Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Ed Helms' 'Tiny Commando' series coming to Yahoo

NEW YORK (AP) ? Yahoo's latest slate of original programming is led by Ed Helms as a 4-inch-tall crime fighter.

"Tiny Commando," created by the "The Office" star, was unveiled Monday night in a presentation by Yahoo to advertisers in New York. It stars Helms, along with Zachary Levi, of "Chuck," and Gillian Jacobs, of "Community."

Following in Netflix's footsteps, Yahoo will simultaneously release all episodes of "Tiny Commando" and other comedy series this fall.

Yahoo, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., also will debut a series titled "Losing Your Virginity With John Stamos," in which the former "Full House" actor interviews celebrities about their first sexual experiences. Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock executive produces.

Along with YouTube, Netflix and Hulu, Yahoo has sought in recent years to expand into original programming ? mainly short-form Web series ? that draws users to its platform. Erin McPherson, Yahoo vice president and head of video, said the company has more than doubled its original video programming in the last year.

Yahoo's presentation Monday was part of this week's Digital Content NewFronts, at which digital media companies lay out their programming plans much like TV broadcasters do every spring. Last year, Yahoo touted its most high-profile series: Tom Hanks' sci-fi, animated "Electric City." While "Electric City" was widely judged a dud, Yahoo has found a modest hit in "Burning Love," a parody of "The Bachelor" now beginning its third season.

Also part of this year's slate is Cheryl Hines, a star of "Curb Your Enthusiasm." Hines and Rachael Harris will star in "We Need Help," a comedy in which the two actresses exploit a shared personal assistant.

Yahoo announced that beginning this summer it's partnering with the WWE to make the Web portal an online hub for professional wrestling videos. Yahoo will produce a 30-minute pre-show to the WWE's "Monday Night Raw" and distribute two weekly wresting series.

Last week, Yahoo announced a deal to stream "Saturday Night Live" archival clips.

___

Follow AP Entertainment Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jake_coyle

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ed-helms-tiny-commando-series-coming-yahoo-230336152.html

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Obama administration simplifies health care form

This application obtained by The Associated Press shows the short form for the new federal Affordable Care Act. The first draft was as mind-numbing as a tax form. Tuesday the Obama administration unveiled simplified application forms for health insurance benefits under the federal health care overhaul. The biggest change: a five-page short form that single people can fill out. That total includes a cover page with instructions, and an extra page to fill out if you want to designate someone to help you through the process. (AP Photo/J. David Ake)

This application obtained by The Associated Press shows the short form for the new federal Affordable Care Act. The first draft was as mind-numbing as a tax form. Tuesday the Obama administration unveiled simplified application forms for health insurance benefits under the federal health care overhaul. The biggest change: a five-page short form that single people can fill out. That total includes a cover page with instructions, and an extra page to fill out if you want to designate someone to help you through the process. (AP Photo/J. David Ake)

FILE - This April 10, 2013 file photo shows Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Acting Administrator Marilyn Tavenner speaking during a news conference at the Health and Humans Services (HHS) Department in Washington, Wednesday, April 10, 2013, to discuss the Health Department's fiscal 2014 budget. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The first draft was as mind-numbing as a tax form. Tuesday the Obama administration unveiled simplified application forms for health insurance benefits coming next year under the federal health care overhaul.

The biggest change: a five-page short form that single people can fill out. That total includes a cover page with instructions, and an extra page to fill out if you want to designate someone to help you through the process.

But the application form for families still runs to 12 pages, although most households will not have to fill out each and every page.

The paperwork takes on added importance because Americans remain confused about what President Barack Obama's health care overhaul will mean for them. A Kaiser Family Foundation poll released Tuesday found that 4 in 10 are unaware it's the law of the land. Some think it's been repealed by Congress, but in fact, it's still on track.

At his news conference Tuesday, Obama hailed the simplified forms as an example of how his team listened to criticism from consumer groups and made a fix. The law's benefits will be available to all Americans, he emphasized, even if Republicans in Congress still insist on repeal, and many GOP governors won't help put it into place.

When the first draft of the application turned out to be a clunker, "immediately, everybody sat around the table and said, 'Well, this is too long, especially...in this age of the Internet,'" Obama recounted. "'People aren't going to have the patience to sit there for hours on end. Let's streamline this thing.'"

His administration is open to making improvements, Obama added: "Those kinds of refinements, we're going to be working on."

Consumers will start getting familiar with the new applications less than six months from now, on Oct. 1, when new insurance markets open for enrollment in every state. Most people with job-based benefits will not have to bother with the applications, only the uninsured.

Under the law, middle-class people who don't get coverage through their jobs will be able to purchase private insurance. Most will be able to get tax credits, based on their incomes, to make their premiums more affordable. Low-income uninsured people will be steered to government programs like Medicaid.

Benefits begin Jan. 1, and nearly 30 million uninsured Americans are eventually expected to get coverage.

While the first drafts of the applications were widely panned, the new forms were seen as an improvement. Still, consumers must provide a snapshot of their finances to see if they qualify for help. That potentially includes multiple sources of income, from alimony, to tips, to regular paychecks.

"Given the amount of information necessary to determine eligibility, it's hard to see how the forms could be any shorter," said Robert Laszewski, a former insurance executive turned industry consultant.

Activist Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, is an administration ally who had openly criticized the first draft of the forms, worrying that consumers would get discouraged just trying to fill them out. He called the changes "very positive."

"There has got to be a balance to between getting adequate (financial) information to make sure everybody gets the help they're entitled to under the law, while at the same time trying to keep the process consumer-friendly," said Pollack.

Although the new forms are shorter, the administration wasn't able to get rid of all the complexity. Individuals will have to gather tax returns, pay stubs and other financial records before filling out the application.

Administration officials expect most consumers to apply online through the new insurance marketplaces in each state. A single application process will serve to route consumers to either private plans or the Medicaid program. Identification, citizenship and immigration status, as well as income details, are supposed to be verified in close to real time through a federal "data hub" that will involve pinging Social Security, Homeland Security and the Internal Revenue Service.

Currently, applying for health insurance individually entails filling out a lengthy questionnaire about your health. Under Obama's overhaul, insurers will no longer be able to turn away the sick, or charge them more. The health care questions will disappear, but they'll be replaced by questions about your income. Consumers who underestimate their incomes could be in for an unwelcome surprise later on in the form of smaller tax refunds.

"Consumers will have a simple-easy to understand way to apply for health coverage later this year," said Medicare chief Marilyn Tavenner, also overseeing the rollout of the health care law. She said the application is "significantly shorter than industry standards."

Among the sections eliminated in the new form was one that asked applicants if they also wanted to register to vote. Some congressional Republicans had criticized that, calling it politically motivated.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-04-30-Health%20Overhaul-Applying%20for%20Benefits/id-ee46a6df70c84b5b88b0c7ef8adc7f35

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New drug stimulates immune system to kill infected cells in animal model of hepatitis B infection

New drug stimulates immune system to kill infected cells in animal model of hepatitis B infection

Monday, April 29, 2013

A novel drug developed by Gilead Sciences and tested in an animal model at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio suppresses hepatitis B virus infection by stimulating the immune system and inducing loss of infected cells.

In a study conducted at Texas Biomed's Southwest National Primate Research Center, researchers found that the immune modulator GS-9620, which targets a receptor on immune cells, reduced both the virus levels and the number of infected liver cells in chimpanzees chronically infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV). Chimpanzees are the only species other than humans that can be infected by HBV. Therefore, the results from this study were critical in moving the drug forward to human clinical trials which are now in progress.

The new report, co-authored by scientists from Texas Biomed and Gilead Sciences, appears in the May issue of Gastroenterology. Gilead researchers had previously demonstrated that the same therapy could induce a cure of hepatitis infection in woodchucks that were chronically infected with a virus similar to human HBV.

