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mariacallous · 6 months

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The US Department of Justice had long been expected to file an antitrust lawsuit against Apple. But when the suit arrived Thursday, it came with surprising ferocity.

In a press conference, attorney general Merrick Garland noted that Apple controlled more than 70 percent of the country’s smartphone market, saying the company used that outsize power to control developers and consumers and squeeze more revenue out of them.

The suit and messaging from the DOJ and 15 states and the District of Columbia joining it take aim at Apple’s most prized asset—the iPhone—and position the case as a fight for the future of technology. The suit argues that Apple rose to its current power thanks in part to the 1998 antitrust case against Microsoft, and that another milestone antitrust correction is needed to allow future innovation to continue.

Like the Microsoft case, the suit against Apple is “really dynamic and forward looking,” says John Newman, a law professor at the University of Miami. “It's not necessarily about Apple seeing direct competitors,” he says. “It's more about them trying to grab the territory you would need if you were going to even try to compete against Apple.”

Antitrust action in the tech industry has been a focus of the Biden administration’s agenda, which has seen suits brought against both Amazon and Google by the DOJ and the Federal Trade Commission. “This case demonstrates why we must reinvigorate competition policy and establish clear rules of the road for Big Tech platforms,” Democratic senator Amy Klobuchar told WIRED in a statement.

Rebecca Hall Allensworth, a law professor at Vanderbilt University, says that though the government almost always faces an uphill battle in antitrust cases, the Apple case appears relatively solid. “It's a lot stronger than the FTC Amazon monopolization lawsuit from last year,” she says. “And yet, it's very hard to win antitrust cases.”

In a statement, Apple spokesperson Fred Sainz said that the lawsuit “threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets,” including the way its products work “seamlessly” together and “protect people’s privacy and security.”

Apple has long argued that keeping its mobile operating system, app store, and other services closed offers greater security and safety for customers. But Newman says that the DOJ complaint indicates that Apple doesn't enforce these policies consistently as would make sense if the goal was to protect users.

“Instead [Apple] heavily targets the types of app developers that pose the biggest competitive threat to Apple,” Newman says. The DOJ alleges that restrictions Apple places on iMessage, Apple Wallet, and other products and features create barriers that deter or even penalize people who may switch to cheaper options.

History Repeating

The antitrust case against Microsoft in the late 1990s accused the company of illegally forcing PC manufacturers and others to favor its web browser Internet Explorer. It is widely credited with causing the company to be slow to embrace the web, falling behind a wave of startups including Google and Amazon that grew into giants by making web services useful and lucrative.

When asked about the threat the new antitrust lawsuit might pose to Apple’s business, a DOJ official noted that “there are actually examples where companies, after having been charged and had to change business practices because they violated the antitrust laws in the long run, end up being more valuable than they were before.” Microsoft, thanks to its success in cloud services and more recently AI, is now the most valuable company in the world.

The Department of Justice said Thursday that any potential remedy was on the table for Apple—implying that even breaking up the company is a possibility. But Allensworth says it is unlikely the government would pursue that outcome. The proposed remedies could more likely force Apple to change its "technological and contractual restrictions on app development, and on interoperability with other phones,” she says. “That is something that could be very meaningful, if that remedy were fully realized and overseen in a good way. But it still leaves Apple basically in control of the ecosystem,” Allensworth says.

Paul Swanson, antitrust partner at the law firm Holland & Hart, sees potential difficulties ahead for the suit. “They're alleging that Apple is excluding competition in the smartphone market by making their products stickier, by making it very attractive to stay within their ecosystem. And the way that Apple does that, according to the DOJ, is that it doesn't cooperate nicely with other companies,” he says. But Swanson says antitrust laws don’t generally require companies to work with others. “A business doesn't violate antitrust laws by terminating or refusing to work with another business.”

This is not the first antitrust case against Apple. In 2020, Epic Games filed a lawsuit against the company, accusing it of anticompetitive behavior, after being kicked off the App Store for offering a version of the Fortnite game that circumvented the Apple’s steep 30 percent fees for in-app purchases. Epic lost the case in the lower courts, and in January the Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal—and Apple announced it would levy a new app store fee on developers.

Newman notes that the government seems to have kept a close eye on that case in constructing the suit launched Thursday. The case was filed in the Third Circuit Court in New Jersey, rather than the Ninth Circuit Court, which includes California. He predicts it will ultimately end up before the Supreme Court. “I think this one's probably going all the way,” Newman says.

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groennuuk · 2 months

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Musk: EU Wanted "Illegal Secret Deal" to "Quietly Censor Speech"the european commission wanted 𝕏 to hire a team of people in the eu that would unilaterally oversee the removal of 'misinformation' on the platform, a source with knowledge of the issue told us On Friday,

@elonmusk said the European Commission (EC) "offered 𝕏 an illegal secret deal: if we quietly censored speech without telling anyone," they would not seek to issue daily fines related to 𝕏’s blue check verification system that could total 6% of the company’s annual revenue. "The other platforms accepted that deal. 𝕏 did not," his post says. Elon’s post came after EC commissioner Thierry Breton announced the Commission's preliminary findings that pre-Elon, blue checkmarks "used to mean trustworthy sources of information," but now violate the Digital Services Act because, today, "anyone can subscribe to obtain such a 'verified' status," therefore the commission may "impose fines & require significant changes." The EC wanted 𝕏 to hire a team of people in the EU that could number in the hundreds to remove 'misinformation' from the platform, a person with knowledge of the issue told PW Editor-in-Chief

@micsolana. 𝕏 would have no recourse in these removal decisions, the person said. "The objective of the Digital Services Act is to ensure a safe and fair online environment for European citizens that is respectful of their rights, in particular freedom of expression," EC spokesperson Thomas Regnier told Pirate Wires over email. "The DSA requires a fair and transparent complaint mechanism for users. If an account is suspended, the user has the right to contest the decision. This means that decisions must not be arbitrary, and users are empowered to protect their online presence... When an account is restricted, the user must be informed and has the right to appeal the decision." Shortly after his post about the secret deal, Elon posted that he plans to take the Commission to court if its preliminary findings are confirmed and it pursues an enforcement action against 𝕏. The Digital Services Act (DSA) is a new legislative regulatory bundle by the EC that only became fully applicable this February, and seeks to fine companies like 𝕏, Meta, and Google up to 6% of their annual revenue for violations, which include failure to remove "illegal" content once it’s reported. What’s considered illegal can vary depending on the specific national laws of EU member states, provided these laws are compatible with EU law. For example, content that’s illegal in Germany must be removed for users in Germany, even if it is not illegal in another member state. The EC also accused 𝕏 of failure to "comply with the required transparency on advertising, as it does not provide a searchable and reliable advertisement repository," and prohibiting "eligible researchers from independently accessing its public data," both of which are in violation of its DSA. In April, Elon publicly feuded with Brazilian lawmakers after he refused to comply with their demands to remove accounts without explanation to account owners or the public. Brazilian lawmakers had previously asked 𝕏 to remove accounts critical of its regime under these conditions. "We do not know the reasons these blocking orders have been issued. We do not know which posts are alleged to violate the law. We are prohibited from saying which court or judge issued the order, or on what grounds. We are prohibited from saying which accounts are impacted. We are threatened with daily fines if we fail to comply," posted 𝕏’s Global Government Affairs team about Brazil’s demands. 𝕏 ultimately reversed course, and announced it would comply with the Brazilian government’s requests. Today, the EC's findings are "preliminary," but per the EC, "if the Commission's preliminary views were to be ultimately confirmed... [it] could entail fines of up to 6% of the total worldwide annual turnover of [𝕏], and order [it] to take measures to address the breach." — Brandon Gorrell (

@brandongorrell)

#artists on tumblr #xelon

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vipdentalspasfraud · 3 months

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An Examination of VIP Dental Clinic's Poor Customer Service

