http://www.broadcastingcable.com/…

LG (South Korean), Sharp (Japanese), and Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd. (Tiawanese) have admitted to fixing the prices of liquid crystal display TV screens, computer monitors and other thin-film transistor (TFT) LCD screens and will have to pay over a half billion dollars in fines.

That is according to the Justice Department, which Wednesday announced the three leading manufacturers of LCD displays would have to pony up $585 million, $400 million coming from LG, which Justice says is the second highest criminal fine the department has ever imposed. Chunghwa will have to pay $65 million and Sharp $120 million.

Calling it an international cartel, Justice said that LG agreed to plead guilty to participating in the cartel from September 2001 through June 2006. The plea agreements are subject to court approval, Justice said.

Justice said the price fixing affected “millions of American consumers who use computers, cell phones and numerous other household electronics every day.”

Assume we agree that price fixing is a criminal offence, which I don’t, if the government role is to protect us and they brought this case on our behalf… why are they getting the $585 million?

http://www.collegenews.com/…

Former New York Governor Elliot Spitzer will not face charges after rumors that he spent thousands of dollars on high priced prostitutes forced him out of office 8 months ago.

Michael J. Garcia, the United States Attorney in Manhattan, issued a statement about Spitzer on Thursday, saying that “We have determined that there is insufficient evidence to bring charges against Mr. Spitzer”.  “In light of the policy of the Department of Justice with respect to prostitution offenses and the longstanding practice of this office, as well as Mr. Spitzer’s acceptance of responsibility for his conduct, we have concluded that the public interest would not be further advanced by filing criminal charges in this matter.”

So… if I get arrested for a victimless crime, like being a John, I get fined or jail time. But if I’m a politician with some connections I get off without even a trial.

http://www.downsizedc.org/…

“If the court grants our request … then if any law enforcement officer sees a Mongol wearing his patch, he will be authorized to stop that gang member and literally take the jacket right off his back.” - U.S. Attorney Thomas O’Brien

“The government can’t ban confederate flags, swastikas, or klan robes, and it sure as hell can’t ban the display of the Mongols’ logo.” - Marc J. Randazza

“What if the government had decided that, because of the Watergate scandal, nobody could use the word Republican again? - Zeichner Ellman

The Justice Department indicted 79 members of the Mongol Nation Motorcycle club for racketeering on October 21. The indictment included federal seizure of the “Mongols” trademarked name.

The case hasn’t even gone to trial yet , but U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper has authorized the seizure of the defendants’ . . .

* Clothing, motorcycles, and other property bearing the Mongols trademark.
* Any similar property bearing the trademark that belongs to the defendants’ “agents, servants, employees, family members, and those persons in active concert or participation with them.”

In other words, many people who weren’t even indicted will have their property seized.

This ruling has serious problems . . .

* In April, Mongol Nation transferred its trademark to Shotgun Productions, LLC, in April, a company that isn’t even named in the indictment.
* Prohibiting possession of trademarked items sets a dangerous precedent. If the government for some reason seizes the Nike swoosh, could FBI agents strip Tiger Woods of his cap, shirt, and shoes?

Civil asset forfeiture was already wrong. The government has no right to seize property without a trial and conviction. But now Judge Cooper and the Justice Department have taken it to a whole new level . . .

* An organization could lose its trademark because of the alleged crimes of some of its members.
* Normal asset forfeiture only seizes property alleged to have been used for illegal purposes, but now the government can take property simply because it sports the wrong logo!
* People completely unrelated to any indictment are now having their property seized too!

Civil asset forfeiture already violates the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th Amendments to the Constitution. Now it endangers the First Amendment too. Government officials could trump-up charges against any organization they don’t like, seize its name, and put it out of business! It could happen to DownsizeDC.org!

This will chill freedom of expression.

Civil asset forfeiture must die. Use our Educate the Powerful System to tell Congress to repeal civil asset forfeiture.

Use your personal comments to tell Congress . . .

* About the Mongol case
* That’s its wrong for the government to seize property without due process and a conviction
* And even more wrong to seize property simply because it sports a legally-obtained, trademarked logo.

Demand that Congress abolish civil asset .forfeiture.

Thank you for being a part of the growing Downsize DC army.

And a hat tip to The Legal Satyricon blog for providing links to government documents.

James Wilson
Assistant to the President
DownsizeDC.org

This is really slick. I hadn’t considered such an action. Asset forfeiture has generally been able to continue do to its reach. It effects few and often those who are accused or convicted of a crime taking advantage of the fact that many do not wish to be associated with criminals and therefore will not stand up for their rights. However, should that reach grow as it has in this particular case perhaps there will be more public outrage. Then again perhaps not. Eminent domain has been more and more abused recently with relatively little increase in response.

http://news.cnet.com/…

President Bush on Monday signed into law an intellectual-property enforcement bill that would consolidate federal efforts to combat copyright infringement under a new White House cabinet position.

The Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act establishes within the executive branch the position of intellectual property enforcement coordinator, who will be appointed by the president.

The law also steepens penalties for intellectual-property infringement, and increases resources for the Department of Justice to coordinate for federal and state efforts against counterfeiting and piracy. The so-called Pro-IP Act passed unanimously in the Senate last month and received strong bipartisan support in the House.

The Bush administration initially expressed its opposition to the legislation, but one of its more contentious provisions, which would have allowed the Justice Department to pursue civil litigation against copyright infringers, was removed.