"This is an important proof-of-concept study demonstrating that the therapy stimulates the immune system to suppress the virus and eliminate infected liver cells," said co-author Robert E. Lanford, Ph.D., of Texas Biomed. "One of the key observations was that the therapy continued to suppress virus levels for months after therapy was stopped.

The current therapy for HBV infection targets the virus and works very well at suppressing viral replication and delaying progression of liver disease, but it is a lifelong therapy that does not provide a cure.

"This GS-9620 therapy represents the first conceptually new treatment for HBV in more than a decade, and combining it with the existing antiviral therapy could be transformative in dealing with this disease," stated Lanford.

The Gilead drug binds a receptor called Toll-Like Receptor 7 that is present in immune cells. The receptor normally recognizes invading viruses and triggers the immune system to suppress viral replication by the innate immune response and kill infected cells by the adaptive immune response, thus orchestrating both arms of the immune system.

HBV damages the liver, leading to cirrhosis and liver cancer. Liver cancer is the fifth most common cancer worldwide and the third most common cause of cancer death. According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), up to 1.4 million Americans are chronically infected with HBV.

The World Health Organization estimates that two billion people have been infected with the hepatitis B virus, resulting in more than 240 million people with chronic infections and 620,000 deaths every year.

###

Texas Biomedical Research Institute: http://txbiomed.org/

Thanks to Texas Biomedical Research Institute for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127969/New_drug_stimulates_immune_system_to_kill_infected_cells_in_animal_model_of_hepatitis_B_infection

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Monkeys imitate local food norms, study finds

The maxim, 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do' also applies to non-human primates, as scientists discover that wild monkeys have an ability to imitate the social eating behavior of other groups of monkeys. ?

By Mai Ng?c Ch?u,?Contributor / April 26, 2013

Vervet monkeys eat bread on a lawn near some tourist bungalows in Kruger National Park, South Africa.

Melanie Stetson Freeman / The Christian Science Monitor.

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The tendency to adapt to cultural behaviors in a new place is not unique to us, a new study suggests.

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A study led by psychologists of the University of St Andrews in Scotland finds that vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus aethiops) in South Africa prefer food that those around them are eating.

The researchers dyed corn pink or blue and trained groups of monkeys to eat corn of one color and avoid the other. When young males migrated from one group to a group that preferred the opposite color, most of them immediately switched to the local preference.

Leading primate experts call this research?evidence of "cultural transmission"?in wild primates, which could also help to explain the evolution of our human desire to search for "local knowledge" when traveling to a new culture.

In a press release from St Andrews, noted primatologist?Frans de Waal?called the research "one of the few successful field experiments on cultural transmission to date.? De Waal did not participate in the study.?

Carel van Schaik, an evolutionary anthropologist at the University of Zurich, was also impressed. "Culture was thought to be something only humans had? he told the New York Times. "If you define culture as socially transmitted knowledge, skills and information, it turns out we see some of that in animals. Now this experiment comes along and I must say it really blew me away.?

According to the study's?authors, the discovery demonstrates that social learning and cultural conformity play an important role in the behavior of animals as well as humans.?

"As the saying goes, 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do,'" said co-author Andrew Whiten in the St Andrews press release. "Our findings suggest that a willingness to conform to what all those around you are doing when you visit a different culture is a disposition share by other primates."?

The study was published on April 25 by the journal Science.

Whiten and his colleagues conducted field experiments at the Inkawu Vervet Project in the Mawana private game reserve in South Africa. At first, they induced conformity in four groups of wild vervet monkeys with 109 animals in total.

The team fed the first two groups of monkeys with a box of corn dyed blue and another dyed pink. The blue corn was soaked in bitter aloe leaves and to be made distasteful to the monkeys, so they soon ate only pink corn. For two other groups, pink corn was made bitter, and the monkeys learned to prefer blue corn. Once the monkeys were trained, the researchers stopped adding the aloe to the corn.?

Four months later, 27 infants were born. When they were able to eat solid food, the researchers supplied baby and adult monkeys with blue and pink corn. The adult animals stuck to their favorite color, and 26 of the infants ate only the corn the adult?monkeys liked.?

During the mating season, 10 male monkeys joined other groups that ate corn with a color different from the one their native group did. What surprised the researchers was that seven migrants quickly took up the locally-preferred corn, suggesting that they conformed to the cultural norm of their new group. With no higher ranking monkey present, the other two soon followed suit.

Researchers said the single monkey who continued to choose the same color as in his original group was perhaps taking the top rank in his new group, a factor that might explain his nonconformist behavior.

?The willingness of the immigrant males to adopt the local preference of their new groups surprised us all," said co-author Erica van de Waal, in the press release. "The copying behaviour of both the new, na?ve infants and the migrating males reveals the potency and importance of social learning in these wild primates, extending even to the conformity we know so well in humans.?

She said the study was?one of the very few successful controlled experiments in the wild, which "hints at a level of conformism most of us, until now, held not possible."

The cultural learning ability discovered in vervet monkeys is reminiscent of a well-known study of Japanese macaques?in the 1950s, in which one monkey was observed washing her food, a practice that spread throughout the troop and was passed on to subsequent generations. ?

Monkeys aren't the only animals observed transmitting cultural information. Another study conducted by a different group of scientists at the University of St Andrews found that whales learned feeding techniques?from their peers. Through analysis of a 27-year database on whale behavior collected in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, the researchers find that?lobtail feeding had spread to 37 percent of the whale's population.?

Susan Perry, an anthropologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, finds the whale study to be "a highly convincing case for a foraging tradition in a cetacean."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/yduyIDPJX_E/Monkeys-imitate-local-food-norms-study-finds

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Monday, April 29, 2013

The IPKat: The rise of patent monetization entities Part Three ...

In Part Two of this series of Katposts, we looked at the diffusion of patent assertion entities in England and Wales, where data show that only 6% of patent cases involve a PAE (in the US, instead, PAEs filed 56% of patent lawsuits in 2012 - see Part One). In the absence of detailed data on the rise of patent assertion entities in other EU countries, this Kat decided to take an indirect approach to the issue, looking at similarities or differences in (1) the usage of patents and (2) the legal framework in the UK and the rest of the EU.

On the first aspect, the PatVal-EU study provides some useful evidence on 'unused blocking patents', a concept that refers to patents which are neither used internally by the right owner, nor licensed. Their most frequent use is strategic blocking, which aims to prevent competitors from using the patented innovations. It is therefore probable that PAEs may assert patents falling within this category. A look at the findings of the PatVal-EU study shows that, in respect to about 9000 patents with priority date in 1993-1997 (located in France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and UK), the share of unused blocking patents is between 12,6 and 23% [these data, coupled with similar data on unused sleeping patents, brought concerns about low patent valorization in the EU: the Commission, here and here, suggested that the development of patent funds and pools may increase valorization, but noted that their activities could lead to anti-competitive and hold-up practices, unless they were committed to non exclusive licensing, based on reasonable remuneration - similar private-public funds are starting to appear in Korea (Intellectual Discovery Fund), France (Brevets) and Japan (Innovation Network Corp.), as reported by Reuters here]. The highest percentage of unused blocking patents is found in the UK, which suggests that the number of PAE cases in the UK and in other EU countries should be comparable, unless the former has a peculiar legal framework which discourages PAEs from filing lawsuits at the PHC.

