A group of Taylor Swift fans have filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster over the recent Eras Tourticketing fiasco, Deadline reports and pitchfork can confirm. The complaint (viewed by Pitchfork), details the ticketing giant’s bungled ticket sale for Swift’s 2023 stadium trek. Ticketmaster had to cancel the public on-sale date for the tour “due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand,” as the company wrote at the time. The Plaintiffs are suing Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation for “fraud, price-fixing, and antitrust violations,” alleging that “intentional deception” allowed scalpers to buy the majority of tickets.
Tickets for the Eras Tour went on sale on Tuesday, November 15, through Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan program. The program requires potential concertgoers to sign up ahead of time and rank their preferred cities and dates for attendance. This model is designed to reduce the bots who frequently swoop in for tickets before actual fans can purchase them. Ticketmaster claimed that over 3.5 million people registered as Verified Fans, and over 2 million tickets were sold on November 15, with a total of 3.5 billion system requests—four times the site’s previous high. Their website was overwhelmed with traffic and attacked by a “staggering number” of bots as well as fans who did not have invite codes.
The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, states that “millions of fans waited up to eight hours and were unable to purchase tickets as a result of insufficient ticket releases and other issues similar to the prior presale.” It also claims that Ticketmaster wasn’t prepared for the surge of customers.
In addition to Ticketmaster and Live Nation, the complaint names L.A. County—where Live Nation is located—as a Defendant, and repeatedly refers to the November 15 ticketing fiasco as a “disaster.” Plaintiffs are asking the court to fine Live Nation $2,500 per violation of fraud, price-fixing, and antitrust.
The suit outlines Ticketmaster’s monopoly in the concert industry, stating that “because no other venue can hold half as many people as the stadiums and venues working through Ticketmaster, Taylor Swift and other popular musicians have no choice but to work through Ticketmaster.”
The complaint continues: “Because artists like Taylor Swift have to go through Ticketmaster, their fans do as well. This means virtually all major music concert ticket sales in California and the United States go through Ticketmaster’s Primary Ticket Platform.”
Plaintiffs also alleged that Ticketmaster “allows scalpers to buy up tickets over buyers who actually plan to attend the performances,” and that the company “has stated that it has taken steps to address this issue, but in reality, has taken steps to make additional profit from the scalped tickets.” “Ticketmaster allowed bots and scalpers to remove tickets from a fan’s basket without being allowed adequate time to complete the sale,” Plaintiffs added.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Statistics on the number of scam websites that litter the internet are disturbing. During 2020, Google registered more than 2 million phishing websites alone. That means more than 5,000 new phishing sites popped up every day — not to mention the ones that avoided Google’s detection. In 2021, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported nearly $7 billion in losses from cybercrime that is perpetrated through these sites.
What exactly are scam websites? Scam websites refer to any illegitimate website that is used to deceive users into fraud or malicious attacks. Many scammers operate these fake websites and will download viruses onto your computer or steal passwords or other personal information.
Reporting these sites as they are encountered is an important part of fighting back. In other words, if you see something, say something. Keeping quiet, even if you avoid falling prey, allows the scammers to aim at another target.
Perhaps you’ve received a suspicious link in an email? Or maybe a strange text message that you haven’t clicked on. Fortunately, there are many organizations out there that have launched efforts aimed at reducing the threat that they pose. In general, these organizations put scam websites on the radar by collecting and sharing information about them. In some cases, they prompt an investigation into the scammers behind the sites.
It’s free to report a suspicious website you’ve encountered, and it takes just a minute. Here are eight ways you can report a suspected scam website to stop cyber criminals and protect yourself and others online.
1. The Internet Crime Complaint Center
The IC3, as it is known, is an office of the FBI that receives complaints from those who have been the victims of internet-related crime. The IC3 defines the internet crimes that it addresses to include illegal activity involving websites. Complaints filed with the IC3 are reviewed and researched by trained FBI analysts.
2. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
CISA, which is an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, targets a wide range of malicious cyber activity. It specifically requests reports on phishing activity utilizing fraudulent websites. Information provided to CISA is shared with the Anti-Phishing Working Group, a non-profit focused on reducing the impact of phishing-related fraud around the world.
3. econsumer.gov
The econsumer.gov site, run by the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network, is for reporting international scams. It is supported by consumer protection agencies and related offices in more than 65 countries. A secure version of their site is used by law enforcement agencies to share info on scams.
4. Google Safe Browsing
While Google does not have a mechanism for reporting all varieties of website scams, there is a form for reporting sites that are suspected of being used to carry out phishing. Reports made via the form are managed by Google’s Safe Browsing team. Google’s Transparency Report provides information on the sites that it has determined to be “currently dangerous to visit.”
This service was founded by Cisco Talos Intelligence Group to “pour sunshine on some of the dark alleys of the Internet.” Phishtank includes an ever-growing list of URLs reported as being involved in phishing scams. To date, it has received more than 7.5 million reports of potential phishing sites. It says that more than 100,000 of the sites are still online.
Antivirus providers such as Norton, Kaspersky, and McAfee have forms that can be used to identify pages that users feel should be blocked. Scam sites would definitely fall under that category. With some antivirus platforms, reporting forms can only be accessed by registered users. Norton’s is open to anyone.
7. Web host
There is a chance that the DNS service hosting the scam site will take action to shut it down. There are a variety of online resources that can help you to find the DNS of a particular site. Once you identify it, send a message to their customer service reporting the site in question and the experience that you had.
8. Share your experience on social media
This is actually more like sounding an alarm than filing a report, but it might protect one of your connections who stumbles upon the same site or is targeted by the same type of scam. At the very least, it could draw attention to the fact that scam sites affect real people. A post on Facebook about a close call you had with a scam might better equip your network to avoid any dangerous entanglements. If it does, they’ll thank you.
A 33-year-old man named Patrick Xavier Clark has been arrested for the murder of Migos’ Takeoff, who was shot and killed early in the morning of Tuesday, November 1, in Houston, Texas. A second man, 22-year-old Cameron Joseph, was arrested and charged with felony possession of a weapon.
At a press conference today, Sgt. Michael Burrow of the Houston Police Department said the shooting was preceded by an argument that happened outside of 810 Billiards & Bowling in Houston. The sergeant said that Takeoff “was an innocent bystander.”