Dental health is an essential part of our overall well-being, and choosing the right dental clinic is crucial. VIP Dental Clinic is a well-known dental clinic with several branches across the country. However, in recent years, there have been numerous complaints about the clinic's poor customer service. This article aims to examine the reasons behind VIP Dental Clinic's poor customer service and the impact it has on their patients. Reasons for Poor Customer Service: 1. Lack of Communication: One of the most common complaints about VIP Dental Clinic is the lack of communication between the staff and patients. Patients have reported that the receptionists and dentists are often unavailable or unapproachable, making it difficult to ask questions or voice concerns. Additionally, there have been instances where patients were not informed about the costs or procedures involved in their dental treatments. 2. Inadequate Training: The dental industry is constantly evolving, and it's essential for dental clinics to keep up with the latest trends and technologies. However, several former employees of VIP Dental Clinic have reported that the clinic does not invest in adequate training for its staff. This lack of training can lead to mistakes, delays, and poor patient care. 3. Overbooking Appointments: Overbooking appointments is a common practice in many dental clinics, but VIP Dental Clinic has been accused of overbooking to the point of patient frustration. Patients have reported waiting for hours beyond their scheduled appointment time, leading to long wait times and dissatisfaction. 4. High Staff Turnover: VIP Dental Clinic has a high staff turnover rate, which can lead to a lack of continuity in patient care. Patients may feel that they are not getting the same level of care and attention from new staff members, which can affect their overall satisfaction. Impact of Poor Customer Service Poor customer service can have a significant impact on a dental clinic's reputation and patient base. Here are some of the consequences that VIP Dental Clinic has faced due to its poor customer service: 1. Negative Reviews: Patients who have experienced poor customer service are more likely to leave negative reviews online. VIP Dental Clinic has numerous negative reviews on various platforms, such as Google, Yelp, and Healthgrades, which can deter potential patients from choosing the clinic. 2. Loss of Patients: Poor customer service can lead to the loss of patients. Patients who feel unheard, undervalued, or disrespected are more likely to seek dental care elsewhere. This can result in a loss of revenue for the clinic. 3. Legal Consequences: In some cases, poor customer service can lead to legal consequences. Patients who feel that they have received inadequate care or have been misinformed about the costs of their treatment may take legal action against the clinic. VIP Dental Clinic's poor customer service has been a significant issue for the clinic and its patients. Lack of communication, inadequate training, overbooking appointments, and high staff turnover are some of the reasons behind the poor customer service. The impact of poor customer service includes negative reviews, loss of patients, and legal consequences. It's crucial for dental clinics to prioritize customer service to maintain a positive reputation, retain patients, and provide high-quality care.

#VIP Dental Clinic #VIP Dental Clinic's poor customer service

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recentlyheardcom · 11 months

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CNN anchor Kate Bolduan came prepared with receipts on Friday when Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) attempted to dismiss the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office’s analysis that the House GOP’s Israel aid bill would add $26.8 billion to the national budget deficit.While the South Carolina lawmaker fumed that he has “very little confidence in the CBO” because they “have an agenda to back up whatever view” the Biden administration presents, Bolduan pointed out that Norman previously touted the office’s findings when it suited him politically.The Israel aid bill, which narrowly passed the House on Tuesday, kicked off Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) new reign of leadership with a partisan fight, almost certainly delaying emergency military aid to Israel.The bill provides $14.3 billion in aid to Israel but “offsets” this cost by cutting $14.3 billion in funds to the Internal Revenue Service.Contradicting House Republicans’ supposed goal of not adding to the national debt, the CBO found that the legislation would increase the deficit by $26.8 billion over the next ten years. The IRS, citing the reduced capacity to audit wealthy corporations and enforce collections, claimed the cuts would cost the government $90 billion over the next decade.Those trade-offs incensed Democrats, leaving the bill D.O.A. in the Senate and White House.Speaker Mike Johnson’s First Act: Turning Israel Aid Into a Partisan FightAppearing on CNN News Central on Friday, Norman pushed back against Democratic criticism that the GOP is “conditioning aid to Israel,” claiming “Democrats are saying that they prefer the IRS agents over support for Israel.”Bolduan, however, noted that while House Republicans are insisting that the cuts to the IRS are a “pay-for,” the CBO says the bill will add more to the deficit than just unconditionally sending the aid to Israel.“I have very little confidence in the CBO,” Norman grumbled. “They have an agenda to back up whatever view the current administration has, so I don’t go with that.”He went on to grouse that there’s “funding set aside for 80,000 IRS agents” and that it is an “outrage” for the Democrats not to have a “pay-for” when it comes to issuing any additional aid.Piggybacking on Norman’s no-confidence declaration about the CBO and his description of it as a pro-Biden entity, Bolduan then brought up his past support for the office’s budgetary analysis when it seemingly served his political agenda.“I have seen you, though, tout the CBO in supporting some of your efforts in the past,” she stated. “I was looking this morning—your office put out a press release from February of this year leaning on the CBO to make your point, calling it ‘a jaw-dropping report’ coming out from the CBO reaffirming what you have said about out-of-control spending and national debt for a long time.”“So what changed?” Bolduan bluntly asked the conservative congressman.Norman, for his part, attempted to spin his obvious hypocrisy by quickly pivoting to complaints about “wokeness” and the supposed unwillingness of the White House to propose spending cuts.“Well, the debt ceiling numbers—the CBO can’t manipulate,” he said. “Now, they aren’t wrong 100 percent of the time nor are they right 100 percent of the time. But what I’m saying now is, let’s take the CBO’s numbers that if it does increase the deficit. Where in the Biden administration’s plan can they have an offset?”Norman continued: “We have $1.7 trillion deficit this year, and where under any circumstances can they come to bring themselves to have an offset? They can’t cut anything. What about the woke agenda in the military? That’s dollars that can be spent on aid to Israel, and to be honest with you, on aid to Ukraine. But they just will not do that, and they’re intent on bankrupting the country, and we are tired of it here in the House, and particularly under Mike Johnson.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.

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faqsfeedofficial · 1 year

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Delhi High Court's Landmark Ruling Challenges Google's Ads Programme Within Trademarks Act

In a legal landmark with far-reaching implications, the Delhi High Court has issued a groundbreaking ruling that thrusts Google's Ads Programme squarely into the ambit of India's Trademarks Act. This verdict has the potential to redefine the legal landscape of online advertising and reshape the obligations and responsibilities of major tech players like Google. Rendered by a division bench consisting of Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice Amit Mahajan, the decision holds profound significance for both the technology and legal sectors. The court's ruling, delivered last week, scrutinized Google's active role as a participant in the use of trademarks owned by various entities. By suggesting competitors' trademarks as keywords to advertisers, Google's lucrative practice generated substantial revenue through keyword sales, thereby benefiting from the popularity and recognition of these trademarks. At the heart of this case lies a complaint lodged by logistics firm DRS, highlighting the phenomenon of rival websites appearing in search results for its trademark "Agarwal Packers and Movers." DRS contended that Google's advertising mechanism leveraged its trademark to divert users towards competing websites, thereby allegedly causing reputational and financial harm. The division bench upheld the initial order and directed Google to address DRS's grievances by taking action to eliminate objectionable advertisements. This verdict not only holds Google accountable for its practices but also sets a precedent for online platforms to adopt comprehensive systems to address trademark-related concerns proactively. Nithin Kamath, the founder and CEO of the trading platform Zerodha, shed light on the broader implications of this ruling. He highlighted the detrimental impact of businesses advertising against their own keywords to prevent competitors from gaining prominence in search results. Kamath's assessment resonated with the court's observation that the lack of sufficient trademark protection had inadvertently led to such convoluted practices. Crucially, the court rejected Google's assertion of being a passive intermediary and underscored the tech giant's active role in running an advertising business. It emphasized that Google wields a level of control that extends beyond that of a mere intermediary. This pivotal point effectively undercuts Google's claim to the "safe harbour" protection offered by Section 79(1) of the IT (Information Technology) Act. The court's determination that this protection does not apply to Google's Ads Programme when it comes to trademark infringement has significant implications for the company's operations. Although Google contended that its intermediary status conferred certain protections, the division bench firmly upheld the prior single judge's stance. The judge had contended that Google could not avail itself of the benefits of safe harbour under Section 79(1) if it were found to be in violation of trademark rights. This landmark decision casts a shadow over Google's advertising operations in one of its largest and strategically important markets. It raises pertinent questions about the extent of responsibility that online platforms like Google bear when it comes to safeguarding trademark rights and ensuring fair competition in the digital realm. As technology companies navigate this new legal terrain, the ruling holds the promise of fostering a more equitable and transparent digital advertising ecosystem. Read the full article

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veworjoin · 2 years

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Sanju movie amc

#SANJU MOVIE AMC MOVIE#

The company still has a goal of being the worlds No. “CJCGV also saw an operating loss of only 300 million won in its operating profit in the Turkish subsidiary in the second quarter. Before the earnings announcement, it was far less than that of CJCGV, which predicted that the company would have posted an operating profit of 11.9 billion won in the second quarter.” As a result CJ CGV shares fell 10% in one day. Korea (Republic of, South) – Economic turmoil in Turkey is taking its toll on cinema operator CJ CGV, with its large presence in the country. Here is an interview explaining why SPI decided to sell now. SPI Cinemas operates 76 screens across 17 properties in 10 cities under several brands such as Sathyam, Escape, Palazzo, The Cinema and S2 Cinema.” PVR previously acquired DT Cinema in the north, but it meant that it was blocked from expanding further in the the Delhi region, hence why it has been forced to look south. “Multiplex operator PVR on Friday said it has completed the acquisition of 71.69% share of South India-based chain SPI Cinemas in an all-cash deal of Rs 633 crore. India – In the biggest cinema news in India in years, market leader PVR has acquired the biggest cinema chain in South India SPI Cinemas. THR – 21 August 2018 PVR to acquire SPI cinemas. Locked out of hits including Iron Man and Fast and Furious tentpoles, Viva went out of business.” This case could potentially be as important as the 1948 ruling that lead to the Paramount Conscent Decree. “ Viva Cinemas Theaters, the plaintiff, specializes in serving the Hispanic community with dubbed or subtitled films and alleged in its 2015 complaint that AMC came to “clearance” pacts that carved out exclusivity on first-run films in its geographical region. the practice of booking films from distributors in such a way as to inhibit geographical competitors from also screening them. USA (TX) – But in a dark lining to the above silver cloud, AMC will have to face a lawsuit from a small cinema that claims it was driven out of business due to ‘clearances’, i.e. THR – 8 August 2018 Viva Cinema – now closed. The success of the AMC Stubs A-List unlimited (aka ‘MoviePass-killer’) scheme is only one of the reasons that AMC is doing well, after some painful restructuring.