This finding is corroborated by a research conducted by S. Fusco, who found that the number of known PAE cases in Italy and Germany is particularly low. According to her paper, in the period 2000-2012, only five lawsuits involved a patent assertion entity in Italy (out of about 1,000 patent cases); in Germany, again, Fusco was only able to gather evidence of five PAE cases (out of about 8,000 patent cases) in the same span of time (although these data were collected through indirect evidence). A study that examined the activity of patent assertion entities in the German patent market also confirmed these data: T. Fischer and J. Henkel found that PAEs are not particularly active in the market for technology, a conclusion which falls in line with the UK data (particularly, with the low activity in patent filing and litigation). The researchers were able to identify only 107 patent transfers to known PAEs in Germany, while similar entities acquired 458 patents in the US [the data, however, also suggest that the entities operating in the EU differ from those active in the US and vice versa: of all the PAEs listed in the study, only Intergraph and Rambus had engaged in patent transfers in both markets]. Although there may not be an exact correspondence between patent transfers and litigation, this study certainly suggests that PAEs' activity in Germany remains low, as highlighted in Fusco's work.

Since (1) patent usage (and market) looks uniform, attention should be devoted to (2) the differences in the legal framework of patent litigation around Europe. If one or more of the elements that are commonly regarded as safeguards against the spread of PAE litigation cannot be found in one or more of the EU member states, it could mean that the reassuring data on PAE cases in England and Wales cannot be extended to other countries. Before digging deeper, however, it may be useful to list these 'safeguards'. According to several studies (for example, here and here), these elements comprise:
(a) strict rules on the patentability of software and business method;
(b) fragmented enforceability, which increases the costs and complexity of litigation (and the likelihood of inconsistent decisions);
(c) unavailability of contingency fees;
(d) low litigation costs and damage awards in comparison to the US [similarly, low damage awards appear to be a factor in limiting PAE litigation in India - thanks Rahul!];
(e) implementation of the 'loser pays' rule.
Although they may be interpreted in slightly different ways, these safeguards appear to be present all over the EU. However, the major threat comes from the fragmented enforceability, which brings with it the risk of conflicting decisions. This certainly increases the litigation's complexity, but also allows a patent assertion entity to exploit the inconsistencies to identify the most PAE-friendly courts (look here for a comparison between UK, Germany, France and Netherlands). A prime example of this risk may be found in the different attitude of the courts on the issuance of injunctions in PAE cases. Sir Robin Jacob, at the 2008 GRUR Meeting in Stuttgart, offered a humorous perspective on the issue, discussing the different approach of UK and German courts:
[I]t comes out of a little discussion I had with a prominent German lawyer. He said to me: "for us, there is no problem." "Why?" I said. "Because if a valid patent is infringed, there will be an injunction." "Suppose", I asked, "the patent was for a life saving drug and the patentee had not enough product to supply the market. Would a German court really stop the supply of an infringer?s product?" "Well", he said, conceding the point: "Maybe not. But it would have to be a very extreme case."
In Germany, an injunction is usually granted if there is a finding or likelihood of infringement, and its use as an incentive to force settlement is openly acknowledged. In the PAE case IPCom v HTC, a German judge held that:
The Chamber does assume in principle that the enforcement of a cease-and-desist claim can be disproportionate since rights arising from a patent are not granted without limits (Art. 14 (2) of the Basic Law, ? 242 of the German Civil Code). However, since the legislator does not make the cease-and-desist claim subject to any general prohibition on commensurability (not so: ? 140a (4), ? 140b (4), ? 140c (2), ? 140d (2) of the Patent Act) and the cease-and-desist claim secures the exclusivity right protected under constitutional law, the scope of the disproportionality defense remains restricted to atypical exceptional cases which could not be foreseen by the legislator. The fact that the patent licensing entity is attempting to enforce a cease-and-desist claim in order to urge infringing parties to pay for a license does not, in the view of the Chamber, constitute such an exception but rather is an inherent part of the patent system as part of the applicable legal and economic system, especially since a patent licensing entity will usually be urged to take such action with respect to existing license agreements.
The German approach seems at odds with the one taken by the PHC. Again, Sir Robin Jacob explained that judges in England and Wales are prepared to grant injunctions, but maintain a degree of discretion in relation to the relief, which they exercise taking into account the plaintiff's interest and previous conduct. He noted that UK courts reject absolutism and affirm the right to refuse an injunction when damages appear to be an adequate remedy. Reciting Seager v Copydex and Banks v EMI Songs, the former judge stated that 'where an inventor wanted to sell his idea for money, money is what he got'. A similar approach is adopted by courts in the Netherlands, which generally also exhibit a more sensitive attitude, than German courts, towards foreign judgments (head here and here for some food for thought on the topic). The practical consequence is that some companies are moving away from Germany, to relocate their headquarters in the Netherlands, citing legal concerns as the main reason for the relocation (Microsoft is probably the most prominent example - test your German here). The recent judgment of the CJEU in Case C?616/10, Solvay SA v Honeywell et al.?(IPKat comments here), stirred things up, as it recognized the possibility of granting pan-European injunctions, if there is 'a real connecting link between the subject-matter of the provisional measures sought and the territorial jurisdiction of the Member State of the court seised' (a paper just published offers a perspective on the case). The Court did not move away from its previous ruling in Case C-4/03, Gesellschaft f?r Antriebstechnik mbH & Co. v Lamellen und Kupplungsbau Beteiligungs, which taught that a national court may assess infringement (or non-infringement) beyond national boundaries, but cannot rule on the validity of the patent at issue, as the courts of the member state where the patent was registered have exclusive jurisdiction on questions of validity, pursuant to the mandatory rule of Article 22(4) of Regulation 44/2001 (Article 16(4) of the Brussels Convention). Instead, the judges recognized that a pan-European interim injunction is permitted, if it does not lead to a final decision on the patent's validity:
According to the referring court, the court before which the interim proceedings have been brought does not make a final decision on the validity of the patent invoked but makes an assessment as to how the court having jurisdiction under Article 22(4) of the regulation would rule in that regard, and will refuse to adopt the provisional measure sought if it considers that there is a reasonable, non-negligible possibility that the patent invoked would be declared invalid by the competent court. In those circumstances, it is apparent that there is no risk of conflicting decisions ..., since the provisional decision taken by the court before which the interim proceedings have been brought will not in any way prejudice the decision to be taken on the substance by the court having jurisdiction under Article 22(4) of Regulation No 44/2001.
Further, the Court ruled that Article 6(1) of Regulation 44/2001 may be applied in cases where two or more companies from different Member States, in proceedings pending before a court of one of those Member States, 'are each separately accused of committing an infringement of the same national part of a European patent which is in force in yet another Member State by virtue of their performance of reserved actions with regard to the same product'. In Actavis Group HF v Eli Lilly & Company, the High Court for England and Wales accepted to hear foreign patent claims (if no question of validity is involved), declining arguments pointing to the forum non conveniens (and the AdvoKat commented it here).

It is difficult to predict whether these recent development may fuel or hinder the rise of patent assertion entities in the EU. The prospect of obtaining a pan-European injunction could potentially help the spread of PAE cases, while pan-European infringement proceedings might reduce fragmentation, inconsistency and litigation costs. This Kat, however, does not think that these elements could cause a sudden surge in PAE litigation: on one side, the judges' attitude towards the issuance of injunctions in PAE cases has so far been cautious; on the other, fragmentation could be restored, and usually will, through an invalidity claim.

The same concerns expressed above accompanied the Unified Patent Court Agreement (UPC), which many studies depicted as a test for the EU patent litigation system's resistance to the diffusion of PAEs. In particular, commentators (European Scrutiny Committee report here) pointed to bifurcation, forum shopping (and pro-patentee attitude, determined by competition between local divisions - see a recap of issues here) and pan-European injunctions as the main issues that might transform the EU into a 'trolls' paradise'. Professor Harhoff?however stated that the UPC is designed with an emphasis on revocation, low costs and cautious use of injunctions, elements which should be adequate to counter 'trolling' activities. Certainly, that seems to be one of the aims of the UPC, as a recital states: '[w]ishing to improve the enforcement of patents and the defence against unfounded claims and patents which should be revoked and to enhance legal certainty by setting up a Unified Patent Court for litigation relating to the infringement and validity of patents'.

