Sunday, May 27, 2007

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the United States Border Patrol and local officials from both sides are looking into tightening security at a Quebec library. The library has been deliberately on the border of Canada and the U.S. since it was built in 1904 by American sawmill owner Carlos Haskell and Canadian wife Martha Stewart Haskell for availability to both countries.

At Haskell Free Library and Opera House, in Rock Island, Quebec, a black line diagonally runs across the center of the library to mark the international border. Ironically the line puts the seats in the U.S. and the opera stage in Canada.

Both towns share the same water supply, sewer systems and emergency crews thus they cross the border without going against the law. In total, there are three streets that cross the border and there are cameras on both sides to monitor illegal activity, but that doesn’t tighten border security enough officials say.

“There’s been an increase in illegal activity, both north and south, in the last little while,” said operations officer for the Border Patrol’s Swanton sector, Mark Henry.”There have been some significant cases. This all fits in to the larger picture of the Border Patrol strategy to gain operational control of our borders.”

“I don’t think they’re aiming at people who go pick up groceries and come back. It’s people that want to use this in a bad way,” says Cpl. Luc Bessette, a spokesman for the RCMP.

To enter the U.S. at Haskell Free Library and Opera House, in Rock Island, Quebec, all one needs is directions to go to Stanstead, Quebec, directions to the local library and walk through the doors; they have illegally entered Derby Line, Vermont, U.S. If one walks across from Stanstead St. to Derby Line they will be at the checkout in the U.S., go to the library from Derby Line to Stanstead St. and they have officially entered back into Canada. The international border also is on Canusa St., a residential street in Stanstead, Quebec and Beebe Plain, Vermont.

If someone wants to see their neighbour across the street, they would be re-entering the U.S. Anyone who comes from Stanstead St. to Derby Line, to visit their neighbour, must report to Customs or they could be sent to jail for illegally entering. However, residents do not need to notify Customs if they cross the border inside buildings.

Currently, the front door is in Vermont and if Quebecers couldn’t enter the front they would have to go through the back way. If Americans wanted to park in the parking lot they couldn’t because it is legally in Canada.

A meeting will take place this 19 June at 7 p.m. local time asking whether residents want to prevent people from crossing the border regularly or, in some cases, illegal crossings. During a meeting last Thursday in Stanstead, Quebec, local officials from both countries (towns) said border walls and fences will not be put up due to local residents’ concerns. They say there are other alternatives.

There is also a movement to separate Vermont from the U.S. or to make it the 11^th province of Canada, with three territories. The website “Vermont Canada” says the state should join Canada due to its remaining liberal policies as opposed to the U.S.

[edit]

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

The Council of the European Union voted yesterday to extend the term of copyright on sound recordings by twenty years, from 50 years to 70, preventing a number of early recordings of 1960s rock musicians including The Beatles from entering the public domain. The 1962 hit “Love Me Do” would have entered the public domain in 2012 if this legislation had not been introduced. EU member states have to enact the copyright extension within two years.

The news was welcomed by representatives of the recording industry and by some recording artists. Cliff Richard has campaigned for term extension. Mick Jagger from the Rolling Stones said the decision was “obviously advantageous” to performers, and Bjorn Ulvaeus from Abba welcomed the continued control over the group’s recordings: “Now I won’t have to see Abba being used in a TV commercial”. Geoff Taylor from the British Phonographic Industry said “[a]n exceptional period of British musical genius was about to lose its protection. As a matter of principle, it is right that our musicians should benefit from their creativity during their lifetimes, and that they should not be disadvantaged compared to musicians in other countries.”

Extension of the copyright term also has critics. Jim Killock, from the British digital rights advocacy group the Open Rights Group (ORG), said the move “puts money into the pockets of big labels” but will be “unlikely to benefit smaller artists and it will mean that a lot of sound recordings that are out of print will stay out of print”. Singer Sandie Shaw, of the Featured Artists’ Coalition, said the move would be “extremely good news for record companies and collection agencies, but bad news for artists” and would lead to artists having “20 more years in servitude to contracts that are no longer appropriate to a digital age”.

The extension to 70 years is less than that EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy proposed in 2008. At that time, Wikinews interviewed Eddan Katz of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Becky Hogge, then Executive Director of ORG, in Brussels. The two organisations were gathering like-minded groups to oppose harmonisation with the US’s 95-year term. Characterising the sought extension as “Cliff Richard’s pension”, Hogge asserted, “[w]hat you’ve got at the end of the day with copyright term extension is basically […] rent seeking by special interest groups lobbying governments to change the law in order that they may economically gain directly.”

Two reviews of intellectual property rights in Britain have concluded it would not be economically beneficial to extend copyright terms on sound recordings. The Gowers Review of Intellectual Property in 2006 concluded extension of the copyright term would “negatively impact upon consumers and industry”. The Hargreaves Review of Intellectual Property and Growth in 2011 concluded it would be “economically detrimental”. A study conducted by Bournemouth University’s Center for Intellectual Property Policy and Management concluded 72% of the economic benefits of the term extension would go to record labels, with 28% going to artists, only 4% of which are going to less successful artists.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

At least twelve children have been injured after a swing ride at the Puyallup, Washington Spring Fair toppled over.