The law has received wide-ranging support from within the business community, including from the Recording Industry Association of America, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and copyright holders such as NBC Universal. Labor groups such as the AFL-CIO have also expressed their support for the new law. Business and labor groups have said strong intellectual-property enforcement is critical for the development of the U.S. economy.

And who said that government was anti-monopoly? The Constitution be damned… intellectual property is not property. There is no scarcity. One can not own an idea like they can own a hammer. Many companies have trade secrets which are enforced through private contract and have kept from the public for decades. Even if you don’t agree one would have to admit that all current laws are corporatist in nature. The patent system is completely fucked. No one should be able to patent one click shopping or any other software algorithm or the genetic makeup of a house fly.

UPDATE:

The USA isn’t the only one: Court ruling strengthens patent protection for UK software

http://www.forfeituresupport.com/

Forfeiture Support Associates (FSA) brings together two proven service providers—MPRI, an L-3 Communications Company, and AECOM Government Services (AECOM-GSI). FSA’s management approach leverages the resources and experience of MPRI and AECOM-GSI for a single purpose—continuous high-quality service delivery in a variety of labor catergories. Our core business focus is in providing key staffing support for Department of Justice (DOJ) agencies and offices, other Federal Law Enforcement prosecutorial venues, and the Federal Law Enforcement community in general. Our largest customers include the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), United States Marshals Service (USMS), Executive Office of the United States Attorney (EOUSA), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).

Business Division 1 – DOJ Asset Forfeiture Support

FSA’s primary business is generated from our Department of Justice (DOJ) Asset Forfeiture contract. This long-term contract provides the Federal Law Enforcement community with a wide variety of support, in 30+ labor categories. This contract vehicle has been in existence for decades and is administered by the Asset Forfeiture Management Staff (AFMS) at DOJ. Currently the contract provides nearly 1500 ordered positions in over 450 Federal Law Enforcement office locations throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and Guam. Click here for more information

Business Division 2 – GSA Schedule Support

FSA is currently in the process of becoming a GSA schedules contractor. Within the very near future FSA will be able to offer our Government customers the alternative of ordering our services directly from one of several GSA schedules.

Click here for more information

Business Division 3 – Commercial Support Contracts

FSA’s main business focus is in providing high quality labor support services to the Federal Law Enforcement community, or to other entities/companies that also provide like services. The FSA Commercial Services Division manages and supports all FSA business contract activities with US commercial companies.

Click here for more information

I wonder what their slogan is. “Helping the government steal your shit.”? “The paper pushers making sure your things end up in the forfeiture’s hands.”? Or something directed toward their clients? “Making sure they can’t get it back!” “Who wants a new gold watch?”

I wonder who’s buddy owns this company or it’s an ex DEA/FBI agent.

http://www.prisonplanet.com/…

Lawrence Lessig, a respected Law Professor from Stanford University told an audience at this years Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference in Half Moon Bay, California, that “There’s going to be an i-9/11 event” which will act as a catalyst for a radical reworking of the law pertaining to the internet.

There’s going to be an i-9/11 event. Which doesn’t necessarily mean an Al Qaeda attack, it means an event where the instability or the insecurity of the internet becomes manifest during a malicious event which then inspires the government into a response. You’ve got to remember that after 9/11 the government drew up the Patriot Act within 20 days and it was passed.

The Patriot Act is huge and I remember someone asking a Justice Department official how did they write such a large statute so quickly, and of course the answer was that it has been sitting in the drawers of the Justice Department for the last 20 years waiting for the event where they would pull it out.

Of course, the Patriot Act is filled with all sorts of insanity about changing the way civil rights are protected, or not protected in this instance. So I was having dinner with Richard Clarke and I asked him if there is an equivalent, is there an i-Patriot Act just sitting waiting for some substantial event as an excuse to radically change the way the internet works. He said “of course there is”.

Skip to 4:30:

Lessig is the founder of Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society. He is founding board member of Creative Commons and is a board member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and of the Software Freedom Law Center. He is best known as a proponent of reduced legal restrictions on copyright, trademark and radio frequency spectrum, particularly in technology applications.

Anyone who doesn’t think the Internet as we know it can be controlled by the government is missing the obvious. The telecoms, which own all the major hubs and backbones, are in bed with the government. They now have immunity from instances where they work with the government to spy on subjects. They work with the NSA to tap major internet hubs with machines able to do realtime analysis of all traffic passing through it. The government even provides them with monopoly status in many parts of the country isolating them from competition. Just like all large corporations which are regulated… they are in bed with the corporatists running the government.

http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/…

The Internal Revenue Service is taking the unprecedented step of seeking Swiss bank records in search of what it suspects could be up to $20 billion worth of assets hidden by U.S. taxpayers.

Justice Department lawyers said late Monday that they had filed court documents in Miami asking a judge to allow the IRS to get information from the banking giant UBS. U.S. investigators are seeking permission for the first time to serve what are called “John Doe” summons to obtain information about possible tax fraud against taxpayers whose identities are not known.

Information stemming from a guilty plea by a former UBS banker last week in Miami suggests the Zurich-based bank had “undeclared” accounts of U.S. taxpayers estimated at about $20 billion. U.S. tax laws require any accounts abroad worth more than $10,000 to be reported — and penalties call for up to half of the amount in a hidden account to be forfeited.

The U.S. government is trying to cooperate with the Swiss government and the bank, Deputy Assistant Attorney General John DiCicco said. But he added, “We are prepared to seek enforcement if that process is not successful.”

Enforcement? What the hell does that mean? World court or troops? It’s sad the latter is the first I think of.