Of relevance to assess potential effects on PAE lawsuits are, inter alia, the following provisions:

* Article 19: the establishment of a training framework for the judges should ensure, or at least contribute to, the uniformity of judicial decisions among the different divisions (as expressly stated by the provision itself: 'Regular meetings shall be organised between all judges of the Court in order to discuss developments in patent law and to ensure the consistency of the Court's case law');
*?Article 33(1)(b): allowing the plaintiff to bring an action under Article 32(1)(a), (c), (f) and (g) against multiple defendants 'only where the defendants have a commercial relationship and where the action relates to the same alleged infringement' should prevent the EU from suffering from one of the issues that plagued US litigation before the America Invents Act, which introduced stricter joinder rules;
*?Article 33(3): bifurcation may be feared by many, but the real effects of the provision remain to be discovered, as two out of three options allow the case to proceed safely united. The risk, here, is that judges across the different divisions may adopt different practices with regard to bifurcation, effectively creating a pro-patentee enclave [shall we call it Eastern District for Europe, perhaps?];
*?Article 33(10): as evidenced by the study cited in Part One of this post, information asymmetry may play a key role in favouring PAE litigation [Merpel cannot make up her mind on whether the adoption of a fair play rule in patent litigation - or in any fields of litigation - would be beneficial or deadly];
*?Article 42: principles of proportionality and fairness, albeit theoretical premises which might be disregarded, certainly point the system in the right direction, as far as PAE (or any type of) litigation is concerned (e.g. they may influence the judges' decisions on bifurcation, when a patent assertion entity is concerned, concentrating litigation to avoid unfair use of the temporal discrepancy between the judgments of infringement and validity);
*?Article 62: discretionary grant of provisional injunctions challenges the courts with the task of defining clear and consistent standards, giving actual shape to the elements indicated in Article 62(2) (interests of the parties and potential harm from granting or refusal). Once again, as with bifurcation, uniformity appears to be the key to a PAE-proof system;
*?Article 63: similarly, allowing discretionary grant of permanent injunctions could lead courts to take a UK-inspired approach, limiting the award of permanent injunctions in PAE cases (again, uniformity is the issue here);
*?Article 69: the adoption of the 'loser pays' rule is likely to be a disincentive for exploratory lawsuits and is commonly thought to be a powerful antidote to PAE litigation.

On a train to Milan, the

Kat saw something familiar...

To this Kat, the risk that the UPC Agreement may provide fertile ground for PAE cases does not appear significantly higher than that embedded in the current situation. The system, however, seems characterized by a degree of fragmentation, and perhaps incoherency [as shown by readers' comments to a recent IPKat post], which makes it hard to foresee how judges are going to apply the provisions of the Agreement. Usually, trolling activity thrives in situations where complexity and confusion rule. Thus, the challenge that awaits judges, practitioners and scholars is to shed light on the obscure issues and to ensure that the divisions' decisions will be consistent and uniform [Merpel adds that a good starting point would be to address some of the Max Planck's criticisms, examined by the AmeriKat here].

The analysis conducted so far, in Parts Two and Three, showed that (1) England and Wales enjoy a relatively PAE-adverse environment, (2) PAE litigation in other EU member states is equally constricted, although there is some inconsistency with respect to the use of injunctions, (3) the trend towards pan-European litigation should not significantly alter the current situation, and (4) the UPC Agreement contains potentially dangerous provisions, whose effects can [should, says Merpel] be contrasted by an effort to achieve consistency and to establish clear and shared standards for issuing injunctive remedies and dealing with bifurcation.

There is still one issue which is worth mentioning, as it gives a preview of possible developments of PAE litigation in Europe. As highlighted at the beginning of Part Two, the expression 'patent assertion entity' commonly refers to a company who manages a portfolio of patents for the primary aim of assertion and litigation, without practising the invention. Recently, however, primary companies in the ICT sector started using PAEs (already existent or created ad hoc) to assert patents against each other, in an effort to gain a competitive advantage and to hold up competitors, relying on the ever growing phenomenon of patent thickets ('a dense web of overlapping intellectual property rights that a company must hack its way through in order to actually commercialize new technology' according to Shapiro, more here). In June 2012, for example, Google filed a complaint with the EU Commission, alleging that Microsoft and Nokia 'are colluding to raise the costs of mobile devices for consumers, creating patent trolls that sidestep promises both companies have made' (Guardian article here). The giant search-engine company demanded that the competitors be held accountable and invited the Commission to look into these practices. Further, intense litigation in the EU (and US) is currently surrounding standard essential patents and FRAND licensing (examples: Germany here and UK here).

It seems that, if the EU has been relatively immune from traditional patent trolling, a new wave of better looking, well dressed, yet secretly malicious PAEs is appearing on the horizon. A similar development would not only shake the safeguards that protected the EU from traditional PAE litigation, but would ultimately challenge the patent system itself, shifting the focus from protection of research and innovation, to strategic use of patents to alter competition on the merits. Thus closely observing and studying old and new PAEs, even if the phenomenon appears to be minor in the EU, might be a very wise thing to do.

Source: http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-rise-of-patent-monetization_5980.html

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Report: CIA paid millions in 'ghost money' to Afghan leader

(Reuters) - Tens of millions of U.S. dollars in cash were delivered by the CIA in suitcases, backpacks and plastic shopping bags to the office of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai for more than a decade, according to the New York Times, citing current and former advisers to the Afghan leader.

The so-called "ghost money" was meant to buy influence for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) but instead fuelled corruption and empowered warlords, undermining Washington's exit strategy from Afghanistan, the newspaper quoted U.S. officials as saying.

"The biggest source of corruption in Afghanistan", one American official said, "was the United States."

The CIA declined to comment on the report and the U.S. State Department did not immediately comment. The New York Times did not publish any comment from Karzai or his office.

"We called it ?ghost money'," Khalil Roman, who served as Karzai's chief of staff from 2002 until 2005, told the New York Times. "It came in secret and it left in secret."

For more than a decade the cash was dropped off every month or so at the Afghan president's office, the newspaper said.

Handing out cash has been standard procedure for the CIA in Afghanistan since the start of the war.

The cash payments to the president's office do not appear to be subject to oversight and restrictions placed on official American aid to the country or the CIA's formal assistance programs, like financing Afghan intelligence agencies, and do not appear to violate U.S. laws, said the New York Times.

There was no evidence that Karzai personally received any of the money, Afghan officials told the newspaper. The cash was handled by his National Security Council, it added.

U.S. and Afghan officials familiar with the payments were quoted as saying that the main goal in providing the cash was to maintain access to Karzai and his inner circle and to guarantee the CIA's influence at the presidential palace, which wields tremendous power in Afghanistan's highly centralized government.

Much of the money went to warlords and politicians, many with ties to the drug trade and in some cases the Taliban, the New York Times said. U.S. and Afghan officials were quoted as saying the CIA supported the same patronage networks that U.S. diplomats and law enforcement agents struggled to dismantle, leaving the government in the grip of organized crime.

In 2010, Karzai said his office received cash in bags from Iran, but that it was a transparent form of aid that helped cover expenses at the presidential palace. He said at the time that the United States made similar payments.

The latest New York Times report said much of the Iranian cash, like the CIA money, went to pay warlords and politicians.

For most of Karzai's 11-year reign, there has been little interest in anti-corruption in the army or police. The country's two most powerful institutions receive billions of dollars from donors annually but struggle just to recruit and maintain a force bled by high rates of desertion.

(Additional reporting by Alistair Bell and Sarah Lynch in Washington; Writing by Michael Perry; Editing by Mark Bendeich)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/millions-cia-ghost-money-paid-afghan-presidents-office-020006835.html

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Loans borrowed against pensions squeeze retirees

To retirees, the offers can sound like the answer to every money worry: convert tomorrow?s pension checks into today?s hard cash.

