The digital revolution has spawned new platforms for authors, artists, inventors and other creators. Global digital distribution of works and products grounded in intellectual property (IP) rights now occurs virtually instantaneously and more economically than ever before. At the same time, the Internet age has prompted a perception that intellectual property online is less deserving of protection than intellectual property in tangible goods. This skewed perception harms the American economy and undermines respect for rights protected by our Constitution.
All posts by brucebecker
Olivia Reynolds found guilty of 24 counts of voter fraud
A Houston County jury found Olivia Reynolds guilty Wednesday afternoon for her role in a voter fraud case.
Assistant District Attorney Banks Smith said the jury found 66-year-old Olivia Reynolds guilty of 24 felony counts of absentee ballot fraud. Smith said the jury deliberated for less than an hour before returning with the guilty verdicts.
Houston County Sheriff’s investigators arrested Reynolds in May 2014. She was one of three women charged who worked on the 2013 campaign for District 2 City Commissioner Amos Newsome.
In the August election, Newsome beat challenger Lamesa Danzey by 14 votes. Newsome received 119 of the 124 absentee votes that were cast. Danzey received more votes than Newsome at the polls.
US federal agent investigating Silk Road admits $800,000 bitcoin theft
A former US secret service agent has pleaded guilty to stealing over $800,000 worth of bitcoin during an investigation into online drug marketplace Silk Road.
Pa. Judge Sentenced To 28 Years In Massive Juvenile Justice Bribery Scandal
A Pennsylvania judge was sentenced to 28 years in prison in connection to a bribery scandal that roiled the state’s juvenile justice system. Former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella Jr. was convicted of taking $1 million in bribes from developers of juvenile detention centers. The judge then presided over cases that would send juveniles to those same centers. The case came to be known as “kids-for-cash.”
The 10 Worst Things About Lockheed Martin’s Alleged Lobbying Fraud
Last week, Lockheed Martin paid the Justice Department $4.7 million to settle charges it fraudulently paid a lobbyist with illegally-used taxpayer funds. It paid the lobbyist, a revolving door former U.S. Representative, to help it get it a giant, no-bid, $2.4 billion-a-year contract to run giant national labs for many years to come. Lockheed’s astonishingly corrupt influence peddling, with illegal taxpayer funds, has so many sleazy aspects that only the ten worst can be briefly covered.
The Data Destroyers
A few weeks ago, the California education department did a peculiar thing: It scrubbed historical data about standardized-test scores from its public DataQuest website. This being a government agency, it immediately began to lie to the public about why it had done this.
Federal Judge Orders IRS to Disclose WH Requests for Taxpayer Info
A federal judge on Friday ordered the Internal Revenue Service to reveal White House requests for taxpayers’ private information, advancing a probe into whether administration officials targeted political opponents by revealing such information.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rejected the IRS’s argument that a law designed to protect the confidentiality of such information protected the public disclosure of such communications with the White House.
New Mexico Secretary of State Charged With Embezzlement, Fraud
SANTA FE, N.M.—New Mexico’s Democratic attorney general charged Republican Secretary of State Dianna Duran with embezzlement, fraud, money laundering and campaign finance violations, further widening a rift between the two over enforcement of the state’s laws governing campaigns.
Attorney General Hector Balderas’ office filed the 64-count complaint late Friday in state district court in Santa Fe. Mr. Balderas didn’t make a statement or hold a news conference to announce the complaint against Ms. Duran, one of the highest-ranking Republicans in the state.
Mr. Balderas spokesman James Hallinan said the office wouldn’t be releasing any information beyond the court filing. “Our office will proceed transparently by way of preliminary hearing,” he said.
Defense budget decision-makers are big recipients of industry funds
Congress has approved a defense policy bill that the president has signed each of the past 6 years, but this year, it’s struggling. The House and Senate disagree over many of its provisions, including the financing and direction of individual military programs within an overall budget exceeding $600 billion.
As a result, the resolution of these disputes in the next few weeks will fall to a relatively small group in Washington – just 48 lawmakers. And as it turns out, the group is remarkably beholden to the private defense companies whose profits depend on their decisions.
Business E-Mail Compromise
The accountant for a U.S. company recently received an e-mail from her chief executive, who was on vacation out of the country, requesting a transfer of funds on a time-sensitive acquisition that required completion by the end of the day. The CEO said a lawyer would contact the accountant to provide further details.
“It was not unusual for me to receive e-mails requesting a transfer of funds,” the accountant later wrote, and when she was contacted by the lawyer via e-mail, she noted the appropriate letter of authorization—including her CEO’s signature over the company’s seal—and followed the instructions to wire more than $737,000 to a bank in China.
The next day, when the CEO happened to call regarding another matter, the accountant mentioned that she had completed the wire transfer the day before. The CEO said he had never sent the e-mail and knew nothing about the alleged acquisition.