A memorial service for Takeoff took place on November 11 at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena. Quavo and Offset, have since shared emotional tributes to their late Migos bandmate and relative.
The British rapper Pa Salieu has been sentenced to 33 months in prison, BBC News reports. The musician had been convicted of violent disorder and possessing a bottle as an offensive weapon, stemming from a 2018 incident. Salieu was cleared of a second count of violent disorder.
According to prosecutors, Salieu took part in a fight that occurred outside Coventry’s Club M after Salieu’s friend Fidel “AP” Glasgow was stabbed to death at age 21. During the fight, he apparently used a bottle and a tree branch to attack a 23-year-old man. Salieu—who is now 25 years old and was 21 at the time of the incident—was one of nine men charged in connection with the fight. No one has been charged with the murder of Glasgow, who was the grandson of the Specials’ Neville Staple.
Salieu was handed a suspended sentence in 2015 for possessing a knife, The Guardian notes. Years later, he began to focus on music, releasing his acclaimed debut, Send Them to Coventry, in 2020. He has since collaborated with FKA twigs, Ibeyi, Slowthai, Aitch, Mura Masa, Protoje, Backroad Gee, and others. He was also nominated for the Rising Star Award at the 2021 BRITs.
Representatives for Pa Salieu offered no comment when reached by Pitchfork.
Key aspects of the bill relate to the way “virtual assets” are defined and their possible local uses, who can provide services to the public and what are the penalties for fraud and money laundering that involve cryptocurrencies.
The bill had been discussed in Congress for seven years, but recent events in local and global markets, including the fall of prominent exchange FTX, placed urgency on its voting and subsequent approval.
After being approved by the Chamber of Deputies, the bill headed over to the Senate, which modified parts of the bill and added a few new sections. The text was then brought back to the Chamber so the Senate’s changes could be voted on, which is what happened on Tuesday.
Now, President Jair Bolsonaro, who is scheduled to hand over Presidential reins to Lula on January 1st, has 15 days to sign or veto the bill. A partial veto is also possible, an event through which the president would be able to reject only one or more parts of the bill. The bill comes into effect 180 days after an eventual signature from the president.
Here’s everything that’s in Brazil’s new regulatory framework for bitcoin and cryptocurrency markets.
The Assets
A virtual asset is “a digital representation of value that can be negotiated or transferred electronically and used for payments or as an investment,” per the bill’s text.
This definition shouldn’t be overlooked, as it directly legitimizes the use of bitcoin and cryptocurrency for conducting payments in the country. While arguably no regulatory approval for such activity is needed given Bitcoin’s decentralized nature, receiving greater regulatory clarity encourages businesses to explore the burgeoning payment method more closely. This, in turn, can translate into more widespread adoption of bitcoin as a medium of exchange in Brazil.
The same can be said for El Salvador’s national adoption of bitcoin. There wasn’t anything preventing businesses in the Central American country from accepting bitcoin –– as evidenced by the fact that the circular bitcoin economy in Bitcoin Beach predates the Bitcoin Law –– but the advent of the legal tender legislation allowed many more corporations to start accepting BTC as payment. It also attracted tourism and investments. And while Brazil is not recognizing bitcoin as legal tender, which is in some ways a missed opportunity, this can mark a first step toward a greater dissemination of bitcoin payments in the country’s economy. Whether that will actually happen, however, will depend on the actions of the watchdog tasked with overseeing the market.
The Regulator
Initially, the bill directly tasked the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB) with regulating the bitcoin market in the country. That aspect was later removed, and the executive branch is now directly tasked with picking a watchdog for the sector.
The expectation is that the BCB will be in charge when cryptocurrencies are used as payment, while the country’s securities and exchange commission (CVM) will be the watchdog when they are used as an investment asset. It is expected that the two government bodies will act in collaboration in these matters. Both the BCB and the CVM, along with the federal tax authority (RFB), helped lawmakers craft the overhaul legislation.
The regulator will be tasked with authorizing virtual asset service providers (VASPs) to operate in the country, as well as overseeing their operations to ensure they abide by current legislations.
The Service Providers
As already mentioned, VASPs will need to obtain regulatory approval from the watchdog selected by the executive branch before operating in the country.
The bill considers VASPs an enterprise “that executes, on behalf of third parties, at least one of the following virtual asset services: exchange between virtual assets and national or foreign currency; exchange between one or more virtual assets; transfer of virtual assets; custody or administration of virtual assets or of instruments that enable control over virtual assets; or the participation in financial services and offering of services related to the offer by an issuer or the sale of virtual assets.”
There are two key aspects to highlight in this definition. First, it only applies to entities that hold a specific kind of Brazilian enterprise ID called CNPJ (A CNPJ is similar to a business’ tax identification number, TIN, or employer identification number, EIN, in the U.S.). Second, it requires that the aforementioned services be provided on behalf of a third party for the provider to be considered a VASP. These two points mean that individuals, as well as hardware and software services such as self-custodial solutions, shouldn’t fall under the rules and therefore not be identified as VASPs.
The Penalties
The bill establishes that existing criminal penalties for fraud and money laundering should also encompass illegal actions involving cryptocurrency. Penalties vary from three to 10 years in prison, in addition to fees, and are in some cases more severe if virtual assets are involved.
The Parts Left Out
Key aspects of the bill were removed from the text in the final voting. Here are some of the most important ones.
Patrimonial Segregation
One rule added by the Senate required VASPs to keep user funds separate from their own capital. It sought to prevent issues similar to what happened with FTX, the now-bankrupt global exchange that apparently used customer funds to fund trades executed by a sister company, Alameda. Notably, this rule meant that in the event of a bankruptcy, user funds would be immediately returned instead of being part of the bankruptcy process or used to settle some of the company’s debt.
The inclusion of this section was supported by several key players in the market, as well as the BCB. Deputies voted against it in Tuesday’s session, arguing that the rule could stifle innovation in Brazil as it could present a big barrier for entry into the cryptocurrency market.
Tax Exemptions On Mining Rigs
Another seemingly positive rule that was left out of the final text sought to exempt federal taxes on the purchase of mining equipment and software such as ASIC rigs until December 2029. It included some conditions for the benefit, such as the need to use renewable energy sources. The rule could have helped spur a healthy mining market in the country as federal import taxes alone can often double the price of some goods being shipped to Brazil.
