree to certain deadlines for addressing problems at the Allston plant, says Bo Piela, a spokesman for Genzyme. In addition to the $175 million charge, the company says that it expects to pay 18.5 percent of its revenues on sales of products shipped from Allston if it fails to meet deadlines for moving its deficient operation for filling medicine vials away from the plant. (In November, the FDA warned doctors that it found foreign particles in medicines made at the Allston plant, including fragments from a rubber vial stopper used in the deficient operation in question.) Those deadlines are still under negotiation. Also, the company is in talks with the agency about setting deadlines for when broader improvements will need to be made at the plant, and the company would have to pay $15,000 per day after those deadlines until the operations are compliant.

    Genzyme says that it expects to wrap up negotiations with the FDA about the terms of the consent decree sometime in the second fiscal quarter of 2010. In the meantime, Piela says, the company has already begun to move the medicine vial filling operations from its Allston facility to its plant in Waterford, Ireland, as well as to a contract manufacturing facility owned by Hospira (NYSE:HSP), a specialty drugmaker based in Lake Forest, IL.







  • Closing Bell: Here’s What You Need To Know About Today’s Action

    oil rig fire

    After falling again this morning, stocks retraced and ended up posting solid gains by the close.

    DJIA: Up 7 points to 11,1124.

    NASDAQ: Up 4 points to 2504.

    S&P 500: Down 1 point to 1205.

    Commodities:
    Oil: Down 0.16% or $0.13 to $83.72 a barrel.
    Gold: Up 0.75% or $8.60 to $1147.80 an ounce.
    Silver: Up 1.54% or $0.27 to $18.10 an ounce.

    Now here’s what you need to know as you leave work today

    • Greece continues to spiral into crisis as the spreads on the country’s sovereign debt moved to new highs. The country’s problems are now spreading to Portugal and Spain, as the IMF and the EU continue to talk about the bailout package.
    • The Senate Agriculture Committee moved in a bipartisan vote to require commercial banks, such as JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America, to rid themselves of their swap desks. Industry officials feel this will limit the ability of commercial banks to lend to clients.
    • Republicans are beginning to waver in their opposition to Democratic Sen. Dodd’s financial reform bill, and are considering moving away from their leadership on the issue. Sen. Dodd is optimistic some Republicans will support the bill.
    • The emerging economies of Brazil and India have joined the chorus of states calling for China to revalue its currency. The head of the Brazilian national bank said yuan revaluation was “absolutely critical.”

    Join the conversation about this story »

  • 5 reasons Flash 10.1 will debut at Google I/O

    If you read our Android 2.2 preview yesterday, you might have noticed I speculated that the Flash 10.1 beta could make an appearance next month. Sometimes my predictions are way off, but Flash 10.1 is overdue and the evidence is beginning to mount that a release is near. The following is a quick list of reasons I think we will see Flash 10.1 on May 19th at Google I/O.

    1. Adobe Flash 10.1 and Air 2 beta signups

    I start with this point because it is the most obvious and it comes directly from Adobe. Early this week Adobe began taking applications for public betas of Flash 10.1 and Air 2 for Android. In a post on The Flash Blog it was revealed that private betas had already begun with developers.

    2. Flash 10.1 coming in the first half of 2010

    We originally thought Flash 10.1 had been delayed till the second half of 2010, but we were wrong. Flash evangelist Serge Jespers was quick to point out that Flash 10.1 was still on track for a 1H 2010 release. That leaves about two months before it should be available.

    3. Andy Rubin blogs about Flash for Android on the Adobe blogs

    Google’s VP of Engineering, Andy Rubin, just authored a guest post on the Adobe Featured Blogs. He specifically mentions Google I/O and says we will learn more at the event.

    “We also look forward to all the innovative content and applications created for Android and Flash. Join us at Google I/O in May to learn more about our work together with Adobe to open up the world of Flash on mobile devices.”Andy Rubin>Google

    4. New version of Android with embedded Flash support

    I already authored an entire post on this, but I think Android 2.2 will also debut at Google I/O. There is evidence that 2.2 is already in testing and signs that new Android features will be revealed at Google I/O.