But these offers, known as pension advances, are having devastating financial consequences for a growing number of older Americans, threatening their retirement savings and plunging them further into debt. The advances, federal and state authorities say, are not advances at all, but carefully disguised loans that require borrowers to sign over all or part of their monthly pension checks. They carry interest rates that are often many times higher than those on credit cards.

In lean economic times, people with public pensions ? military veterans, teachers, firefighters, police officers and others ? are being courted particularly aggressively by pension-advance companies, which operate largely outside of state and federal banking regulations, but are now drawing scrutiny from Congress and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The pitches come mostly via the Web or ads in local circulars.

?Convert your pension into CASH,? LumpSum Pension Advance, of Irvine, Calif., says on its Web site. ?Banks are hiding,? says Pension Funding L.L.C., of Huntington Beach, Calif., on its Web site, signaling the paucity of credit. ?But you do have your pension benefits.?

Another ad on that Web site is directed at military veterans: ?You?ve put your life on the line for Americans to protect our way of life. You deserve to do something important for yourself.?

A review by The New York Times of more than two dozen contracts for pension-based loans found that after factoring in various fees, the effective interest rates ranged from 27 percent to 106 percent ? information not disclosed in the ads or in the contracts themselves. Furthermore, to qualify for one of the loans, borrowers are sometimes required to take out a life insurance policy that names the lender as the sole beneficiary.

LumpSum Pension Advance and Pension Funding did not return calls and e-mails for comment.

While it is difficult to say precisely how many financially struggling people have taken out pension loans, legal aid offices in Arizona, California, Florida and New York say they have recently encountered a surge in complaints from retirees who have run into trouble with the loans.

Ronald E. Govan, a Marine Corps veteran in Snellville, Ga., paid an interest rate of more than 36 percent on a pension-based loan. He said he was enraged that veterans were being targeted by the firm, Pensions, Annuities & Settlements, which did not return calls for comment.

?I served for this country,? said Mr. Govan, a Vietnam veteran, ?and this is what I get in return.?

The allure of borrowing against pensions underscores an abrupt reversal in the financial fortunes of many retirees in recent years, as well as the efforts by a number of financial firms, including payday lenders and debt collectors, to market directly to them.

The pension-advance firms geared up before the financial crisis to woo a vast and wealthy generation of Americans heading for retirement. Before the housing bust and recession forced many people to defer retirement and to run up debt, lenders marketed the pension-based loan largely to military members as a risk-free option for older Americans looking to take a dream vacation or even buy a yacht. ?Splurge,? one advertisement in 2004 suggested.

Now, pension-advance firms are repositioning themselves to appeal to people in and out of the military who need cash to cover basic living expenses, according to interviews with borrowers, lawyers, regulators and advocates for the elderly.

?The cost of these pension transactions can be astronomically high,? said Stuart Rossman, a lawyer with the National Consumer Law Center, an advocacy group that works on issues of economic justice for low-income people.

?But there is profit to be made on older Americans? financial pain.?

The oldest members of the baby boom generation became eligible for Social Security during the recent housing bust and recession, and many nearing retirement age watched their investments plummet in value. Some are now sliding deep into debt to make ends meet.

The pitches for pension loans emphasize how difficult it can be for retirees with scant savings and checkered credit histories to borrow money, especially because banks typically do not count pension income when considering loan applications.

?The result often leaves retired pensioners viewed like other unqualified borrowers,? one of the lenders, DFR Pension Funding, says on its Web site. That, the firm says, ?can make the ?golden years? not so golden.?

Faster rising debt
The combined debt of Americans from the ages of 65 to 74 is rising faster than that of any other age group, according to data from the Federal Reserve. For households led by people 65 and older, median debt levels have surged more than 50 percent, rising from $12,000 in 2000 to $26,000 in 2011, according to the latest data available from the Census Bureau.

While American adults of all ages ran up debt in good times, older Americans today are shouldering unusually heavy burdens. According to a 2012 study by Demos, a liberal-leaning public policy organization, households headed by people 50 and older have an average balance of more than $8,000 on their credit cards.

Meanwhile, households headed by people age 75 and older devoted 7.1 percent of their total income to debt payments in 2010, up from 4.5 percent in 2007, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

Financial products like pension advances, which promise quick cash, appear especially enticing because their long-term costs are largely hidden from the borrowers.

Federal and state regulators are spotting fresh examples of abuse, and both the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Senate?s Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions are examining these loans, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Though the firms are not directly regulated by states, officials from the California Department of Corporations, the state?s top financial services regulator, filed a desist-and-refrain order against a pension-advance firm in 2011 for failing to disclose critical information to investors.

That firm has since filed for bankruptcy, but a department spokesman said it remained watchful of pension-advance products.

?As the state regulator charged with protecting investors, we are aware of this type of offer and are very concerned with the companies that abuse it to defraud people,? said the spokesman, Mark Leyes.

Borrowing against pensions can help some retirees, elder-care lawyers say. But, like payday loans, which are commonly aimed at lower-income borrowers, pension loans can turn ruinous for people who are already financially vulnerable, because of the loans? high costs.

Some of the concern on abuse focuses on service members. Last year, more than 2.1 million military retirees received pensions, along with roughly 2.6 million federal employees, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Lawyers for service members argue that pension lending flouts federal laws that restrict how military pensions can be used.

Mr. Govan, the retired Marine, considered himself a credit ?outcast? after his credit score was battered by a foreclosure in 2008 and a personal bankruptcy in 2010.

Unable to get a bank loan or credit card to supplement his pension income, Mr. Govan, now 59, applied for a payday loan online to pay for repairs to his truck.

Days later, he received a solicitation by e-mail from Pensions, Annuities & Settlements, based in Wilmington, Del.

Mr. Govan said the offer of quick, seemingly easy cash sounded too good to refuse. He said he agreed to sign over $353 a month of his $1,033 monthly disability pension for five years in exchange for $10,000 in cash up front. Those terms, including fees and finance charges, work out to an effective annual interest rate of more than 36 percent. After Mr. Govan belatedly did the math, he was shocked.

?It?s just wrong,? said Mr. Govan, who filed a federal lawsuit in February that raises questions about the costs of the loan.

Pitches to military
Pitches to military members must sidestep a federal law that prevents veterans from automatically turning over pension payments to third parties. Pension-advance firms encourage veterans to establish separate bank accounts controlled by the firms where pension payments are deposited first and then sent to the lenders. Lawyers for retirees have challenged the pension-advance firms in courts across the United States, claiming that they illegally seize military members? pensions and violate state limits on interest rates.

To circumvent state usury laws that cap loan rates, some pension advance firms insist their products are advances, not loans, according to the firms? Web sites and federal and state lawsuits. On its Web site, Pension Funding asks, ?Is this a loan against my pension?? The answer, it says, is no. ?It is an advance, not a loan,? the site says.

The advance firms have evolved from a range of different lenders; some made loans against class-action settlements, while others were subprime lenders that made installment and other short-term loans.

The bankrupt firm in California, Structured Investments, has been dogged by legal challenges virtually from the start. The firm was founded in 1996 by Ronald P. Steinberg and Steven P. Covey, an Army veteran who had been convicted of felony bank fraud in 1994, according to court records.

To attract investors, the firm promised an 8 percent return and ?an opportunity to own a cash stream of payments generated from U.S. military service persons,? according to the California Department of Corporations. Mr. Covey, according to company registration records, is also associated with Pension Funding L.L.C. Neither Mr. Covey nor Mr. Steinberg returned calls for comment. In 2011, a California judge ordered Structured Investments to pay $2.9 million to 61 veterans who had filed a class action.

But the veterans, among them Daryl Henry, retired Navy disbursing clerk, first class, in Laurel, Md., who received a $42,131 pension loan at a rate of 26.8 percent, have not received any relief.