Public Agencies Holding Accounts On VASPs
A third rule that didn’t make it to the final text allowed governmental agencies to open and operate accounts at VASPs such as exchanges. The possibilities for operating such accounts would be limited by those established by the executive branch.
Three U.S. citizens died in an Airbnb from carbon monoxide poisoning in early November, and the families of the victims are taking the company to task.
Bloomberg I Getty ImagesMexico City in September 2022.
Jennifer Marshall, Freida Florence, and Ceola Hall, the mothers of the three victims, told NBC News in an exclusive interview that they are planning to sue the company.
“We can never get our babies back. But we really want to ensure that no other family has to deal with this,” Marshall told NBC.
Airbnb does not require carbon monoxide detectors in all of its rentals, of which the company says there are over 4 million, in spaces from treehouses to mansions.
The group’s attorney, L. Chris Stewart of the Atlanta-based civil rights firm Stewart Miller Simmons says that Airbnb needs to immediately change its rules.
“People are dying,” he told Entrepreneur.
In a lawsuit that has not yet been filed, the families plan to ask Airbnb to require hosts to have carbon monoxide detectors in all properties.
The group of young people, Jordan Marshall, 28; Kandace Florence, 28; and Courtez Hall, 33; had reportedly been visiting Mexico City for Día de los Muertos, which occurs in late October and early November and involves honoring people who have died through parades, celebrations, and altar installations.
Local authorities confirmed earlier this month that it’s believed the group died in the Airbnb in the La Rosita neighborhood due to carbon monoxide poisoning, per Reuters.
“I cannot process in my mind why my daughter is not here today… There is no excuse. There is no excuse. It cost $30. If I had known, I would have bought it for her,” Florence told NBC.
Airbnb said that it has given away more than 200,000 carbon monoxide and smoke detectors to hosts for free through the “global detector program.” The company also launched a program to expedite shipments of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to Mexico Airbnb hosts specifically in July.
“This is a terrible tragedy, and our thoughts are with the families and loved ones as they grieve such an unimaginable loss. Our priority right now is supporting those impacted as the authorities investigate what happened, and we stand ready to assist with their inquiries however we can,” a spokesperson said via email.
Two of the people who died, Kandace and Jordan, were from Virginia Beach and were friends from high school. Jordan’s friend, Courtez Hall, was from New Orleans, per WAVY.
Kandace had texted her boyfriend to let her know she wasn’t feeling well, who later contacted the host when he did not hear back, the family told WAVY.
“The most common symptoms of CO poisoning are headache, dizziness, weakness, upset stomach, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion,” the agency writes.
But the gas itself has no smell and can be emitted by things like stoves and cars — and can be quickly fatal in large concentrations. Per the National Conference of State Legislatures, the majority of states in 2018 required some sort of carbon monoxide detector presence.
In 2018, a Louisiana couple died in an Airbnb in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, from carbon monoxide poisoning, and the company then said it would let guests know before they booked if a place didn’t have a carbon monoxide detector. But the company did not move to make detectors a requirement.
Stewart claims, per NBC, that Airbnb doesn’t want to have fewer listings (and thus less revenue) by having to remove people for not having carbon monoxide detectors.
He further told Entrepreneur he thinks the platform has avoided making this a requirement so far because several of the incidents have happened outside of the U.S. But he thinks the platform is just as capable of requiring smoke and carbon monoxide detectors as it is banning parties, for example.
“Clearly, they have that ability,” he said. “They can do that. It’s just they haven’t, and three people are dead.”
Brazilian lawmakers have approved a complete regulatory framework for the trading and use of cryptocurrencies in the country.
Voted on Tuesday evening in Brasilia, the country’s capital, the new rules recognize bitcoin as a digital representation of value that can be used as a means of payment and as an investment asset in the South American nation.
The bill applies broadly to a sector which it calls “virtual assets,” and now only needs the President’s signature before it becomes law. It does not make bitcoin or any cryptocurrency a legal tender in the country.
The bill tasks the executive branch with selecting government bodies to oversee the market. The expectation is that the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB) will be in charge when bitcoin is used as payment, while the country’s securities and exchange commission (CVM) will be the watchdog when it is used as an investment asset. Both the BCB and the CVM, along with the federal tax authority (RFB), helped lawmakers craft the overhaul legislation.
Home to a vibrant cryptocurrency economy, Brazil has at times seen more citizens trade coins such as bitcoin than invest in the stock market. Now, the country seeks to set the stage for that to translate into more day-to-day usage in financial transactions.
But not all in the text is positive for the development of the market in the country. A big miss from Tuesday’s vote was the rejection of a clause that sought to cut some state and federal taxes on purchases of bitcoin mining machines. While the text was quite restrictive –– the benefit would only apply to operations using renewable energy sources –– it was apparently not enough to be approved.
Other provisions include the regulation of service providers such as exchanges, who will need to abide by specific rules to operate in Brazil. The bill seeks to regulate the establishment and operation of Bitcoin service providers in Brazil, defining such entities as those who provide cryptocurrency trading, transfer, custody, administration, or sale on behalf of a third party. Cryptocurrency service providers will only be able to operate in the country after explicit authorization by the federal government.
One rule sought to demand that such companies explicitly separate their patrimony from capital owned by customers –– for example, bitcoin the firm custodies for users. The clause sought to prevent events such as the recently seen with FTX, where user funds were commingled with the company’s funds, and help the recovery of user assets in the event of bankruptcy. It was rejected on Tuesday’s vote.
You can’t be fired because a company doesn’t think you’re “fun” enough.
Frédéric Soltan I Getty ImagesThe Court of Cassation in Paris.
At least, that’s according to France’s highest court, The Court of Cassation, which ruled earlier this month that a man who was fired for not wanting to participate in certain company activities billed as part of their “fun” culture was wrongfully terminated, according to The Washington Post.
The man’s legal team said their client wasn’t seen as “fun” because he refused to engage in corporate events with large amounts of drinking. The man also claimed a work culture where people did activities such as miming sexual acts, sharing beds with other employees at work events, and giving people uncouth nicknames, per the outlet.
A Google translation of the court documents characterized these acts as “practices advocated by the associates linking promiscuity, bullying, and incitement to various excesses.”