#SANJU MOVIE AMC MOVIE#

The biggest box-office drivers for AMC during the second quarter were Avengers: Infinity War, A Quiet Place and Deadpool 2.” It was enough for Seeking Alpha to exclaim ‘ Buy AMC Entertainment Holdings, The Movie Industry Is Not Dead‘. “Overall revenue rose 20 percent to $1.44 billion, against a year-earlier $1.2 billion, which exceeded a $1.43 billion Wall Street forecast. USA (CO) – Ho, ho, ho! Who’s got the last laugh now? Adam Aron, that’s who, after AMC posted second quarter earnings that beat industry expectations. “It is finally time for the sky-is-falling-in cynics to admit that they misinterpreted a brief slump in moviegoing last summer,” the global cinema giant’s CEO is quoted as saying. As always, thank you to those of our readers writing in and keeping us informed.īanner quarter for AMC but ‘clearance’ lawsuit worries PVR buys SPI Turkey takes toll on CGV Vue Wales ‘double charging’ IMAX and Google end VR camera work German BO misery ‘Month of Argentine Cinema’ Spanish cinemas not passing on VAT savings KNCC re-brands Cinescape ahead of Saudi push Hoendervangers new Pathé Nederland MD autism friendly happy ending XL Cinema helps India’s blind Tyneside flooding importance of concessions to Indian cinemas and solar-powered mobile cinema in South African townships. We are back after the summer break and look forward to an exciting autumn of cinema news, analysis and releases.

#Sanju movie amc

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alfamuzcina411 · 3 years

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Too many people lazily write off views opposed to vaccine mandates by labelling them as "conspiracy theories". Instead of such a lazy dismissal, let's take a look at some facts as we follow the money trail from the big vaccine manufacturers and see where that leads us.

*This information was extracted from a video by Brad Cosworth on Facebook*

Pfizer have also been one of the most controversial pharmaceutical companies in its questionable practices paying out the biggest criminal fine amounting to US$1.3 billion in one single lawsuit. The company has paid compensation in excess of US$3 billion since 2002 for various complaints against its products.

Not a very ethical company by any means.

With such a history of medical negligence, Governments of the world have seen fit to grant Pfizer, Moderna and Astra-Zeneca total immunity from any adverse reactions or deaths from their experimental vaccines now been forced on the human population.

Now to the money trail. Who are the top 3 shareholders of Pfizer?

1. Vanguard Group

2. SSGA Funds Management (SSGA)

3. BlackRock Fund Advisors (BlackRock).

*These three companies will feature prominently in all related businesses as we go along*

Who are the top 3 shareholders of Astra-Zeneca?

1. Vanguard Group

2. BlackRock

3. SSGA Funds Mgt

Top 3 shareholders of Johnson & Johnson?

1. Vanguard Group

2. SSGA Funds Mgt

3. BlackRock

Top shareholders of Google the biggest search engine?

1. Vanguard Group

2. Blackrock

4. SSGA Funds Mgt

Top shareholders of Facebook which blocks alot of anti vaccine news and stories?

1. Vanguard Group

4. BlackRock

Top shareholders of Twitter which also heavily censors anti vaccine content

1. Vanguard Group

2. BlackRock

3. SSGA Funds Mgt

Top shareholders of Microsoft?

1. Vanguard Group

2. BlackRock

3. SSGA Funds Mgt

Top shareholders of Apple?

1. Vanguard Group

2. Berkshire Hathaway

3. BlackRock

4. SSGA Funds Mgt

Top shareholders of Amazon

1. Vanguard Group

2. BlackRock

3. SSGA Funds Mgt

Top shareholders of media giant Newscorp

1. Vanguard Group

2. BlackRock

3. SSGA Funds Mgt

Top shareholders of CNN (AT&T)

1. Vanguard Group

2. BlackRock

3. SSGA Funds Mgt

Top shareholder of Fox News

1. Vanguard Group

Top shareholders of Disney (owners of Marvel studios)

1. Vanguard Group

2. BlackRock

3. SSGA Funds Mgt

Top shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway (Warren Buffet)

1. Vanguard Group

2. SSGA Funds Mgt

3. BlackRock

4. Bill & Melinda Gates foundation

Top shareholder of Bill & Melinda Gates foundation

1. Berkshire Hathaway

*Berkshire Hathaway (Warren Buffet) recently invested millions in big pharmaceutical companies*

*Reason? They are cashcows*

Who funds Factcheckers.org??

1. Annenberg Foundation

2. Facebook

3. Various individuals

4. Robert Wood Johnson foundation

5. Facebook

6. Google

Who funds or is the major donor to Annenberg Foundation who is the major funder of Fact Checkers??

1. Bill & Melinda Gates foundation.

*To make a long post short I will stop here but ALL the above information is available on Google and Wikipedia*

Please verify at your own leisure. Now you know why ALL forms of alternative cures for Covid 19 and it's variants are being suppressed and ONLY Experimental Vaccines are allowed. Apart from the billions they make in revenue and profits, they also stand to achieve another aim which is population reduction and control.

So next time you want to write off anti vaccine people as conspiracy theorists, remember the above facts and statistics where all the big players in big pharmaceutical companies, big technology companies and big media companies are all linked by the same shareholders. Also look up who owns big fast food companies Coca Cola, Pepsi and McDonalds. We are being killed and controlled by the same elite group!!

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saggitarian-freedom-light · 3 years

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Follow The Money Trail

*This information was extracted from a video by Brad Cosworth on Facebook*

Let's start by looking at Pfizer. Pfizer has recently boosted its sales revenue forecasts for Vaccines by US$ 33.5 billion. This works out to US$92 million per day or or US$4 million per hour! No small change in anybody's language. Pfizer have also been one of the most controversial pharmaceutical companies in its questionable practices paying out the biggest criminal fine amounting to US$1.3 billion in one single lawsuit. The company has paid compensation in excess of US$3 billion since 2002 for various complaints against its products.

Not a very ethical company by any means. With such a history of medical negligence, Governments of the world have seen fit to grant Pfizer, Moderna and Astra-Zeneca total immunity from any adverse reactions or deaths from their experimental vaccines now been forced on the human population.

Now to the money trail. Who are the top 3 shareholders of Pfizer? 1. Vanguard Group 2. SSGA Funds Management (SSGA) 3. BlackRock Fund Advisors (BlackRock).

*These three companies will feature prominently in all related businesses as we go along*

Who are the top 3 shareholders of Astra-Zeneca? 1. Vanguard Group 2. BlackRock 3. SSGA Funds Mgt

Top 3 shareholders of Johnson & Johnson? 1. Vanguard Group 2. SSGA Funds Mgt 3. BlackRock

Top shareholders of Google the biggest search engine? 1. Vanguard Group 2. Blackrock 4. SSGA Funds Mgt

Top shareholders of Facebook which blocks alot of anti vaccine news and stories? 1. Vanguard Group 4. BlackRock

Top shareholders of Twitter which also heavily censors anti vaccine content 1. Vanguard Group 2. BlackRock 3. SSGA Funds Mgt

Top shareholders of Microsoft? 1. Vanguard Group 2. BlackRock 3. SSGA Funds Mgt

Top shareholders of Apple? 1. Vanguard Group 2. Berkshire Hathaway 3. BlackRock 4. SSGA Funds Mgt

Top shareholders of Amazon 1. Vanguard Group 2. BlackRock 3. SSGA Funds Mgt

Top shareholders of media giant Newscorp 1. Vanguard Group 2. BlackRock 3. SSGA Funds Mgt

Top shareholders of CNN (AT&T) 1. Vanguard Group 2. BlackRock 3. SSGA Funds Mgt

Top shareholder of Fox News 1. Vanguard Group Top shareholders of Disney (owners of Marvel studios) 1. Vanguard Group 2. BlackRock 3. SSGA Funds Mgt

Top shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway (Warren Buffet) 1. Vanguard Group 2. SSGA Funds Mgt 3. BlackRock 4. Bill & Melinda Gates foundation

Top shareholder of Bill & Melinda Gates foundation 1. Berkshire Hathaway *Berkshire Hathaway (Warren Buffet) recently invested millions in big pharmaceutical companies* *Reason? They are cashcows*

Who funds Factcheckers.org?? 1. Annenberg Foundation 2. Facebook 3. Various individuals 4. Robert Wood Johnson foundation 5. Facebook 6. Google

Who funds or is the major donor to Annenberg Foundation who is the major funder of Fact Checkers?? 1. Bill & Melinda Gates foundation. *To make a long post short I will stop here but ALL the above information is available on Google and Wikipedia* Please verify at your own leisure. Now you know why ALL forms of alternative cures for Covid 19 and it's variants are being suppressed and ONLY Experimental Vaccines are allowed. Apart from the billions they make in revenue and profits, they also stand to achieve another aim which is population reduction and control.