Robert Bramson, a lawyer who represented Mr. Henry in the class-action lawsuit, said that pensioners too often failed to contemplate the long-term costs of the advances.

?It?s simply a terrible deal,? he said.

This article first appeared in the New York Times under the headline, "Loans Borrowed Against Pensions Squeeze Retirees."

Copyright ? 2013 The New York Times

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653351/s/2b455730/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Cbusiness0Ceconomywatch0Cloans0Eborrowed0Eagainst0Epensions0Esqueeze0Eretirees0E6C96410A92/story01.htm

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Fire erupts at Israeli prison holding ex-president

JERUSALEM (AP) ? A fire erupted Sunday at the prison where former Israeli President Moshe Katsav is serving time, but he was not among the 11 people who suffered light injuries, authorities said.

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said seven jailers, a prisoner and three firefighters suffered smoke inhalation, but the ex-president was not hurt.

Itsik Gorlov, a spokesman for the prisons service, said the blaze broke out at a factory at Maasiyahu prison in central Israel. It was not immediately clear what caused the fire.

Katsav was Israel's president from 2000 to 2007. He has been serving a seven-year sentence since 2011 after being convicted of rape and other charges, though he has repeatedly professed his innocence.

Israel on Sunday was battling a series of brushfires caused by the combination of hot, dry weather and the Lag Baomer holiday, in which revelers traditionally celebrate with bonfires.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fire-erupts-israeli-prison-holding-ex-president-114922858.html

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Sunday, April 28, 2013

Tyler Bray and Marcus Lattimore show opposite emotions of 2013 NFL Draft

The fortunes of Tyler Bray and Marcus Lattimore showed the ups and downs of what was a historic 2013 NFL Draft for the Southeastern Conference.

By Mark Sappenfield,?Staff writer / April 28, 2013

Running back Marcus Lattimore speaks with the media during South Carolina's NFL football pro day on this spring in Columbia, S.C.

Rainier Ehrhardt/AP/File

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Somehow, University of Tennessee quarterback Tyler Bray ? a 6-foot-6 specimen with a cannon arm ? was not selected in the seven rounds of the 2013 NFL Draft.

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Somehow, University of South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore found two knees to stand on at his pro workout earlier this spring ? enough to get him a standing ovation from the coaches and scouts present and a selection by the San Francisco 49ers in the fourth round.

In a draft where 63 players from the Southeastern Conference (SEC) were selected ? a record for any college football conference ? two of the SEC players who made the biggest splash on the last day of the three-day extravaganza Saturday did it for opposite reasons.

Bray was left standing at the altar. Admittedly, this was not a sterling draft for quarterbacks. But perhaps that's why he decided to leave Tennessee a year early year to go pro. According to one mock draft, NFLDraftScout.com, he was seventh best pick of the litter. In the end, he wasn't even among the 11 chosen.

It's a glimpse into a situation that plagued basketball for years. Many high school players, egos inflated by friends and hangers on, would enter the National Basketball Association draft, forgoing any college eligibility. When they were not drafted ? or drafted late and then let go ? they would be left in a limbo, not good enough to make a pro team, but not able to go to college to hone their skills.

The situation forced the NBA to institute a "one year in college" rule for all players, giving each time to assess his draft prospects with clearer eyes. The NBA has also started a developmental league akin to the baseball minor leagues to help those who fall through the cracks.

In the end, Bray was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs after the draft ? and as a junior, he had ample time to make an informed decision about his pro prospects. But the National Football League also has a Draft Advisory Board precisely for this reason. It offers undergraduate prospects an impartial assessment of where they're likely to land in the draft.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/tQt1AoBedqo/Tyler-Bray-and-Marcus-Lattimore-show-opposite-emotions-of-2013-NFL-Draft

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Bitcoin's real-world problem: Virtual currency facing ... - Financial Post

Joseph David has overcome a lot of challenges since starting up Canada?s first Bitcoin exchange two years ago but his latest hurdle is proving tougher that all the others.

Terence Corcoran: Gold versus bitcoin

Over the last few days two of the pretenders to the world currency throne ? bitcoin, the new high-profile digital currency, and gold, the centuries-old commodity currency ? have fallen into a tailspin.

Virtex, based in Calgary, is an online market that matches Bitcoin buyers with sellers, with about $13-million of trades under its belt.

But earlier this month Royal Bank of Canada quietly informed Mr. David that it would no longer do business with his company.

?They shut down our account without any reason,? said Mr. David, an ebullient entrepreneur with a background in technology companies. ?They just said we have the right to refuse service to whomever we wish.?

For whatever reason, many in Canada?s small but fast growing Bitcoin community are suddenly dealing with the same problem: The banks have decided they don?t like the cryptocurrency and they?re shutting down some of the accounts of businesses that deal in it.

They shut down our account without any reason

That the closing of conventional bank accounts could be a problem may sound counter-intuitive, since Bitcoin is supposed to be an alternative currency designed to operate outside of the conventional banking system. But in practice Bitcoin holders are constantly swapping back and forth into real dollars ? partly because of volatile nature of the currency, which soared as high as $260 for a single Bitcoin after trading for years at less than $10, and partly because there?s not that much you can buy with it.

As a result, this latest move by the banks has thrown a monkey wrench into the nascent system.

?Only in Canada do you get a situation where a bank can shut down your account and you?re out of business,? said Melvin Ng, an engineering student at the University of Waterloo and the founder of what is likely the country?s newest bitcoin exchange, Cadbitcoin.

?Banks should certainly feel threatened by this new virtual currency, as Bitcoins will soon replace the need for banks to transfer money across borders,? Mr. Ng declared in a press release. ?Bitcoin will revolutionize the banking industry, just like Bittorrent changed the video and music industry,? said Mr. Ng, comparing the currency to the super-fast and legally problematic peer-to-peer media downloading service.

A spokeswoman for RBC declined to comment on the matter, saying that the bank does not comment on individual clients.

Meanwhile the Canadian Bankers Association said it has no position since Bitcoin ?is essentially an electronic currency that operates outside of the traditional national currency system.?

The Bank of Canada also has yet to take an official position, said Dale Alexander, a spokesman for the central bank. But in an emailed statement he went on to quote the Currency Act which defines legal tender as any bills or coins issued under the auspices of the Bank of Canada or the Royal Canadian Mint. The note also included a link to a European Central Bank study warning that virtual currencies such as Bitcoin are ?inherently unstable,? ?not regulated or closely supervised,? and ?could have a negative impact on the reputation of central banks.?

As critics point out the currency has been extraordinarily volatile, with the value of a single Bitcoin ranging from less than $1 back in 2008 when it was first created to as much as $260 earlier this month. There have been several major corrections but each time it has recovered. That?s because enthusiasts refused to give up on the market, and the faithful will likely rush to buttress their virtual tender again if there?s another correction.

Bitcoin has no shortage of proponents.

?Bitcoin and similar electronic currencies have great advantages,? said Finn Poschmann, vice president of research at the C.D. Howe Institute. ?First is that they are electronic ? they can be easily exchanged, at low cost. Moreover, they can be exchanged among people and between people and businesses without the infrastructure associated with debit and credit cards, or wire transfers.?
Such currencies also come with ?potentially great risks,? Mr. Poshmann cautions, adding that it is the job of regulators and monetary authorities to address those risks.

Bitcoin is only the latest in a string of virtual currencies, from the Linden Dollars used in the on-line game Second Life, to mobile phone air time units used as money by a large part of the population in Kenya and Tanzania.

The brainchild of a possibly fictitious Japanese software engineer, Bitcoin first emerged in 2009, just as the global financial system was being pushed to the brink. Unlike conventional money, it?s not controlled by any central bank or any other central authority and it exists only electronically. Instead it?s controlled by peer-to-peer software, like Bittorrent and other media file-sharing systems.