The decision says the man was fired in March 2015 for not embracing the company’s “fun” culture (calling it “professional incompetence,”) as well as being more rigid of personality, the documents claim.
The company in question is Cubik Partners, a management consulting firm. It did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
France is known for its pro-employee labor laws and well-known jokes about how it’s impossible to get fired there. That is also generally true for other countries in Europe, including Ireland, where Elon Musk’s Twitter has already faced a temporary injunction for firing an executive based there.
In this case, the court ruled that firing an employee for not doing the activities in question constituted a violation of “his freedom of expression,” and that it is a “fundamental freedom” to not engage in some sort of social activity.
The fired employee had asked for over $400,000 USD, which the Paris Court of Appeals rejected last year. This ruling turned over that court’s rejection in part, ordered the company to give the former employee $3,000 euros, and said it would look at his demand for damages at some point in the future, per Insider.
Kris Wu has been sentenced to 13 years in prison by a Beijing court for charges that include the rape of three women, The Associated Press reports. The Chaoyang District court ruled that the Chinese Canadian pop star and actor, as well as others implicated in the case, supplied three women with alcohol in 2020 and raped them when they could no longer consent. Most of the 13-year sentence stems from that incident, but he also received one year and 10 months for a 2018 event where he “assembled a crowd” and assaulted two women they got drunk.
Wu will be deported after completing his sentence, the court said. He was fined 600 million yuan ($83.7 million) for evading taxes.
Wu, a former member of K-pop band Exo and one of China’s most popular artists, is among the highest-profile figures to be punished for allegations arising from the #MeToo movement. When the allegations surfaced, he lost major deals with brands including Louis Vuitton, Bulgari, Porsche, and L’Oréal.
If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual assault, we encourage you to reach out for support:
RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline http://www.rainn.org 1 800 656 HOPE (4673)
Crisis Text Line SMS: Text “HELLO” or “HOLA” to 741-741
El Salvador’s Minister of the Economy Maria Luisa Hayem Brevé submitted a digital assets issuance bill to the country’s legislative assembly, paving the way for the launch of its bitcoin-backed “volcano” bonds.
First announced one year ago today, the pioneering initiative seeks to attract capital and investors to El Salvador. It was revealed at the time the plans to issue $1 billion in bonds on the Liquid Network, a federated Bitcoin sidechain, with the proceedings of the bonds being split between a $500 million direct allocation to bitcoin and an investment of the same amount in building out energy and bitcoin mining infrastructure in the region.
A sidechain is an independent blockchain that runs parallel to another blockchain, allowing for tokens from that blockchain to be used securely in the sidechain while abiding by a different set of rules, performance requirements, and security mechanisms. Liquid is a sidechain of Bitcoin that allows bitcoin to flow between the Liquid and Bitcoin networks with a two-way peg. A representation of bitcoin used in the Liquid network is referred to as L-BTC. Its verifiably equivalent amount of BTC is managed and secured by the network’s members, called functionaries.
“Digital securities law will enable El Salvador to be the financial center of central and south America,” wrote Paolo Ardoino, CTO of cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex, on Twitter.
Bitfinex is set to be granted a license in order to be able to process and list the bond issuance in El Salvador.
The bonds will pay a 6.5% yield and enable fast-tracked citizenship for investors. The government will share half the additional gains with investors as a Bitcoin Dividend once the original $500 million has been monetized. These dividends will be dispersed annually using Blockstream’s asset management platform.
The act of submitting the bill, which was hinted at earlier this year, kickstarts the first major milestone before the bonds can see the light of day. The next is getting it approved, which is expected to happen before Christmas, a source close to President Nayib Bukele told Bitcoin Magazine. The bill was submitted on November 17 and presented to the country’s Congress today. It is embedded in full below.
The estate of Tom Petty has issued a cease and desist to Republican Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who recently lost the race to Democrat Katie Hobbs. In a letter obtained by Pitchfork, Petty’s publisher Wixen Music Publishing condemns Lake’s use of the song “I Won’t Back Down” in a video the politician posted to her social media accounts earlier this week, as reported by Rolling Stone and Billboard (it now appears that Lake’s post has been deleted). Lake is currently refusing to concede the governor’s race despite Hobbs’ victory.
“It has come to Wixen’s and the Claimants’ attention that you and Kari Lake for Arizona are currently broadcasting, exhibiting, distributing, and otherwise exploiting the Composition in synchronization with an advertisement video made in connection with your bid to contest the results of the 2022 election for governor of Arizona (‘Unauthorized Video’) without Wixen’s and the Claimants’ approval,” the cease and desist letter reads. It continues:
Furthermore, the use of the Composition in connection with your candidacy conveys the false implication that the Claimants endorse or are otherwise associated with you and/or your candidacy. This implicit endorsement is revolting to the Claimants and gives rise to claims under the Lanham Act and the common law and statutes of various state jurisdictions which recognize postmortem rights of publicity. The combination of copyright and rights of publicity violations may have damaged both the value of the Composition and the legacy of Tom Petty and his successors’ rights under the Lanham Act and other applicable laws if members of the public mistakenly believe that Tom Petty had any association with you.
To be clear Ms. Lake, Tom Petty was enraged by any sort of injustice. Without question he would have been outraged by your failed campaign for Governor, which was filled with distortions, lies, smears, promoting hate, and attempting to undermine our democracy. Using his music to promote yourself and your despicable cause is revolting and antithetical to everything that Tom and his music stand for and mean to millions of people.
Tom sang “I Won’t Back Down” at America: A Tribute to Heroes benefit concert for victims of the 9/11 attack. Not backing down to hatred, violence, and an attack on our democracy. The opposite of what you stand for. Using this song to promote your warped values is not only illegal as outlined above but an insult to Tom’s memory, his lyrics and music, and the tens of millions of fans who cherish his legacy.
Wixen added that any further use of the song could result in up to $150,000 per infringement. The publishing company also called for Lake’s campaign to confirm it has received the cease and desist letter by next week, and to provide Wixen with any further uses of the song from her campaign.