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dr-archeville · 3 years

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INDY Daily: Epic Games' Antitrust Lawsuit Against Apple Is In Court Today

It’s Monday, May 3

Thank you to this week's sponsor, UNC Summer School, offering over 700 affordable online courses. Summer term begins on May 19th; registration opens now. Explore a new interest, move toward your goals, earn college credit.

Good morning, readers.

Today, in a court room near San Francisco, representatives from the tech companies (and future Wake County neighbors) Apple and Epic Games will begin arguments in a dispute over whether Apple is running a monopoly through its App Store by taking a 30 percent cut of revenues from all of its in-app sales.

Epic Games is the creator of the popular video game Fortnite, "a battle royal, which means the objective is to be the last player or team standing," according to The Washington Post. "At the beginning of a round, 100 players are dropped into a big cartoonish world and tasked with picking up materials, items, and weapons that will help them outlast their opponents."

Fortnite is free to play which accounts for much of its popularity. Epic Games profits from sales of an in-game currency players use to buy the accessories that help them win.

In August of 2020, Epic Games updated its Fortnite app for iPhone to bypass Apple's mechanism for taking its 30 percent cut. In response, Apple booted Fortnite from the App Store platform and cut off Epic Games' access to its Mac and iOS developer accounts.

This posed a problem for Epic, as the company also develops and licenses the Unreal Engine, a 3-D development software used in other video games, as well as in TV series and films. Later, a judge ordered that Apple restore Epic's access to its accounts.

But in response to the de-platforming, Epic Games launched a PR campaign "calling for Apple to #FreeFortnite and posted a video that parodied Apple’s "1984" Big Brother advertisement," according to the Post, in addition to a legal complaint that was 60 pages long.

During the trial, which could last three weeks, Epic Games will have to show that Apple has a monopoly on the video game market and that it is abusing its monopoly power and therefore violating antitrust laws. (Epic Games is also suing Google after Fortnite was barred from Android following Epic's announcing a way for Fortnite players to buy the in-game currency that skirted Google's Play Store payment system).

If Epic Games' arguments are successful, it could force Apple to give consumers a choice between using its App Store for distribution and payment or an alternative platform, significantly disrupting the $100 billion app market and creating a way for millions of companies and app developers to avoid Apple's fees, creating a significant loss of revenue for the company.

"But even if Apple wins, the case could foreshadow other major changes for Apple," The Washington Post reports. "Lawmakers at the state and federal level are discussing new legislation to strengthen antitrust laws and enforcement. The U.S. Department of Justice could bring its own lawsuit and use evidence and testimony from the Epic lawsuit."

The trial will take place in the mornings at 11:15 a.m. Eastern Time and you can listen in via teleconference (details about how to listen will be posted here). You can view evidence form the trial here.

The nomination round for the INDY’s Best of the Triangle Readers Poll has concluded! Thank you for taking time to recognize your favorites from around the Triangle. We will tally the votes and notify the top four finalists in each category over the next few weeks. Then, the finals voting period will begin on Monday, May 17. Stay tuned and make sure you vote for your favorites! Winners will be announced in the June 14 issue of INDY Week.

For more information, resources, and promotional opportunities please contact [email protected]

Like the INDY Daily? Share it with your friends and ask them to subscribe!

Orange County

I'm a bit late to include this but don't think I mentioned: Nikole Hannah-Jones, the Pulitzer Prize-winning, MacArthur Genius of The New York Times, and author of The 1619 Project, will join the faculty at UNC-Chapel Hill as Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism.

A proposed housing complex between Isley Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard could provide 200 housing units for UNC students, replacing aging, low-density housing with high density housing as envisioned in the Town of Chapel Hill's Future Land Use Map.

The Town of Hillsborough is looking for an artist to complete a mural on an exterior wall of a building located on East King Street.

Durham County

John Dee Holeman, Durham's last great Blues elder, died on Friday morning at age 92. (Image above by David Menconi.)

Gov. Roy Cooper on Friday pardoned Darryl Anthony Howard, a Durham man who spent more than 20 years in prison after being convicted of murdering a mother and daughter in 1991. DNA testing led a Superior Court Judge to overturn the conviction in 2016. Howard is eligible to file a claim for compensation.

Wake County

Some Wake County parents are frustrated with the Wake School System's Virtual Academy policy.

Elsewhere

Here's a photoseries from Elizabeth City capturing events from the days following Andrew Brown Jr.'s shooting by Pasquotank Sheriff's deputies. (Image above by Lewis Kendall.)

Mourners will gather for Andrew Brown Jr.'s funeral today. Family and friends were able to view Brown Jr.'s body over the weekend.

North Carolina Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Foster, who ruled last week that media does not have standing to secure the release of body camera footage from the Pasquotank County sheriff's deputies, has a history of pro-law enforcement, anti-media posts on social media.

Statewide COVID-19 by the numbers: Friday, April 30

2,231 New lab-confirmed cases (969,752 total; seven-day average leveling)

1,101 Current hospitalizations reported (seven-day average leveling; 12,651 total deaths, +20 over Friday)

34,687 Completed tests (12.41 million total; most recent positive rate was 4.8 percent)

7,167,631 Total vaccinations administered (State data not updated daily)

Today's weather

Showers in the morning with scattered rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highs in the low 80s.

Song of the day

John Dee Holeman–Give Me Back My Wig Holeman is "the last North Carolina blues musician who actually grew up with it as the popular music of both the countryside and the city," according to Wayne Martin, executive director of the North Carolina Arts Council. "I think he was the last one who connected the present day to the time when the blues reigned supreme in African-American culture."

— Jane Porter— Send me an email | Find me on Twitter

If you’d like to advertise your business to the Daily's 33,000-plus subscribers, please contact John Hurld at [email protected].

Love the INDY Daily? Support it by joining the INDY Press Club.

#news #The INDY #NC #Epic Games #Fortnite #Apple #Google #lawsuits

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do-a-reference-properly · 5 years

Text

Dear Authors,

We come with the latest news about the stories re-posted on fanfics.me (we abbreviate it as FFM).

1. The German hosting company does not work with the FFM site anymore. Thanks to all the authors who submitted the takedown requests for their reposted stories.

2. The new hosting company is Russian. Since https://website.informer.com still displays outdated information, we used cutestat.com that shows the last info update time and allows to manually update the info about the site.

We found the new hosting provider by using hostingchecker.com and cross-checked that the new IP on cutestat matches IP here.

New hosting provider is called 'Selectel' (you can check it) and you can contact them at [email protected]. The host company accepts claims in English as well. The samples of our takedown requests can be found in our previous tumblr post here. A few of Russian authors sent their takedown request to the mentioned email yesterday. Only one of them received the answer today saying that they are going to investigate this problem.

3. The good news is that the FFM’s owner wrote in his private blog yesterday night that he deleted all full texts of the re-posted stories. Thus, only the title, summary, author's name and the URL for original site are published on the FFM now. He insists on keeping this information, although this still counts as spamindexing and is against author’s wishes.

By his claims made on April 2018 on his personal blog (don’t forget about AdBlock! and remove spaces in the URL https://fan fics.me/message311601), he re-posted about 7.5 thousands stories from AO3, 42 thousands from fanfiction.net, 153 thousands from ficbook.net and so on. In total, by April 2018 281 thousands of stories were copied from fan archives. We still think that this is a clear example of spamindexing, because if you do the google search by the title of your re-posted story, then you often found out that the first URL in the search results is FFM, not the AO3/fanfiction.net or other archive with original post. To be honest, we do not know how to resolve this problem.

The bad news is that he mentioned in his blog that he might return the title, summary, author's name with the AO3 URL for all deleted works. So, keep an eye on that possibility.

But to cut his money making method we suggest you to fill in the complaints to the Google and Yandex advertising networks used by FFM. It does not help to delete your stories summaries from that site, but it deletes the link to a FFM’s page containing your story/its summary from Google/Yandex search. This prevents getting the revenue from your fan works. Here is the link with the instruction on how to do it.