The whole thing is run by powerful computer systems owned by people called ?miners.? They keep the ledgers, recording every transaction that takes place and as a reward, they get periodic payments of Bitcoin.

One of the big advantages is that it?s resistant to the kind of tampering that happened in the aftermath of the financial crisis that saw central banks pumping out huge quantities of new money as a way to revive ailing banks. Critics charge that such moves will ultimately result in inflation, devaluing the holdings of countless individual savers.

Another advantage is that the cost of doing transactions is a lot less than, say, with a credit card where the issuer charges around 3% each time the card is swiped. Such fees are the lifeblood of the banking system but they are significantly reduced because Bitcoin purchases don?t require a middleman.

Banks should certainly feel threatened by this new virtual currency

To get Bitcoin you need to go to an exchange like Mr. David?s Virtex, or maybe you will opt for Mt. Gox, the world?s biggest Bitcoin exchange. There you can use Canadian dollars to buy Bitcoin which is sent electronically and stored on your laptop hard drive.

And over the past few months, a lot of people have been doing that, rapidly driving up the value of Bitcoin. But as a true currency it?s got a ways to go as there?s not a lot of retailers that accept it, at least not yet.

But the supporters are a determined lot, and the lack of stuff to buy doesn?t appear to be a problem. Most appear happy to sit on their hoards until the value goes up and then swap back into dollars to lock in their gains. Owing to white-knuckle volatility, that strategy hasn?t worked for everyone but clearly some are doing very well by it.

Paul Chavady, a real estate agent in Saskatoon, said he began offering services in Bitcoin after getting calls from potential customers who want to buy some bricks and mortar for their virtual spoils.

?We were getting all these inquiries from people who made a lot of money in bitcoin and they were enquiring about buying a house,? said Mr. Chavady. ?It?s something that?s picking up. ?

So far support for Bitcoin has come from a small community of tech-savvy evangelists and hipsters, but it?s rapidly growing thanks to the sharp rise in value.

Mike Caldwell, a 35-year-old software developer from Utah, is part of the unusual breed of Bitcoin entrepreneurs.

Mr. Caldwell manufactures physical Bitcoins, churning out thousands of the gold-coloured tokens which he claims cannot be counterfeited due to his tamper-proof holographic technology. The notion of a physical manifestation of a virtual currency may seem a bit odd, but he claims demand is so high that he?s created 17,000 coins since launching the business a year and a half ago and he?s only taking on new customers by invitation.

Critics say the rise of Bitcoin is also being helped by secrecy. The fact that transactions are anonymous makes Bitcoin the perfect system for drug dealers and other criminals, they say. Indeed, that?s become one of the major arguments against the currency.

James Grant, owner of the Ottawa-based Bitcoin brokerage Canadian Bitcoins, scoffs at that. Transactions with physical cash are just as anonymous, he argues.

He too has had his bank account shut down and he?s furious about it. The bank ?didn?t give us a reason, but I could see them being worried about money laundering. If they had asked, we have invoices and receipts [for all our transactions]. We could have given them all those things? I believe in Bitcoin for the long term.?

Source: http://business.financialpost.com/2013/04/27/bitcoin-canada-banks/

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Chargers take Manti Te'o in 2nd round of NFL draft

SAN DIEGO (AP) ? Manti Te'o spent Thursday night with his family in Hawaii, watching the first round of the NFL draft and expecting a phone call that never came.

That call finally came on Friday. San Diego Chargers rookie general manager Tom Telesco moved up seven spots in the second round to draft the Notre Dame linebacker, apparently not worried about a hoax involving a fake girlfriend and a poor performance in the national championship game that have dogged Te'o for four months.

"I did expect to go in the first round. But things happened and all it did was give me more motivation to get better," Te'o said in a conference call with reporters.

"I don't know if I have something to prove but it definitely puts a huge fire under my butt to just be better," Te'o said. "Again, that's the best thing that ever could happen to me. I'm already naturally a motivated person who just wants to be the best. All yesterday did was just give me more motivation and more fire to just go out there and play football and do well at it."

Asked if he dropped into the second round because of the off-field issues and his flop in the blowout loss to Alabama in the national championship game, he said: "I really don't know. That's a question that you've got to ask the teams."

One of those Crimson Tide stars, right tackle D.J. Fluker, was selected by the Chargers with the 11th pick overall Thursday night.

Two officials, each with a different team, said their clubs passed on Te'o in the first round partly because of his off-field issues. The men, speaking on condition of anonymity because team draft strategy is confidential, said the decision was not just because of a disappointing combine performance or the linebacker's poor performance in the national title game.

Telesco traded with Arizona to move up seven spots and select Te'o with the 38th pick overall.

The Chargers need inside linebackers because Takeo Spikes was released and Demorrio Williams is a free agent.

"It's a perfect scenario," Te'o said. "My parents can come and watch, I can go home, it's San Diego. We're all excited. I can't be any happier. Just looking forward to getting up there and getting this whole thing started."

The Heisman Trophy runner-up became the butt of national jokes after it was revealed he was duped into an Internet romance he had with a girlfriend he never met.

The too-good-to-be-true story began with Te'o's incredible performances after learning his grandmother and what he believed was his girlfriend had died within hours of one another in September. Te'o said it inspired him to play his best football all season, and it was so compelling that it helped turn Te'o into a Heisman Trophy contender as he was leading the Fighting Irish to an undefeated regular season and into the national championship game.

On Dec. 26, Te'o notified Notre Dame officials that he had received a call from his supposedly dead girlfriend's phone three weeks earlier.

The school investigated and on Jan. 16 ? after Deadspin.com broke the story of the fake girlfriend ? athletic director Jack Swarbrick announced at a news conference that Te'o had been duped. Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, 22, later said he created the online persona of Lennay Kekua, a nonexistent woman who Te'o said he fell in love with despite never meeting her in person.

Te'o said everything he's gone through has increased his passion for the game because "that's my sanctuary, that's my fortress where I'm most comfortable. All it has done is made me look forward to when I'm back on that field again."

"He's a great kid," Telesco said. "We did a lot of work on Te'o and I've seen him for a number of years. He loves football. He's passionate about it. He loves to practice. He loves to play. He's a lot like D.J. in that regard. He'll bring that to us."

Needing another linebacker, "Te'o can step in," the GM said. "We thought he was the most instinctive and productive linebacker in the draft. He's going to fit in excellent with our 3-4 defense with how we're going to play our linebackers. He's going to complement Donald Butler really well. We thought in order to get him we had to be aggressive and go up and do it."

___

AP Sports Writer Rob Maaddi in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chargers-manti-teo-2nd-round-nfl-draft-235015352.html

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Rhode Island's marriage equality strategy a 'recipe' for other states?

Rhode Island is days away from becoming the 10th US state to allow same-sex marriage. The combination of coalition building and old-fashioned politics that got it passed is 'a recipe that could definitely be replicated in other states,' says Speaker of the House Gordon Fox, but opponents credit shifting national attitudes.

By David Klepper,?Associated Press / April 25, 2013

Rev. Betsy Garland (l.) and Rev. Dr. Byron Eddy Waterman, volunteers for Rhode Islanders United for Marriage, sign in at a 'weekend of action' on April 20, in Providence, R.I. Volunteers from around New England pitched in to help connect Rhode Islanders with their senators to express their support for marriage equality.

Bizuayehu Tesfaye / Courtesy of Human Rights Campaign / AP

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Phone banks, an army of volunteers and alliances with organized labor, business leaders, and religious clergy propelled gay marriage to victory in Rhode Island this week, a savvy and coordinated strategy that relied on growing public support and old-fashioned bare-knuckle politics.