    Android engineer Chris Nesladek and a few others will lead a session titled Android UI design patterns. Part of their discussion will focus on “new patterns which will get an I/O-only preview”. There is also the session A JIT Compiler for Android’s Dalvik VM which is another new Android feature.

    5. Flash devs are already making Android apps

    What good is the beta of Flash 10.1 without some apps to try it out? Adobe has already provided many devs with early access to Flash and Air, while Google has supplied them with free phones.

    If you visit The Flash Blog, Adobe has already listed a dozen Android apps which use Flash and Air. Each app has a corresponding blog post and video, so it looks like the devs have had access for awhile. I expect most of these guys will be at I/O to show off their work.

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  • Latest ACTA draft finally released, ISP ‘safe harbor’ limitations considered

    By Scott M. Fulton, III, Betanews

    As promised, the world’s trade negotiators have finally released a public and, to a limited extent, redacted version of the current draft document for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. Releasing a draft of a global trade agreement is actually unprecedented, say many diplomats.

    Though the authors of certain passages under consideration — many of them marked by [square brackets] — have been redacted from public view, it’s clear that new legal limitations on an Internet service provider’s ability to claim “safe harbor,” excusing it from secondary liability for copyright (or patent) infringement, are being considered. That option is believed to have been proposed by the United States delegation, as indicated by a leaked document from the European Union (PDF available here from Wired). However, another option that would not limit ISP safe harbor provisions, is listed in the draft document under equal consideration.

    The first option under consideration for Section 4, Article 2.18, paragraph 3 (actually a pair of options, the second contingent upon the first) defines the limitation of liability for an ISP that, by definition, doesn’t alter the content of the information it provides to subscribers on behalf of other services. Note that sections in [square brackets] are proposed text, some of which may appear next to other proposed text set off in the same way. References to footnotes here have been removed.

    Option 1

    [ 3. Each Party recognizes that some persons use the services of third parties, including online service providers,…for engaging in [ patent, industrial design and trademark,] copyright or related rights infringement. Each Party also recognizes that legal uncertainty with respect to application of copyright and related rights, limitations, exceptions, and defenses in the digital environment may present barriers to the economic growth of, and opportunities in, electronic commerce.] Accordingly, in order to facilitate the continued development of an industry engaged in providing information services online while also ensuring that measures to take adequate and effective action against copyright or related rights infringement are available and reasonable each Party [shall][ may]:

    (a) provide limitations on the scope of civil remedies available against an online service provider for infringing activities that occur by

    (i) automatic technical processes, and

    (ii) the actions of the provider’s users that are not directed or initiated by that provider and when the provider does not select the material, and

    (iii) the provider referring or linking users to an online location, when, in cases of subparagraphs (ii) and (iii), the provider does not have actual knowledge of the infringement and is not aware of facts or circumstances from which infringing activity is apparent; and ]

    Option 2

    [Each Party recognizes that some persons use the services of third parties, including online service providers,…for engaging in intellectual property rights infringements.

    (a) In this respect, each Party shall provide limitation on the [liability of] [scope of civil remedies available against an] on-line service provider[s] for infringing activities that occur by

    (i) automatic technical processes [ that keep the provider from taking measures to prevent the infringement], or

    (ii) the actions of the provider´s users that are not initiated nor modified by that provided and when the provider does not select the material or

    (iii) the storage of information provided by the recipient of the service or at the request of the recipient of the service,

    when exercising the activities as stipulated in paragraph 3(a)(ii) and/or (iii) the online service providers act [takes appropriate measures] expeditiously, in accordance with applicable law [s], [such as those] to remove or disable access to infringing material or infringing activity upon obtaining actual knowledge of the infringement [or the fact that the information at the initial source has been removed or disabled.] [or having reasonable grounds to know that the infringement is occurring]]

    There’s a preamble of sorts here that says, of course, we recognize that ISPs are legitimate businesses and we all want them to prosper. To that end, we’re bound to disagree on the meanings of certain terms and legal minutiae, especially as the Internet continues to evolve. Nevertheless, we should set forth here and now to resolve that an ISP’s liability — given that it’s likely to be innocent anyway — should be limited when all it does is provide the pipeline. One of the proposed footnotes (not yet adopted) would stipulate that an online service provider by definition provides only access to content without modifying it (and if it does something differently, then it’s not an ISP or “OSP” by that same definition).