Here is Google’s policy regarding copyright infringement on publisher sites; here is the direct link to the DMCA takedown request form for the Adsense program.

Here is the instruction about how to do it for Yandex

You can help even if you aren’t an author by filing a spam indexing report to Google. This can be done by anyone (you needn’t to be the author). Here is the instruction how to do it:

Go here: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/spamreportform?hl=en

Put in the name of the website (one webpage per report) or the page (almost every page starting from fanfics.me/ftf has copied content) that has the copied content.

Write in additional details. For example:

If you had your works re-posted: This is a spamdexing mirror site to https://archiveofourown.org/ and has stolen my profiles and intellectual property.

If you hadn’t: you can just write that this site copies content from such sites as [insert web archive name].

Click “I am not a robot” and then “Report webspam” Report more by clicking the link on: Go back to the webspam report form.

We were told that our personal comments to the AO3’ authors might be considered by some people as a scam, not like a help. We apologize if it looked like a scam. But we hope that by posting comments in AO3 we helped at least a few of you.

To summarise, let us say, that the situation looks ambivalent:

the matter is partially resolved for now, i.e. the full texts of the re-posted stories are removed from the FFM (as the owner claims). You still can submit the takedown request to the new host company, but we do not know how well they work. Additionally, we suggest you to fill in the complaints to the Google and Yandex advertising networks

judging by FFM’s owner previous behaviour we cannot be sure whether he will keep true to his word this time and won't make the texts available for reading and download again in the future

We will be posting some general information based on our experience with this case about methods of taking down works accompanied by complaint letters examples for the future. It seems like a good idea.

If the situation changes, we will come back with the new information here.

#ao3 #fanfiction #fanfiction.net #signal boost #please reblog #Fanworks

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angrezimediumhindifullmovie · 4 years

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"1080p" Angrezi Medium 2020 Hindi Full Movie Download GDrive

Angrezi Medium 2020 Hindi Full Movie Download 720p Google Drive, Angrezi Medium Movie Download 480p Watch Online, Angrezi Medium Irrfan Khan Movie

English Medium (2020) IMBD Score: 9.0/10 Language: Hindi Angrezi Medium (original title) 2h 25min | Drama | 13 March 2020 (USA) Director: Homi Adajania Writers: Bhavesh Mandalia, Gaurav Shukla Stars: Irrfan Khan, Radhika Madan, Kareena Kapoor

Click Here To DOWNLOAD NOW

Angrezi Medium is the Hindi translation of a French movie called My Pretty Pony. The movie has been receiving mixed reviews in France since it was first released. Many have accused the film of being sexist and the story and storyline of the film are considered a little confusing.

youtube

A handsome, unassuming mithai shop owner is about to fulfill his daughter's dream of studying abroad in London. But, certain mishaps force him to leave his wife and young son behind and embark on a journey to India. But the journey takes him back to Mumbai, where he learns about his past and his destiny. But along the way, his son becomes his best friend.

Some fans believe that Angrezi Medium is more like a Hindi version of the American movie The Great Gatsby. Others have said that it is similar to the movie Lord of the Rings. The movie revolves around a man who leaves his son at home to accompany him on his trip. They become stranded on the wrong side of the world, but together they learn about each other and the other half's future.

One major complaint against the Angrezi Medium movie is that the plotline is not very clear. In the beginning, the main character is told that he must return to India to help his father, who is sick with cancer, and then travel to London to get married. But when he returns, he finds out that the storyline was changed and now he is told to get married in India to a white girl. There are also some critics who argue that the character is a racist, and is more concerned about his own status than the status of his white wife.

The movie also features some of the typical Hindi melodrama. Although the story is a bit confused, there is still some confusion with the characters, and some of the interactions are a little confusing for those who do not know Hindi. But many people, especially the younger generation, loved the film, saying that it is a lot of fun and a great story to watch.

Many of the critics have said that the film is not a perfect Hindi movie. but it is still considered as one of the better Hindi films. In fact, many consider the movie to be better than most of the Hindi movies of this season.

The Angrezi medium 2020 movie is the latest film adaptation of a science fiction novel that has become wildly popular in recent years. The book is by Gregory David Roberts and was originally published in 2020. In this article, I'm going to give an Angrezi medium 2020 movie review of the film adaptation.

The story of the book, which is based around the fictional planet of Angrezi, revolves around a group of teenagers who have a rather unusual encounter with a being known as the Angrezi Medium. This being is responsible for their ability to communicate with the dead and the power of which has led to its reputation as a supernatural being.

The film is based on the book adaptation, although the main characters are the same as in the book, it has been changed so that there is now a whole new generation. The new generation is very different from the previous generation as they have developed the ability to communicate with their deceased family members from past lives.

The main characters are the main character from the book as well as some other interesting ones. There is a new character played by Christian Bale, who is the most prominent character and also happens to be the only one who can control this ability.

One of the other characters also plays an important role in this film and that is a villain called Lord Karnac. He is a villain that wants to bring about an Earth ending and he uses the ability to create dark energy around himself that causes the death of the human race.

Overall this Angrezi medium movie review is going to show you what is different from the book and the main plotline. It also looks at the many other characters and their roles in the film. I hope you enjoy my Angrezi medium 2020 movie review and stay tuned for more reviews in the future.

The movie begins with a montage of the first meeting between Greg and the protagonist, named Gabo. They both were in the same class and he asks her to let him tag along.

When the two arrive, they are immediately set upon by Lord Karnac who attacks Greg and attempts to capture him. As a result, Greg escapes with the help of a few other students. After he escapes, he goes to visit his father who is on the verge of giving up on life again.

In the following years the characters have to find a way to prevent the Earth from being destroyed and find a way to stop the world war that is starting. As a result of the war, the future generations are separated and they have to learn to live together. As a result of this separation the future generations will begin to learn about their past lives and the power of communication.

An Angrezi Medium 2020 Bollywood film has been added to the ever-growing collection of Hindi films. This film, starring Sunny Deol and Bedi Sareen, was filmed in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The plot revolves around an old woman called Angrezi who lives in the foothills of the Himalayas and is looking for a means of transporting her daughter to Delhi.

The Angrezi Medium 2020 Bollywood film is set to be released on August 6, a day before Diwali in India. It is expected to be one of the biggest films to come out of Bollywood. The director is Shyam Benegal, who has directed films like Baazigarh, The Lunch Box, etc. The actors that will star in Angrezi Medium 2020 are:

Benegal, Sareen, and Deol are best known for their roles in Hollywood. These films have won them many awards and made them well-liked in Hollywood. Benegal's previous film 'Lunch Box' had received great reviews in the USA. This will make it even more popular in America.

This film is expected to be a blockbuster that can break all barriers when it comes to Bollywood. The production cost for Angrezi Medium 2020 is reported to be very low, which is the main reason for it to be released at such a huge time. Although this film will release only a month after Diwali, it is believed to have the potential to generate huge revenues.

Benegal is also expected to win his first Academy Award this year for his film. The film is expected to do well at the box office with many Bollywood critics claiming that it is the most promising film in the upcoming year.

The film is likely to attract a wide range of audiences including both male and female viewers, as Benegal is popular among both sexes. This will also add another edge to Benegal's already impressive resume. The film is expected to be the best selling Hindi film of the year.

In fact, Benegal's next film, Bollywood's first blockbuster in 20 years, is also predicted to do exceptionally well in its box office. The film is expected to be a high-profile blockbuster, and Benegal is expected to have another Academy Award coming his way for the success of Angrezi Medium 2020.

Although the film is said to be a blockbuster, there are no guarantees of any kind, especially in Bollywood. There are no guarantees that the film would be a success, but there is no reason why it could not be. and it will definitely be considered one of the best films of the season.

The release of Angrezi Medium 2020 is the first part of the upcoming Hindi movie season, which is expected to be highly competitive with other leading films like Baazigarh, Ek Tha Tiger, and Jodha Akbar. The film is set to be released during the second week of August, right before Diwali.

Click Here To DOWNLOAD NOW

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popscenery · 5 years

Audio

Passion Pit, »Take a Walk«

by Jessica Doyle

In the summer of 2010, when I took a leave of absence from my PhD program, my dissertation was a helpless non-thing without a subject. In December 2018, I officially got my PhD, because my dissertation was done: written, revised, defended, revised again, approved, copied, formatted, distributed, carefully archived, accepted as an actual work of scholarship. It is arguably my most important professional accomplishment of the decade, and also arguably entirely inconsequential. The claim that 90 percent of academic papers go uncited is mostly untrue, but it is true for my dissertation, and I have the gaping void of a Google Scholar search return to prove it.

Trust me: as bitter and self-deprecating post-graduate students might be about their research (see previous paragraph), none of us start out planning to write something inconsequential. Certainly the subject of my dissertation was not inconsequential at all. “Take a Walk” is not my favorite song of the past decade, but it is the song that kept reminding me that the topic was worth writing about.