Prior to sending a formal cease and desist letter, Petty’s estate posted a statement on Twitter decrying Lake’s use of the song. Back in 2020, Petty’s estate issued a cease and desist to Donald Trump’s presidential reelection campaign for its use of “I Won’t Back Down” at a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
ATLANTA — Georgia officials asked a court on Friday to immediately block a judge’s ruling striking down the state’s abortion ban. The ruling allowed the procedure to again be performed beyond about six weeks of pregnancy.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney’s decision earlier this week was “remarkable” and relied on a “wholly unsupported theory that has no basis in law, precedent, or common sense,” the state attorney general’s office said in court documents filed with the Georgia Supreme Court.
It asked the high court for an order immediately putting McBurney’s decision on hold while the justices take more time to consider an appeal. Such an order would restore the state’s ban on abortion, which started roughly six weeks into pregnancy.
“This Court should stay the lower court’s decision now, without waiting to overrule it months down the line, while untold numbers of unborn children suffer the permanent consequences,” Georgia Solicitor General Stephen Petrany wrote.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, which represented doctors and advocacy groups that asked McBurney to throw out the law, said the judge’s ruling was correct and should stand. It also noted that abortion providers resumed performing the procedure past six weeks following his ruling.
“Appropriate reproductive health care has restarted in this state, and it should continue — with Georgia’s women and their partners being free to make private decisions about when and whether to have a family, without politicians,” ACLU of Georgia Executive Director Andrea Young said in a statement.
McBurney ruled Tuesday that the state’s abortion ban was invalid because when it was signed into law in 2019, U.S. Supreme Court precedent under Roe. v. Wade and another ruling allowed abortion well past six weeks. Legislatures exceed their authority when they enact laws that violate a constitutional right declared by the judicial branch, he wrote, adding that such laws are void when they are passed.
The decision immediately prohibited enforcement of the abortion ban statewide. It had been in effect since July and prohibited most abortions once a “detectable human heartbeat” was present.
Cardiac activity can be detected by ultrasound in cells within an embryo that will eventually become the heart around six weeks into a pregnancy. That means most abortions in Georgia were effectively banned at a point before many people knew they were pregnant.
In his court filing, Petrany noted that Georgia’s ban went into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court in June overturned Roe v. Wade. When judicial precedents are overruled, they were never the law, he wrote.
“No other court has ever held that an overruled judicial opinion can, like a zombie rising from the grave, invalidate otherwise perfectly valid laws,” he claimed.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
These days, art theft isn’t restricted to elaborate heists staged in a museum or gallery. With design inspiration being copied or outright stolen in every arena, from graphic design to fashion, it’s more important than ever to protect yourself and your work. A quick Google search on the allegations and evidence of design theft should be enough to bring the potential seriousness home.
It may seem strange to question whether logo design should be — or even can be — copyrighted. Logos are small pieces of branding, after all, and often very simple. But the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Logos are invaluable as the main identifier of brands, and the reputation of an individual company is inextricably linked with the logo.
With that in mind, it’s prudent that business owners take measures to ensure the protection of their company’s logo.
At times, a case of similar or even identical logo design could be merely an inadvertent copycat. For example, my company is devoted to making logo design easy and accessible to all, and provides an extensive library of choices in graphics, fonts and colors. Though they’re designed to be editable and should be molded to fit the individual needs of the brand, there’s always the possibility that companies who use the same site could potentially find themselves with similar logo designs. But that’s not the real problem here.
The main danger of putting any proprietary material on the internet for all to see is the possibility of theft with malicious intent. In other words, someone sees your graphic or logo design and decides to make a deliberate dupe of the design — either for their own use or to mislead others into thinking they represent your company. In the case of a logo design for which you’ve paid a professional designer top dollar, this is even more devastating.
Can you copyright your logo design? This can be a difficult question to answer straight.
The more common term used for logos and other branding materials is “trademark.” Your logo, business name and any other identifying assets of your business may have common law trademark rights. Such trademark rights prevent other businesses from using your trademark to sell goods or services — but there are limitations. Common law trademark protectiononly covers the locality in which you first started to use it.
For example, let’s say you start a business in Anaheim, California. Your trademark protection from common law works for you there, and if someone takes your logo, you can pursue them in court. But if you move the business to New York City and find that someone uses the same image in their logo, you can’t force them to change it. They have the benefit of common law protection in their own home area.
A federally registered trademark, however, extends your geographic reach of protection. You must file an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). If approved, your trademark will have nationwide protection and will prevent other businesses across the country from using a similar trademark.
One thing to note, however, is that logo copyright extends to creative works — which doesn’t include works in the public domain, as they can’t be “owned” by any individual. Many graphics and fonts that are included in commonly available design software are part of the public domain and would not be covered by logo copyright. Creating a bespoke design that doesn’t include pre-existing elements is the best way to ensure the best copyright coverage.
For companies that have an eye on expansion and want to protect their brand from possible infringement by other companies, logo copyright is worth considering.
As your business grows and expands, you’ll likely extend your target demographic to customers outside your immediate area. To ensure branding continuity no matter where you offer services, logo copyright could be invaluable.
Logo copyrights also regulate and protect against the use and misuse of your logo, business name and other trademark properties. This is important to ensure that no one is representing themselves as your brand, misleading customers or making promises that can’t be kept.
To go a step further in protecting your brand, consider trademarking your logo. Portions of copyrighted material can still be used under “fair use” laws, but if a logo is trademarked, that means that no portion of the logo could be used by anyone else without legal repercussions.
Whether you’re the company owner or a logo designer yourself, it’s worth finding out the details about filing for logo copyright and registering your logo and other brand materials to be protected against misuse or stealing.
Nov 14 (Reuters) – Former President Donald Trump did not show up for deposition testimony before the congressional committee investigating his supporters’ attack on the U.S. Capitol last year, the panel said on Monday.
In doing so Trump defied a subpoena issued by the panel in October, Chair Bennie Thompson, a Democrat, and co-Chair Liz Cheney, a Republican, said in a joint statement.
“The truth is that Donald Trump, like several of his closest allies, is hiding from the Select Committee’s investigation and refusing to do what more than a thousand other witnesses have done,” Thompson and Cheney said.
The panel did not say what next steps they might pursue against Trump. Thompson told the New York Times in an interview that he would not rule out seeking contempt of Congress charges against the former president.
“That could be an option. And we’ll have to wait and see,” Thomson told the Times. “The first thing we’ll do is see how we address the lawsuit. At some point after that, we’ll decide the path forward.”