    Option 2 above would have the more forgiving portions of that language kick in only if the ISP published policies prohibiting the use of the service for piracy or copyright infringement, and if it also took pro-active steps to block access to infringing material once the ISP learned it was available. Exactly how it would take such steps is unspecified by this particular optional passage, although one can imagine blocking access to a Web site, or even restricting the use of — or throttling the capabilities of — an Internet application, as one acceptable possibility.

    Another optional passage immediately following, which would become subparagraph (b) if adopted, is clearer as to what pro-active measures would be acceptable. To recap, “in order to facilitate the continued development of an industry…each Party [shall][ may]:”

    Option 1

    (b) condition the application of the provisions of subparagraph (a) on meeting the following requirements:

    (i) an online service provider adopting and reasonably implementing a policy…to address the unauthorized storage or transmission of materials protected by copyright or related rights [except that no Party may condition the limitations in subparagraph (a) on the online service provider’s monitoring its services or affirmatively seeking facts indicating that infringing activity is occurring]; and

    (ii) an online service provider expeditiously removing or disabling access to material or [activity][alleged infringement], upon receipt [of legally sufficient notice of alleged infringement,][of an order from a competent authority] and in the absence of a legally sufficient response from the relevant subscriber of the online service provider indicating that the notice was the result of mistake or misidentification.

    except that the provisions of (ii) shall not be applied to the extent that the online service provider is acting solely as a conduit for transmissions through its system or network.]

    It’s a confusing section, especially since it would appear to directly contradict the section that came before it…but that’s not unprecedented in a trade agreement at all. The original proposition here appears to stipulate that ISPs should adopt policies to prevent infringing content from being transmitted. Further, if it receives an order related to the availability of that content (maybe from a judge, maybe not from a judge) then it should act. Now, it may be up to nations to determine what “act” means; and perhaps it does not mean changing the definition of ISP (or “OSP”) to the extent that it stops “acting solely as a conduit” and becomes a filtering system.

    Evidently, there’s an ongoing argument over this problem: When does an ISP stop being a conduit and start becoming the content police? If, by definition, it is unaware of what’s going on inside the conduit, then some argue it should remain innocent. That innocence can then be broken, say the authors of the above option, if they receive a certified letter from an attorney saying there’s theft, theft!, going on inside that conduit. At that point, if the ISP does nothing, then it’s aiding and abetting that theft.

    As today’s newly released old text indicates, this is a very old argument that is nowhere close to being resolved. In a statement this afternoon, European Union Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht celebrated the fact that this dispute is now public. “I am very glad that the EU convinced its partners to release the negotiation text. The text makes clear what ACTA is really about: It will provide our industry and creators with better protection in overseas markets which is essential for business to thrive. It will not have a negative impact on European citizens.”

    Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010



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  • Pay $100, Jump From the Top of Vegas’ Stratosphere [Vegas]

    The Stratosphere, one of the taller hotel/casinos in old Vegas, has a new way to get your kicks: by jumping off its roof and living to tell the tale. More »







  • Google Maps for Windows Mobile updated, ads voice search

    gm41

    Despite Microsoft’s benign neglect, Windows Mobile is still getting some attention from an unexpected source. 

    Google Maps for Windows Phone has seen an update to version 4.1, and ads a pretty nice feature. Version 4.1 ads voice search capabilities, interestingly tied to the hardware call button.

    The app claims to work with a wide range of English accents, including American, British, Indian, Australian, & New Zealand English and also Mandarin.

    The update can be downloaded at m.google.com/maps using your mobile browser.

    Via Pocketnow.com


  • Recall Recall!

    Tropical Bedding Mattress Sets (fire)
    Le Hing Baby Walkers (falling)
    Mares Dive Computers (drowning)
    Hammary Furniture Chests and Tables (lead)
    Oriental Furniture Roman Shades and Roll-Up Blinds (strangulation)