My dissertation examined what makes starting and maintaining a business easier or harder for Latino entrepreneurs in different American cities. Take Miami as an example, where 47% of all businesses are Latino-owned. That’s much higher than the national average (12 percent) and higher than the percentage in other cities with large Latino populations: New York, Los Angeles, Houston. So what’s so special about Miami? Is it because the Cuban population that arrived in the 1960s were often landowners or merchants fleeing Castro, and made wealth-building a priority in their new city? Is it the geographic proximity to Latin America and the Caribbean? Is starting a business in Miami easier than elsewhere? Is it something about Miami’s economy in general, or Florida’s? Finally (and more to the point), if policy-makers in another city wanted to put in policies that would help local Latino entrepreneurs flourish, what would Miami’s example offer as guidance?

To make a 295-page story short: it is much easier to turn immigrants into successful business owners if they come to the country with business experience and/or capital already at hand; and if the local immigrant population doesn’t start with those advantages, then policy-makers should focus on providing business education and access to financing, especially the latter. Latino immigrants in the United States who want to start businesses are more likely than native-born white entrepreneurs to use their own cash (which takes a while to accumulate), credit cards (which charge higher interest rates than do bank loans), or loans from family or friends (which means that loved ones, rather than banks with larger cushions, bear the risks). I’d say read the whole dissertation, but in all frankness you’d be better off checking out the research being published by the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative, including this report. (It’s more concise and their data is more robust than mine was.)

This all assumes, of course, that you want to encourage Latinos, or other immigrants, or anyone at all, to start their own business. A lot of us--including me; including Michael Angelakos, the artist behind Passion Pit--have immigrant entrepreneurs in our family lineage. In interviews to promote the album Gossamer, Angelakos described “Take a Walk,” the lead single, as about different members of his family. The first verse’s portrait is a classic rags-to-riches, grateful-to-be-in-America immigrant story: I love this country dearly / I can feel the ladder clearly. But in the second verse, the story shifts to a new narrator, and so does the tone: I watch my little children / Play some board game in the kitchen / And I sit and pray they never feel my strife. The final narrator is eventually undone...

I think I borrowed just too much We had taxes, we had bills We had a lifestyle to front

...yet still insists on his participation in the American dream:

Tomorrow you'll cook dinner For the neighbors and their kids We can rip apart those socialists And all their damn taxes You see, I am no criminal I'm down on both bad knees I'm just too much a coward To admit when I'm in need

Apparently at one point a Fox News reporter failed to hear the irony, and asked Angelakos if the song was anti-socialist. But Angelakos told MTV News, “It's about very specific family members, the male hierarchy, and how the men in my family have always dealt with money.... All these men were very conservative; socially very liberal but for some reason, they all came here for capitalism, and they all ended up kind of being prey to capitalism.” He told a different interviewer, “These are all true stories; this is my grandfather and so on.”

Angelakos’s ambivalence is understandable. (Several of the pieces that greeted “Take a Walk” identified it as a direct reponse to the 2008 financial crisis, an interpretation he rejected.) The idea that anyone can come to the United States, start a business, and work their way to financial security and political freedom is an old one--the history of immigrants employing at higher rates than native-born Americans goes as far back as the Census Bureau has been keeping track of such things. But even for the successful it has its costs. The narrators of “Take a Walk” are estranged from their families, anxious about their ability to keep wealth. The theme of risk runs through the song. No one worries about getting fired; they have market investments, business partners, endless complaints about taxes (as one might if one has to pay both ends of the Social Security and Medicare taxes single-handedly.) The risk allows the narrators to make comfortable lives for themselves and their family, and yet Angelakos isn’t convinced, looking back, that they were better off.

Historically, if you were running for any sort of higher political office in the United States and were from a major party, you made sure to say nice things about small businesses and entrepreneurship, especially the immigrant kind. To some degree this is still true: Elizabeth Warren’s campaign platform includes a Small Business Equity Fund that would give grants to minority entrepreneurs. That said, I’m not sure the current dominant political energy on either the American left or right favors small businesses, who tend to hate tariffs. If you read the Green New Deal resolution, though it calls for a more equitable distribution of available financing to such smaller-scale lenders as community banks and credit unions, a lot of what it wants it can only get at a certain scale. It’s easier for a larger company to retool its supply chains to lower environmental costs than it is for ten small businesses to do the same. It’s easier for a firm with a thousand employees to absorb the cost of any one employee needing a higher wage to make rent, or a longer maternity leave, or extended absences due to illness, than it is for a firm with five.

And Music Tumblr in particular can be forgiven for not thinking highly of entrepreneurship. Most creative people--artists, musicians, writers--end up as entrepreneurs simply because decent-paying employment in those fields has never been easy to find. (In 2017, Angelakos spoke of dealing with venture capitalists and deciding to run his mental-health-focused initiative, Wishart, as a combination of for-profit and non-profit.) But no loan officer with a nickel’s worth of sense would approve a loan to enter a market so saturated that marginal revenue is typically zero or close enough, or where thousands if not millions of people seem thoroughly committed to proving themselves, in Samuel Johnson’s eyes, blockheads. Upon hearing, “You can do what you love, but the market won’t reward you,” a lot of people will reply, “To hell with markets, then.”

It all comes down to how you feel about risk. For a long time the dominant American thinking was that higher risk was the price entrepreneurs paid to have the chance to succeed on their own terms. (There’s an ongoing debate in the immigrant-entrepreneurship academic literature about whether any one particular group of entrepreneurs is “pushed” into entrepreneurship--as in, they only start businesses as the best of a bad set of money-making options--or “pulled,” starting businesses because they want to.) More recently has emerged the critique that not all experiences of risk are created equal, and that in championing immigrant or minority entrepreneurship we offload risk onto those people with smaller financial or even emotional cushions. The heightened experience of risk, and its attendant anxiety and feeling of constant scarcity, may be what Angelakos meant when he described his relatives as “kind of being prey to capitalism.”

I personally agree with that critique, and would throw in that the general perception of Latino immigrants as not-entrepreneurial denies them a road to acceptance (or bourgeois respectability, if you prefer) that their Swedish, German, Jewish, Italian, and more recently Korean predecessors have been able to walk. That was why I wanted to write about Latino entrepreneurship in the first place, and why I ended up writing about North Carolina’s Latino Community Credit Union and associated initiatives as a promising case study. But I would caution against crossing the line from wanting to reduce risk for vulnerable minorities to regarding asking them to bear any kind of risk as imperialist and offensive. Risk can’t be eliminated altogether, and there are costs to scaling risk to higher levels of human activity and trying to diffuse it. A small business committed to a bad idea does a lot less damage than a government policy committed to a bad idea, even if the latter is more equitable in the range and number of people it effects.

Writing a dissertation is a humbling process. I’ve never written and recorded a song, but I imagine that process humbles too. (When “Take a Walk” came out Angelakos was not shy about disliking it, though he seems to have grown fonder of it as time goes on: “I like that it’s so uncharacteristic of me,” he said in 2017.) You work and work and work, all the while knowing you have no control over how your audience will hear your message, or if there will even be an audience. You can never be sure that you read enough, or chose the right method of analysis, or treated your subjects with sufficient respect. You’ll never know if you’re actually on the side of the angels. If the “angels” are metaphorical--if you don’t actually believe in a god, or God, whose love is greater than your human tendency to error and self-deception and treachery--then the risk is even higher. And yet, without that risk, how would you ever be able to say anything worth saying?

#songs of the decade #passion pit #longreads #music writing

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ayellowbirds · 5 years

Link

A DISPUTE BETWEEN Google and two employees who helped organize a walkout last fall is intensifying, after Google executives reportedly sent emails to coworkers of one of the women, disputing her claim that she was demoted.

The two employees, Claire Stapleton and Meredith Whittaker, hosted a “town hall” forum in New York Friday that was live-streamed to other Google offices. Attendees said Stapleton discussed the emails sent to her coworkers, and employees shared other stories of alleged retaliation at Google.

In a statement later Friday, Stapleton said Google executives tried to undermine her “in emails this week to thousands of my friends and colleagues” by challenging Stapleton’s claim that she was “demoted” because she was reassigned and lost half of her direct reports; her original role was reinstated after she hired a lawyer. Stapleton claimed Google’s emails said there was “never a demotion.”

“What’s true is that there was a demotion, and after my lawyers got involved, it was reversed,” Stapleton wrote in a statement viewed by WIRED. Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that an unnamed Google employee filed a charge against the company with the National Labor Relations Board, related to retaliation, assigned to its New York office, where Whittaker and Stapleton are based.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Google said, “We prohibit retaliation in the workplace and publicly share our very clear policy. To make sure that no complaint raised goes unheard at Google, we give employees multiple channels to report concerns, including anonymously, and investigate all allegations of retaliation.” The spokesperson did not respond to questions about the email challenging Stapleton’s claim of demotion.