Trump filed a lawsuit on Friday seeking to avoid having to testify or provide any documentation to the Jan. 6 committee.
The congressional committee has held a series of hearings as it seeks to make its case to the public that Trump provoked his supporters into storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, while lawmakers met to formally declare his loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
The subpoena ordered Trump to submit documents to the panel by Nov. 4 and for him to appear for deposition testimony beginning on or about Nov. 14.
On Nov. 4, it said it had agreed to give Trump an extension before producing the documents but the Nov. 14 deadline remained in place.
Republicans are expected to dissolve the panel if they win control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the mid-term elections.
Reporting by Tyler Clifford and Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Leslie Adler
WASHINGTON, Nov 14 (Reuters) – Democrats in the U.S. Congress aim to pass bills protecting same-sex marriage, clarifying lawmakers’ role in certifying presidential elections and raising the nation’s debt ceiling when they return from the campaign trail on Monday.
President Joe Biden’s party got a boost over the weekend when it learned it would keep control of the Senate for the next two years, while control of the House of Representatives is still up in the air as votes are counted after Tuesday’s midterm election.
But Democrats escaped a feared midterm drubbing and will look to make the most they can of their current thin majorities in both chambers before the new Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3, a period known as the ‘lame duck’ session.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen both signaled that addressing the nations’ looming debt ceiling would be a priority during the session.
Some Republicans have threatened to use the next hike in the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, expected in the first quarter of 2023, as leverage to force concessions from Biden. Yellen in a Saturday interview with Reuters warned that a failure to act would pose a “huge threat” to America’s credit rating and the functioning of financial markets.
Pelosi, who would lose her position as speaker if Republicans win a majority in the House, told ABC News on Sunday that the best way to address the debt ceiling was “to do it now.”
“My hope would be that we could get it done in the lame duck,” Pelosi said. “We’ll have to, again, lift the debt ceiling so that the full faith and credit of the United States is respected.”
Biden told reporters over the weekend he would wait to speak to Republican leadership before deciding any priorities, adding he planned to “take it slow.”
Congress has a long to-do list in the coming weeks. It faces a Dec. 16 deadline to passing either a temporary funding bill to keep government agencies operating at full steam until early next year, or a measure that keeps the lights on through Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year. Failure to enact one of those would result in partial government shutdowns.
[1/5] Members-elect from the upcoming 118th congress arrive at the U.S. Capitol building for orientation in Washington, U.S., November 14, 2022. REUTERS/Leah Millis
The House already has passed legislation legalizing gay marriage and the Senate was poised, as soon as this week, to approve its slightly different version of the “Respect for Marriage Act.” The bill is intended to ensure that the U.S. Supreme Court does not end gay marriage rights, which conservative Justice Clarence Thomas mused was possible when the court in June ended the national right to abortion.
Another high-priority item is a bipartisan bill reforming the way Congress certifies presidential elections, intended to avoid a repeat of the violence of the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump who wanted to stop lawmakers from certifying Biden’s win.
Democratic leaders also aim to pass legislation speeding permits for energy projects and provide more financial and military support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion.
Some Republicans have expressed reluctance to provide more financial support for Ukraine.
Progressive Democrats have bridled at the prospect of the government stepping up the energy permitting process, thus encouraging the flow of fossil fuels to market even as Biden attempts to meet stringent goals to reduce the impact of climate change.
Biden has suggested permitting reform could be included in the National Defense Authorization Act, the annual bill funding the military that usually gets strong bipartisan support.
But keeping the Senate majority for the next two years means that there will be less pressure on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to confirm as many of Biden’s nominees for federal judgeships as possible before the end of the year.
There are 57 judicial nominees pending before the Senate, with 25 already approved by the Judiciary Committee and awaiting action by the full chamber.
The Senate has already confirmed 84 of Biden’s judicial nominees, allowing him to essentially keep pace with the near-record number of appointments Trump made during four years as he worked to move the judiciary rightward.
Reporting by Moira Warburton and Richard Cowan; Additional reporting by David Lawder in New Delhi, Nandita Bose in Phnom Penh and Trevor Hunnicutt, Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey in Washington; Editing by Scott Malone, Alistair Bell and Daniel Wallis
LONDON/WASHINGTON, Nov 14 (Reuters) – Thousands of smartphone applications in Apple (AAPL.O) and Google’s (GOOGL.O) online stores contain computer code developed by a technology company, Pushwoosh, that presents itself as based in the United States, but is actually Russian, Reuters has found.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United States’ main agency for fighting major health threats, said it had been deceived into believing Pushwoosh was based in the U.S. capital. After learning about its Russian roots from Reuters, it removed Pushwoosh software from seven public-facing apps, citing security concerns.
The U.S. Army said it had removed an app containing Pushwoosh code in March because of the same concerns. That app was used by soldiers at one of the country’s main combat training bases.
According to company documents publicly filed in Russia and reviewed by Reuters, Pushwoosh is headquartered in the Siberian town of Novosibirsk, where it is registered as a software company that also carries out data processing. It employs around 40 people and reported revenue of 143,270,000 rubles ($2.4 mln) last year. Pushwoosh is registered with the Russian government to pay taxes in Russia.
On social media and in U.S. regulatory filings, however, it presents itself as a U.S. company, based at various times in California, Maryland and Washington, D.C., Reuters found.
Pushwoosh provides code and data processing support for software developers, enabling them to profile the online activity of smartphone app users and send tailor-made push notifications from Pushwoosh servers.
On its website, Pushwoosh says it does not collect sensitive information, and Reuters found no evidence Pushwoosh mishandled user data. Russian authorities, however, have compelled local companies to hand over user data to domestic security agencies.
Pushwoosh’s founder, Max Konev, told Reuters in a September email that the company had not tried to mask its Russian origins. “I am proud to be Russian and I would never hide this.”
Pushwoosh published a blog post after the Reuters article was issued, which said: “Pushwoosh Inc. is a privately held C-Corp company incorporated under the state laws of Delaware, USA. Pushwoosh Inc. was never owned by any company registered in the Russian Federation.”
The company also said in the post, “Pushwoosh Inc. used to outsource development parts of the product to the Russian company in Novosibirsk, mentioned in the article. However, in February 2022, Pushwoosh Inc. terminated the contract.”