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Gay marriage legislation had failed every year in Rhode Island since 1997, leaving the heavily Catholic state the lone holdout in New England as the five other states changed their marriage laws. That's soon set to change. The state Senate voted Wednesday to allow gay marriage, and Gov. Lincoln Chafee plans to sign the bill into law following a final, procedural vote in the House next week.

The successful campaign could serve as a model for similar efforts in other states and reflects the increasingly sophisticated political strategy driving what just two decades ago was dismissed as a fringe issue with little public support, advocates and lawmakers alike say.

"This was a victory won by many people, because that's what it takes," House Speaker Gordon Fox, a Providence Democrat who is gay and led House efforts to pass gay marriage, said Thursday. "You bring everyone together, and you're stronger for it. It's a recipe that could definitely be replicated in other states."

Opponents, however, say their defeat in Rhode Island was less about dogged political strategy than it was the national conversation on gay marriage.

"It's a campaign that's been promoted by Hollywood, by the news media, by educational institutions," said Scott Spear, a spokesman for the National Organization for Marriage's Rhode Island chapter. "I think the local group was just on that wave. They didn't create it, they just rode it."

Rhode Island will be the 10th state to allow gay marriage when the legislation takes effect Aug. 1. Supporters in Delaware and Illinois are also hoping to follow this year. Efforts are also underway in other states, including New Jersey, Oregon and Minnesota.

Polls show support has surged since 1996, when Gallup found that 27 percent of Americans backed same-sex marriage. Now Gallup finds that 53 percent support giving gay and lesbian couples the right to marry.

The momentum is clear in Rhode Island. Two years ago, gay marriage legislation didn't even get a vote in the General Assembly. This year, it passed the House 51-19 and the Senate 26-12.

"We are close to the end of a journey that began in 1997," said Ray Sullivan, campaign director for Rhode Islanders United for Marriage, which led the push for the legislation. "When we began this campaign in January, many thought we'd never succeed in the Senate."

The strategy that ultimately proved successful began two years ago after the previous significant effort to pass gay marriage fell apart. House Speaker Gordon Fox, who is gay, abandoned his push for gay marriage after it became obvious the legislation wouldn't pass the Senate, where Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed was a formidable opponent. It was a bitter defeat, and advocates vowed to focus on electing candidates who supported gay marriage in the 2012 elections.

Rather than court one-issue candidates, marriage advocates formed ties with the AFL-CIO, environmental activists, and other progressive groups. By teaming up, the coalition was able to pool their support for candidates with wider voter appeal ? and who also happened to support gay marriage. The strategy worked, and in November several new gay marriage supporters were elected to the House and, more significantly, the state Senate.

Encouraged by those gains, Fox vowed to hold a House vote on gay marriage in the first month of this year's legislative session. The bill's easy passage so early in the session allowed supporters to focus their attention on the Senate.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/TITNYNcLB48/Rhode-Island-s-marriage-equality-strategy-a-recipe-for-other-states

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Red line: Obama cautious on Syria chemical weapons

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Proceeding cautiously, President Barack Obama insisted on Friday that any use of chemical weapons by Syria would change his "calculus" about U.S. military involvement in the 2-year-old civil war ? but said too little was known about a pair of likely sarin attacks to order aggressive action now.

The president's public response to the latest intelligence reflected the lack of agreement in Washington over whether to use America's military to intervene in the civil war, ? and if so, how. But lawmakers in both parties expressed concern that inaction could embolden Syrian President Bashar Assad and perhaps other countries including North Korea and Iran.

U.S. officials declared on Thursday that the Syrian government probably had used chemical weapons twice in March, newly provocative acts in the civil war that has killed more than 70,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands more. The U.S. assessment followed similar conclusions from Britain, France, Israel and Qatar ? key allies eager for a more aggressive response to Syrian conflict.

Obama, in his first comments about the new intelligence disclosure, said Friday, "For the Syrian government to utilize chemical weapons on its people crosses a line that will change my calculus and how the United States approaches these issues." He has issued similar warnings for months, saying the use of chemical weapons or transfer of the stockpiles to terrorists would cross a "red line" and carry "enormous consequences."

Seeking to show resolve, Obama added Friday that "I've meant what I said."

The president is facing political pressure from a familiar contingent of senators, led by Arizona Republican John McCain, favoring a quick and strong U.S. response. But even those lawmakers appear opposed to an American military invasion and are instead supporting creation of a protective "no-fly zone" or another narrow, safe zone inside Syria, along its border with Turkey.

Some lawmakers voiced concern that if Obama doesn't make good on his promise to respond aggressively if it's shown that Assad used chemical weapons, his inaction could send a damaging message to the world.

"There's no question that when the United States takes a position that this crosses a line that our failure to respond has implications," said Rep. David Cicilline, a Democratic member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "So that if we, in fact, determine that chemical weapons were used, I think the expectation is that we and the coalition and others take some action."

Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., wondered whether the red line was "turning into a pink line."

White House officials insisted Obama's caution was not an indication that the line was shifting. Officials said firm evidence of a chemical weapons attack would trigger a U.S. response ? unspecified ? and would not be contingent on the size and scope of the use.

Obama met at the White House with Jordan's King Abdullah II, whose nation is suffering amid an influx of refugees spilling over its border with Syria. The president promised to vigorously pursue more information about chemical weapons attacks, including exactly who might be responsible and how they might have been carried out.

But the president set no deadline for answers.

"The president wants the facts," spokesman Jay Carney said. "And I'm not going to set a timeline because the facts need to be what drives this investigation, not a deadline."

Syrian officials denied Friday that their government forces had used chemical weapons against rebels.

Hanging over the Obama administration's approach to the new intelligence reports are hard lessons learned from the Iraq war, when faulty intelligence drew the U.S. into a lengthy and expensive conflict. Obama, as a candidate for U.S. Senate, opposed the Iraq war and made ending the conflict a priority in his first term.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill appeared to be drawing on similar lessons from more than a decade ago. Many who sounded the alarm about Saddam Hussein and the possibility of weapons of mass destruction ? and strongly stood with President George W. Bush's decision to invade Iraq ? were far more muted on Friday.

Following a closed-door briefing by Secretary of State John Kerry, they stressed the importance of building international support for any military move against Syria rather than unilateral U.S. action. The sectarian strife in Iraq and the lawlessness in Libya after the killing of longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi in 2011 stand as sober reminders of what can happen.

"We want to do everything we can to avoid putting boots on the ground," said Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland, the senior Democrat on the House intelligence committee. "I don't think that we, just as the United States, want to go in to another war."

Polling shows war-weary Americans are broadly opposed to the notion of the U.S. military intervening in Syria. Just one in five said the U.S. has a responsibility to do something about the fighting in Syria, according to a CBS News poll conducted in late March.

But faced with more specific scenarios, Americans appear more willing to back U.S. involvement. In an ABC News/Washington Post poll late last year, 63 percent said they would support military intervention if the Syrian government used chemical weapons against its people.

Roughly the same number said they would support using American military aircraft to create a no-fly zone if no ground troops were involved.

The White House faces a limited choice of military options to help the rebels oust Assad.

Arming the rebels would run into the reality that a military group fighting alongside them has pledged allegiance to al-Qaida. Establishing a no-fly zone poses a significant challenge, as Syria possesses an air defense system far more robust than the U.S. and its allies overwhelmed in Libya two years ago.

Thus far, the Obama administration has limited its assistance to the Syrian rebels to nonlethal aid, including military-style equipment such as body armor and night vision goggles. The U.S. has also deployed about 200 troops to Jordan to assist that country's military, and has participated in NATO's placement of Patriot missile batteries in Turkey near the border to protect against an attack from Syria.

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Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC and Donna Cassata at http://twitter.com/DonnaCassataAP

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AP News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius and AP writer Bradley Klapper contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/red-line-obama-cautious-syria-chemical-weapons-214455716.html

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