Both women have worked at Google for more than a decade. Whittaker, who leads Google Open Research and has been at Google for 13 years, said Monday that she was effectively asked to abandon her work on AI ethics, including her role at AI Now Institute, a group she cofounded affiliated with New York University. Stapleton, a marketing manager at YouTube who has worked for Google for nearly 12 years, said that months after the walkout her role was restructured, she lost half her reports, and Google’s human resources department suggested that she take medical leave although she was not sick.

Although both women helped organize the November protest in which 20,000 Google employees briefly walked out of their offices to protest the company’s handling of sexual harassment claims, their claims differ. Whittaker’s claims of retaliation appear to be tied to her work on AI ethics, including organizing protests last spring around the Pentagon’s Project Maven, under which Google applied artificial intelligence techniques to help identify objects in drone footage, and a more recent protest against Google’s external advisory council on AI.

In a statement she released Friday, Whittaker said her manager told her in late December she would likely need to leave Google’s Cloud division, where she had been working for years. She said the issue “escalated” in March, when the same manager told her that the Cloud division was seeking more revenue “and that AI Now and my AI ethics work was no longer a fit.” She said the request was strange because the Cloud unit has a team working on ethical concerns related to AI.

During the March meeting, Whittaker claims her manager also told her that there are “two kinds of people at Google … those who quit and those who stay and hate every minute of it and try to destroy it.” In the statement, Whittaker says, “I was taken aback, since my work has always aimed to ensure that Google lived up to its purported values, and treated its workforce, and the rest of the world, with respect.”

The protest against Google’s external advisory councilrevolved around the company’s appointment of Kay Cole James, president of the Heritage Foundation; employees were upset by James’ anti-trans and anti-immigrant political statements. Google disbanded the council after nearly 2,600 employees signed a petition against James’ participation.

In her statement on Friday, Whittaker says that on April 1, a few days before the petition was drafted, she got approval from Jeff Dean, an executive working on AI at Google, to transfer from Cloud to Google’s Research and Machine Intelligence group. Two weeks after the petition was sent, Whittaker says, her transfer was killed.

#google #labor rights #employer retaliation #business ethics #AI ethics

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cindylouwho-2 · 5 years

Text

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES

US Amazon sellers were told via email that they will have to pay taxes on some Amazon fees, as Etsy has been doing with sellers in the EU and in Quebec.

The Instagram look may be dropping out of favour; apparently, reality is in. “Instagram museums and walls were built to allow normal people to take influencer-quality photographs—but they worked so well, those types of photos became common enough that they don’t resonate like they used to. “#unfiltered

In case you missed it, my review of Etsy’s Spring & Summer Trends Guide, including all of the keyword data (which you do need to check out, as they reveal some interesting search info).

ETSY NEWS

Etsy published a new census/survey of sellers in its 6 core countries, and also did a summary (if you don’t want to read the whole thing). “More than nine out of ten Etsy sellers (91%) are the sole owner of their businesses.”... “The majority (82%) of Etsy sellers would like to grow their business, but more than three out of five would not want to grow so big that they would have to hire more help.”

The bugs & errors with financial statements and records continue; Etsy botched the VAT statements yet again, even overwriting them all the way back to 2016. No word on whether any sellers have notified EU authorities on this yet.

New seller handbook article covers advertising; not much new or gripping, but it does discuss general ad approaches, not just Etsy’s.

There is also a new free shipping tool, in case you didn’t realize that Etsy wants more sellers to offer free shipping more often. “When we talk to shoppers during research, many say things like “I want to feel like I’m getting a deal!” and “I would love to see free shipping across the board, even if it meant increased prices.” Offering free shipping can be a great way to give customers like these the shopping experience they are looking for.”

CEO Josh Silverman participated in The Wall Street Journal’s “In the Elevator” interview series [video link]. Every 90 seconds, an engagement ring or wedding ring sells on Etsy. He also talks about free & fast shipping not always being a reasonable expectation when shopping on Etsy, unlike Amazon.

Speaking of free shipping, a limited number of US customers will be getting it from Etsy, with Etsy reimbursing sellers for the costs. Non-US sellers and buyers get nothing.

Etsy’s 2019 1st quarter results will be available May 8.

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES

Rand Fishkin released Part 5 of his Learn SEO in 1 Hour series: technical SEO [video & written transcript]. This is the one most of you can skip or just skim over, as it does talk a lot about coding.Some tips are important to everyone, however, like page linking/site structure (for websites), and having https set up.

Part 6 covers link building, in 10 minutes. Remember, if you are going to put effort into getting links, do it for your website & not your Etsy shop or other marketplace page. If you are creating traffic, make sure you own it.

Don’t forget looking beyond Google for your search engine traffic; this podcast [with written transcript] breaks down an approach to several of the biggest ones beyond Google. Spoiler: they only recommend worrying about the biggest, Bing, if you have around 1000 unique search visitors to your website per day.

How to get keyword ideas from the Google search results: there’s a lot more available now, beyond the search bar suggestions.

Google is asking local businesses if they would pay for their Google My Business listings. This possibility raises concerns about the impact on organic rankings.

More SEO tips for Amazon, including discussion of the various factors involved.

If pages on your website aren’t indexed by Google, there are some steps you can take to fix them. (For websites only, not Etsy shops)

Advanced/semi-advanced content: Great tips on using bookmarklets in Chrome to get SEO things done quickly. (A lot of these involve tools that work best in the paid version, so I suspect most of us will not have much use for this, yet.)

Possible Google algorithm update last week. (I am seeing changes)

CONTENT MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails)

Looking for new hashtags for your social media accounts? Try: https://www.tagshitter.com (apologies for the name; that’s what they call it. It’s good, too! Just like its regular keyword research partner, http://keywordshitter.com/ )

Email subject lines [infographic] are crucial to top interaction with your newsletter etc. Includes Dos & Don’ts, plus the shockingly low open rates in most industries.

Selling through social media directly is a great way to avoid people losing interest as they keep clicking. Note that this seems to work best with items under $50, though, which they suggest solutions to in the next part of the article.

Despite all the scandals and negative media coverage, US social media use hasn’t really changed in the past few years. “A 2018 Center survey found that some Facebook users had recently taken steps to moderate their use of the site – such as deleting the Facebook app from their phone or taking a break from the platform for some time. But despite these findings and amid some high profile controversies, Facebook users as a whole are just as active on the site today as they were a year ago.”

Facebook scandal watch: FB’s “stock price jumped after it said it expects to incur a fine of up to $5 billion from the Federal Trade Commission. And that’s all you really need to know about whether the historically large penalty matters to the company.”

Also:

they admitted to asking for your email password then importing all of your contacts. “...Facebook disclosed to Business Insider that 1.5 million people's contacts were collected this way and fed into Facebook's systems, where they were used to improve Facebook's ad targeting, build Facebook's web of social connections, and recommend friends to add.”

The Canadian Privacy Commissioner is taking FB to court over breaches of Canadian privacy law.

But hey, it’s all fine, because they beat earnings expectations in the first quarter.

70% of YouTube videos watched are recommended by its algorithm. “ The recommendations are fueled by the artificial-intelligence arm, Google Brain, of YouTube’s parent company. The machine-learning models help identify videos that aren’t exactly what you just watched, but similar enough that you might like them.“

Does directing people to the link in your Instagram bio really work? Testing says that it probably doesn’t work for most accounts, and more importantly, that Instagram may be limiting the algorithm visibility of posts that direct visitors to the link in your bio.

Twitter has now limited the number of accounts you can follow in 1 day, to 400 down from 1000; this is intended to cut back on spammers.

US Twitter users are better educated & better off than the average American.(Good article for target market considerations)

ONLINE ADVERTISING (SEARCH ENGINES, SOCIAL MEDIA, & OTHERS)

Amazon is reducing/removing the ads for its own products, possibly due to increased complaints of unfair competition. “Amazon is now the third-largest digital advertising platform, behind Google and Facebook”, and could grow 50% this year alone, based on projections.

Facebook retargeting tips. And everything you need to know about the Facebook pixel for tracking your ad performance.

STATS, DATA, OTHER TRACKING

Some Google Analytics tips for websites - almost beginner level!

The Google Search Console delays are nearly all fixed.

Stats programs all give you different numbers, and that isn’t likely to improve. (This piece is semi-advanced; don’t bother with it if you aren’t a stats geek.)

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS

eBay’s Spring Marketplace Updates include several back end changes and a fee increase for sellers who run afoul of eBay’s seller performance standards.

Amazon sellers can buy so-called “black hat” services to beat its algorithms. These include tips from Amazon employees who are making money by reporting on Amazon’s inner workings. Amazon “also said it takes action against sellers who pay for internal information; penalties include terminating their selling accounts, deleting reviews, withholding funds, and taking legal action.” No doubt the company already has closed some of the loopholes discussed in the article.

Amazon also fires warehouse workers by algorithm, based on productivity.