After Pushwoosh published its post, Reuters asked Pushwoosh to provide evidence for its assertions, but the news agency’s requests went unanswered.
Konev said the company “has no connection with the Russian government of any kind” and stores its data in the United States and Germany.
Cybersecurity experts said storing data overseas would not prevent Russian intelligence agencies from compelling a Russian firm to cede access to that data, however.
Russia, whose ties with the West have deteriorated since its takeover of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and its invasion of Ukraine this year, is a global leader in hacking and cyber-espionage, spying on foreign governments and industries to seek competitive advantage, according to Western officials.
Reuters Graphics
HUGE DATABASE
Pushwoosh code was installed in the apps of a wide array of international companies, influential non-profits and government agencies from global consumer goods company Unilever Plc (ULVR.L) and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) to the politically powerful U.S. gun lobby, the National Rifle Association (NRA), and Britain’s Labour Party.
Pushwoosh’s business with U.S. government agencies and private companies could violate contracting and U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) laws or trigger sanctions, 10 legal experts told Reuters. The FBI, U.S. Treasury and the FTC declined to comment.
Jessica Rich, former director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said “this type of case falls right within the authority of the FTC,” which cracks down on unfair or deceptive practices affecting U.S. consumers.
Washington could choose to impose sanctions on Pushwoosh and has broad authority to do so, sanctions experts said, including possibly through a 2021 executive order that gives the United States the ability to target Russia’s technology sector over malicious cyber activity.
Pushwoosh code has been embedded into almost 8,000 apps in the Google and Apple app stores, according to Appfigures, an app intelligence website. Pushwoosh’s website says it has more than 2.3 billion devices listed in its database.
“Pushwoosh collects user data including precise geolocation, on sensitive and governmental apps, which could allow for invasive tracking at scale,” said Jerome Dangu, co-founder of Confiant, a firm that tracks misuse of data collected in online advertising supply chains.
“We haven’t found any clear sign of deceptive or malicious intent in Pushwoosh’s activity, which certainly doesn’t diminish the risk of having app data leaking to Russia,” he added.
Google said privacy was a “huge focus” for the company but did not respond to requests for comment about Pushwoosh. Apple said it takes user trust and safety seriously but similarly declined to answer questions.
Keir Giles, a Russia expert at London think tank Chatham House, said despite international sanctions on Russia, a “substantial number” of Russian companies were still trading abroad and collecting people’s personal data.
Given Russia’s domestic security laws, “it shouldn’t be a surprise that with or without direct links to Russian state espionage campaigns, firms that handle data will be keen to play down their Russian roots,” he said.
‘SECURITY ISSUES’
After Reuters raised Pushwoosh’s Russian links with the CDC, the health agency removed the code from its apps because “the company presents a potential security concern,” spokesperson Kristen Nordlund said.
“CDC believed Pushwoosh was a company based in the Washington, D.C. area,” Nordlund said in a statement. The belief was based on “representations” made by the company, she said, without elaborating.
The CDC apps that contained Pushwoosh code included the agency’s main app and others set up to share information on a wide range of health concerns. One was for doctors treating sexually transmitted diseases. While the CDC also used the company’s notifications for health matters such as COVID, the agency said it “did not share user data with Pushwoosh.”
The Army told Reuters it removed an app containing Pushwoosh in March, citing “security issues.” It did not say how widely the app, which was an information portal for use at its National Training Center (NTC) in California, had been used by troops.
The NTC is a major battle training center in the Mojave Desert for pre-deployment soldiers, meaning a data breach there could reveal upcoming overseas troop movements.
U.S. Army spokesperson Bryce Dubee said the Army had suffered no “operational loss of data,” adding that the app did not connect to the Army network.
Some large companies and organizations including UEFA and Unilever said third parties set up the apps for them, or they thought they were hiring a U.S. company.
“We don’t have a direct relationship with Pushwoosh,” Unilever said in a statement, adding that Pushwoosh was removed from one of its apps “some time ago.”
UEFA said its contract with Pushwoosh was “with a U.S. company.” UEFA declined to say if it knew of Pushwoosh’s Russian ties but said it was reviewing its relationship with the company after being contacted by Reuters.
The NRA said its contract with the company ended last year, and it was “not aware of any issues.”
Britain’s Labour Party did not respond to requests for comment.
“The data Pushwoosh collects is similar to data that could be collected by Facebook, Google or Amazon, but the difference is that all the Pushwoosh data in the U.S. is sent to servers controlled by a company (Pushwoosh) in Russia,” said Zach Edwards, a security researcher, who first spotted the prevalence of Pushwoosh code while working for Internet Safety Labs, a nonprofit organization.
Roskomnadzor, Russia’s state communications regulator, did not respond to a request from Reuters for comment.
FAKE ADDRESS, FAKE PROFILES
In U.S. regulatory filings and on social media, Pushwoosh never mentions its Russian links. The company lists “Washington, D.C.” as its location on Twitter and claims its office address as a house in the suburb of Kensington, Maryland, according to its latest U.S. corporation filings submitted to Delaware’s secretary of state. It also lists the Maryland address on its Facebook and LinkedIn profiles.
The Kensington house is the home of a Russian friend of Konev’s who spoke to a Reuters journalist on condition of anonymity. He said he had nothing to do with Pushwoosh and had only agreed to allow Konev to use his address to receive mail.
Konev said Pushwoosh had begun using the Maryland address to “receive business correspondence” during the coronavirus pandemic.
He said he now operates Pushwoosh from Thailand but provided no evidence that it is registered there. Reuters could not find a company by that name in the Thai company registry.
Pushwoosh never mentioned it was Russian-based in eight annual filings in the U.S. state of Delaware, where it is registered, an omission which could violate state law.
Instead, Pushwoosh listed an address in Union City, California as its principal place of business from 2014 to 2016. That address does not exist, according to Union City officials.
Pushwoosh used LinkedIn accounts purportedly belonging to two Washington, D.C.-based executives named Mary Brown and Noah O’Shea to solicit sales. But neither Brown nor O’Shea are real people, Reuters found.
The one belonging to Brown was actually of an Austria-based dance teacher, taken by a photographer in Moscow, who told Reuters she had no idea how it ended up on the site.