The ride is called a ‘LollySwing’, which is located in Kiddyland, where the riders sit in swings while the machine spins them around. It is owned by Funtastic Traveling Shows which has been a ride provider for the fair for over 50 years. The accident happened at around 6:30 p.m. (PDT).

Injuries are being described as mostly cuts and bruises, but one child was reported to have been in a neck brace and was taken to a local hospital. Five other children were also hospitalized.

According to one witness, “it just all of a sudden topped over.” The cause is under investigation. The ride has been at the fair for the past five years. Among the seven largest operators of fair rides in Washington, from 2001 to 2007 there were only seven reports of injuries related to mechanical failures.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

The 32nd round of the English Premiership took place this past weekend with both the battles for the league title and the battle against relegation still raging on. The fate of one team has been sealed for the rest of the season as Derby County has been mathematically guaranteed relegation, setting a new league record for earliest relegation. At the top of the table, nothing changed this week as Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool all won.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — Local caterers get ready for big business, as almost three thousand fans converge on the David L. Lawrence Convention Center over the Independence Day weekend for the world’s largest ever furry convention, Anthrocon 2007.

Many hope to renew acquaintances, or meet new friends. Others look to buy from dealers and artists, or show off new artwork or costumes. Some attend to make money, or even learn a thing or two. But one thing unites them: They’re all there to have fun.

Friday, March 25, 2005

A U.S. District Court in Tarrant County, Texas, issued a summary judgment Thursday against Circuit City’s InterTAN Inc., requiring all 950 RadioShack stores in Canada to stop using the RadioShack brand in store signs, packaging, products and advertising after June 30.

RadioShack’s Canadian operations were spun off in 1986 to a new corporation, InterTAN Canada, which was purchased in 2004 by RadioShack’s major U.S. competitor, Circuit City. Shortly thereafter, RadioShack sued InterTAN, alleging it had violated the terms of their licensing agreement and seeking the right to terminate the contract early.

In a statement released following the judge’s ruling, RadioShack’s general counsel, Mark Hill, claimed: “The most important thing to us was to protect our brand position in Canada.”

Circuit City chairman and chief executive officer, W. Alan McCollough responded today in a press release seeking an appeal: “We respectfully believe the court has erred in the partial ruling entered yesterday and we will use every means of relief possible to exercise our rights under the agreements, including all appeal rights. The Company believes the positions taken by InterTAN are correct and believe InterTAN will ultimately prevail in the legal proceedings.”

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

On Tuesday, the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs‘s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held a hearing titled “Credit Card Practices: Unfair Interest Rate Increases.” The hearing examined the circumstances under which credit card issuers may increase the interest rates of cardholders who are in compliance with the terms of their credit cards. It was a follow-up to a March 2007 hearing.

Subcommittee Chairman Carl Levin said in his opening statement: “Today’s focus is on credit card issuers who hike the interest rates of cardholders who play by the rules — meaning those folks who pay on time, pay at least the minimum amount due, and wake up one day to find their interest rate has gone through the roof — again, not because they paid late or exceeded the credit limit, but because their credit card issuer decided they should be ‘repriced’.”

Present to testify on behalf of credit card issuers were Roger C. Hochschild of Discover Financial Services, Bruce L. Hammonds of Bank of America Corporation, and Ryan Schneider of Capital One Financial Corporation.

Much of the 90 minute hearing focused on specific cases where interest rates were raised, allegedly because credit scores of the debtor dropped, and not because they were delinquent or otherwise behind on payments. According to Levin, this practice made it so that almost all payments went towards finance charges with almost none toward repaying the principal. This, he felt, is an unfair practice, as the credit card companies were negligent in informing their customers of the rate hikes and the reason for such hikes.

The collective credit card debt of Americans totals an estimated US$900 billion. Issuers have come under pressure to disclose their policies in regards to setting fees and interest rates. The US Truth in Lending Act requires that terms of a loan be set forth up front. Fluctuating interest rates on credit cards would, on the surface, appear to violate this act.

Roger C. Hochschild disagreed, arguing that “every card transaction is a new extension of credit … This makes it difficult — and risky — to underwrite, and price, the loan based solely on the borrower’s credit-worthiness at the time of application [for the card].”

Ryan Schneider, agreed: “The ability to modify the terms of a credit card agreement to accommodate changes over time to the economy or the credit-worthiness of consumers must be preserved.”

“Attempts to interfere with the market here … will inevitably result in less credit being offered,” warned Bruce Hammonds. “Risk-based pricing has democratized access to credit,” he added.

All three credit card executives also mentioned an ongoing Federal Reserve System review of credit card rules that already proposes a 45-day notification ahead of any rate changes.

Committee members criticized the industry for varying practices. Included in the criticism was the practice of mailing checks to card-holders, failing to notify applicants that obtaining additional cards could lower their credit score and raise their rates, and “ambushing” card-holders with raised rates.

Ranking minority member of the subcommittee, Norm Coleman said, “families find themselves ensnared in a seemingly inescapable web of credit card debt. They particularly report being saddled with interest rates that skyrocketed on them seemingly out of the blue.”