GoDaddy launches an ecommerce sharing tool that lets you list across multiple websites including your standalone. Current marketplace options include Etsy, Amazon, eBay, Jet & Walmart. They bought Sellbrite as part of this move. Quite a few different entities are releasing this type of service, so shop around if it is something you are interested in.

eBay released their 1st quarter 2019 results on April 23. Total sales were down 4% from 2018 (they were close to even when currency fluctuations were accounted for), but eBay’s own income from seller fees was up. “eBay reduced their marketing by a significant amount where their cash was being used to effectively subsidise the sales of high value items. Put simply, eBay have been buying sales and now they’ve stopped and this has seen a reduction in high ticket items being sold in comparison to sales of lower value items.” Easter being later this year may have slowed ecommerce growth overall in the quarter.

...but Amazon reported record revenue, up 16.9% over 2018. Despite that, analysts note that growth is slowing, & that Amazon’s own projections for the second quarter are lower than many predicted. “Amazon’s CFO Brian Olsavsky said during the call with analysts that part of the lower guidance is due to an $800 million investment in making free one-day delivery shipping the default for Prime members.” - if you thought buyers wanted stuff yesterday already, wait til this becomes the norm ... I mean, Walmart & Target stocks fell after the announcement. Walmart is already hinting at offering the same.

You can return your Amazon purchases at Kohl’s in the US, starting everywhere in July. Ease of returns is going to be a bigger battleground in the next few years, as retailers continue to increase free & speedy shipping options.

BUSINESS & CONSUMER STUDIES, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE

Generation Z will be making 40% of US retail purchases by next year; they are going to change a lot about selling. “ Fair trade products, ethical business practices, and a strong mission statement have never been more essential. Vend reports, “Research has shown that this particular generation cares about various environmental issues (76% are concerned about humanity’s impact on the planet) as well as social causes such as racial, gender, and income inequality.” [Gen Z come after millennials, and are currently more numerous than millennials or boomers.]

Millennials & Gen Z are big gift card buyers in the US - over 1/3 buy a card every 3 months.

Brick & mortar stores & malls are using your phone location data (location analytics) to make marketing and product decisions. “Every company interviewed for this story said it chooses not to use information that could identify individuals. But for the most part they’re on an honor system because rules governing data remain relatively lax.” This surprised me: “To glean details, including an individual’s age, income, ethnicity, education level, number of children and more, firms connect the phone’s evening location with U.S. Census data”

MISCELLANEOUS

US copyright law: the USSC rules that your copyright registration must be finished/approved before you can sue an infringer in federal court.

If you hate Gmail’s current layout, you will love this Chrome extension.

And if you use Google Sheets fairly often, you will likely learn something useful from these tips.

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, missed industry revenue expectations in the first quarter of 2019.

#seo #search engine optimization #etsynews #analytics #stats #social media #contentmarketing #ecommerce #smallbiz #cindylouwho2newsupdates

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is6621 · 6 years

Text

Battle of the Band’s... Music Streaming Services by Emily Gabree

This week, Spotify announced that the company has filed an antitrust complaint to the European Commission against Apple. Spotify makes some pretty substantial charges against Apple, alleging that their App Store policies are a way for the tech behemoth to stifle competition in the market, and that these policies are far and above just a cost of doing business on Apple’s platform.

Spotify Chief Executive Officer, Daniel Ek, states in a post on the company’s website that the complaint asks the European Commission to focus on three main areas: (1) Whether apps can compete fairly on Apple’s platform, (2) Whether consumers are "locked-in" to Apple’s platform and payment system, and (3) Whether app stores impose unfair limits on marketing, promotions and communication with users.

This is not the first time Apple has drawn criticism from app makers because it draws a fee of up to 30% of apps sold in the App Store. However, most developers have accepted this setup in order to leverage Apple’s secure platform and reach the millions of iPhone users globally. Therefore, this lawsuit is a pretty big deal - proving that companies are finally willing to step up to the fruit. Let’s break down both sides.

Spotify:

One of the biggest complaints that Spotify has against Apple’s App Store policies is the 30% revenue share that Apple requires apps to pay if digital goods or services are purchased in the app using Apple’s secure payment system. Spotify believes that this is a “tax” that they are incurring because their app competes with Apple Music. In fact, the company has gone so far to say that once Apple launched their music app and became a direct competitor, Apple had an incentive to disadvantage Spotify (and other rival services) through frequent and extreme restrictions and policy changes.

In his post, Daniel Ek claims, “What initially felt like a mutually beneficial partnership, increasingly felt very one-sided. Apple’s conduct stands apart from that of such rival app-store operators (i.e. Google) for being particularly exploitative and punitive, with the ultimate costs passed on to customers who may get stuck with less competition and choice.”

The key difference between Apple’s App store and others is not the revenue sharing itself – which based on what I could find seems to be fairly consistent across Google, Apple, and Android. Instead, it’s based on how users of the apps actually make purchases. Apple requires apps to use their payment system and bans apps from linking to outside payment sites. While Apple claims this is for user security, Spotify claims this is leading to systematic unfairness across their platform.

Spotify doubled down on their allegations, launching a website called “Time To Play Fair” on the same day they announced the lawsuit. This site outlines a timeline, as well as Spotify’s perspective on how Apple mistreats companies that compete with Apple products in the App Store.

App Store sales have become a crucial part of Apple’s revenue model. Yahoo finance estimates that roughly 12% of Apple’s 2019 fiscal year gross profits could come from their App Store. This is also a clear part of Apple’s strategy going forward, as customers are no longer upgrading their phones at the same annual pace as previously seen. Additionally, Bloomberg forecasts that the app economy is expected to grow from $82B in 2018 to $157B by 2022. Therefore, Spotify’s lawsuit is a direct shot at the company’s long term strategy.

Apple:

Yesterday, Apple fired back. The company posted an official statement on their website disputing not just Spotify’s accusation that Apple unfairly charges only apps that compete with their products, but also Spotify’s claim that Apple is blocking access to products and updates within Spotify’s app itself. Apple highlights that the company has approved and distributed over 200 app updates requested by Spotify. They also claim to have only requested adjustments when they felt that Spotify was trying to circumvent the rules that every other app follows.

Apple believes that Spotify’s motivations are not focused on the customer, but instead driven by financial motivations. Within their address, Apple states, “After using the App Store for years to dramatically grow their business, Spotify seeks to keep all the benefits of the App Store ecosystem, including the substantial revenue that they draw from the App Store’s customers, without making any contributions to that marketplace. At the same time, they distribute the music you love while making ever-smaller contributions to the artists, musicians and songwriters who create it – even going so far as to take these creators to court”

In Apple’s response, we learn that 84% of the apps in the Apple App store do not pay anything to Apple when users download or use the app. For those apps that do pay, the revenue share is 30% in the first year, and 15% in subsequent years. This was built by design, and the rules outlined in their reply apply to all – not just apps that compete with Apple products. Daniel Ek insists in his post that Spotify does not want “special treatment”, rather the company wants a “consistent set of fair rules and restrictions”. While it appears that Spotify is getting the same treatment as other apps that meet certain rules laid out by Apple, the focus here will likely be on the word “fair”.

Apple claims that it’s revenue share is in exchange for connecting a third-party’s services to its users, using the App Store billing system, and its developer tools that allow Spotify to build its iPhone and iPad applications. However, what is actually fair in this scenario? Should Apple require apps to use their payment system? How does that requirement impact customers either positively or negatively? These are all questions that EU regulators will be faced with then going through the anti-trust lawsuit. All of this could also become intensified at the end of March when Apple is expected to announce new content services.

Regulators:

This comes at a time when agencies and politicians in the US and UK are also taking a microscope to antitrust laws and the tech industry. EU regulators have continuously showed concern about how much technology platforms control online, and how they may rig the game to their own advantage. Though the cases are slightly different, regulators in Europe recently ruled that Google’s inclusion of the Chrome browser pre-installed on Android devices gave it an unfair advantage. This could pose a significant risk to Apple’s App Store future if similar issues are deemed to be taking place by the EU Commission.

Regulators within the US have also called on Apple to level the playing field. Though Apple has been a minor point of Senator Elizabeth Warren’s focus to break up big tech, she did point directly to how Apple products compete in their iOS store. "Apple, you’ve got to break it apart from their App Store. It’s got to be one or the other. Either they run the platform or they play in the store. They don’t get to do both at the same time," Warren told The Verge in a recent interview.

What does IS6621 think? Which company has the best legal and ethical case? Is Apple not playing by the rules? Or does Spotify just not like the rules?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-13/apple-faces-spotify-antitrust-complaint-to-eu-over-app-store

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/spotify-apple-app-store-164634805.html

https://9to5mac.com/2019/03/13/its-time-to-play-fair/

https://timetoplayfair.com/the-case/

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/03/addressing-spotifys-claims/

#IS6621 Apple Spotify

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