Konev acknowledged the accounts were not genuine. He said Pushwoosh hired a marketing agency in 2018 to create them in an attempt to use social media to sell Pushwoosh, not to mask the company’s Russian origins.
LinkedIn said it had removed the accounts after being alerted by Reuters.
Reporting by James Pearson in London and Marisa Taylor in Washington
Additional reporting by Chris Bing in Washington, editing by Chris Sanders and Ross Colvin
The Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI), a non-profit dedicated to furthering governmental Bitcoin adoption, has released a new report discussing proof-of-reserves (PoR) in the bitcoin and cryptocurrency ecosystem following the FTX collapse, per a release sent to Bitcoin Magazine.
“Proof of Reserves: a Report on Mitigating Crypto Custody Risk” discusses the fallout from FTX’s bankruptcy. This cascading event has led to multiple exchanges pledging to provide some form of PoR, in which companies provide a transparent view of on-hand assets as a way to provide consumer protection from insolvency.
BPI’s report argues that the adoption of PoR will provide information on counterparty risk, reduce the chance of systemic default contagion and improve user trust in their custodial relationships.
“Now is the time for market participants to identify private, voluntary solutions to improve transparency and instantiate related best practices,” the report said.
BPI continues to explain that recent systemic failures in the industry have attracted the eyes of lawmakers, as was seen with the fall of FTX when the CFTC and SEC both announced they were investigating the company.
Thus, as a lack of transparency fueled the downfall of many companies over the course of this past year, BPI holds that the only logical path forward is for the industry to adopt a PoR-based approach which will provide security to consumers.
Sam Abassi, CEO of Hoseki, the first proof-of-assets service provider for bitcoin institutions, explained why this step is necessary for the industry to continue to grow.
“We are ecstatic at the continued industry-wide education being conducted by organizations like the BPI to further transparency related measures, such as Proof of Reserves,” said Abbassi. “This work is critical to creating a healthier, safer, self-regulated and more robust digital asset industry.”
As of November 9, eight exchanges have reportedly followed Binance in announcing their intentions towards increased transparency in the ecosystem. David Zell, co-founder of BPI, also commented on the dynamic shift of the industry.
“FTX’s bankruptcy should remind all of us that the only way to hold digital assets without counterparty risk is to custody them yourself,” said Zell. “But when customers deposit their assets with a third party, firms need to be as transparent as possible about the state of those funds. Solutions like proof of reserves can play a major role toward that end.”
The move includes FTX US, the group’s American subsidiary, which up to yesterday was believed to be solvent and able to keep running despite the international arm’s issues.
The company’s official Twitter account posted a press release on Friday morning detailing the decision, which also includes a resignation by CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.
SBF had been on the spotlight for a couple of years, amassing great media coverage as he led what became known as the FTX Empire. The name alluded to the many companies under the FTX umbrella, including Alameda Research, a quantitative trading firm founded by SBF.
Alameda is actually on the center of the issues that led to FTX’s downfall. A leaked balance sheet of the trading firm sparked doubts in the industry, culminating in one of the largest holders of FTX’s native crypto token, FTT, announcing they’d be offloading their position.
Binance CEO CZ’s tweet sparked a feud with SBF, who said, in a since-deleted tweet, that FTX was fine and assets held by the company were as well. Soon after, however, an acquisition deal between Binance and FTX came to light, with SBF then conceding to a “liquidity crunch.”
The bailout sparked optimism in the industry. However, CZ made it clear from the start that Binance could walk away from the deal “at any time.” Notably, the company had yet to perform due diligence by analyzing FTX’s financial books in order to decide whether to move forward with the acquisition.
SEC, CFTC reportedly probing FTX over handling of customers’ funds.
Investigations also relate to lending.
SEC probe reportedly predates Binance’s acquisition of FTX.
U.S. financial regulators have apparently been actively following the carnage that’s ensued in cryptocurrency markets over the past couple of days.
According to a report by Bloomberg, people familiar with the matter said the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are investigating the liquidity crunch at FTX that led to its non-U.S. operations being acquired by competitor Binance, the world’s largest exchange, on Tuesday.
What started as apparently a clash between crypto’s two wealthiest founders quickly spiraled into a deal between them to save FTX from collapse. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao announced his company would be offloading half a billion dollars worth of the rival’s native token, FTT, which triggered a sharp selloff of the token and culminated in FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried being rescued out of a “liquidity crunch.”
The regulatory agencies are probing FTX over how it handled customer funds, apparently a key component of the exchange’s liquidity situation.
Watchdogs also seemingly worry about how much of an impact the buyout will have on FTX’s U.S. operations. According to a financial policy analyst at $15.8 billion Cowen, the deal could be treated as a matter of national security by American regulators.
Regulators also seem to be keenly interested in learning more about the flow of funds between two of Sam Bankman-Fried’s businesses, FTX and Alameda.
Iran has a relatively young population that has a hunger for change, as shown by these recent protests that are destabilizing the entire country; it is not hard to see why someone promoting a revolutionary technology would be targeted by the Iranian government. If too many protestors learn about bitcoin before the regime can stop it, it could contribute to the end of the clerical regime.
The Iranian authorities targeted him because he was effective at sharing the message of Bitcoin and the hope that it inspires. Mr. Sadr, before his arrest, was well known for translating Bitcoin content into Farsi and educating people about how to use Bitcoin in a privacy-enhanced way.
Educating others about Bitcoin and how to use it is exactly what governments worldwide don’t want to see happen on a mass scale. At this stage of the game, governments tolerate Bitcoin because they don’t see it as a threat … yet.
The gerontocracy that currently holds political power in America doesn’t understand that Bitcoin was created to take away their ability to make money out of thin air and enslave the entire planet.
Once it is taken away — and one day it will be — all bets are off on what will happen. The powers that be don’t want you to leave the fiat plantation. I know this isn’t politically correct, but I will say it anyway. What Bitcoin content creators are doing to educate people about Bitcoin and how to use it is akin to teaching enslaved people how to read and write during slavery.
Education undermines governments’ control mechanisms they have in place to control your mind and keep you on the fiat plantation. It starts with the fiat education system. The goal isn’t to create highly educated citizens capable of thinking of themselves and sustaining our form of self-government.
The unstated goal of education, as the late great George Carlin said, “They want people who are just smart enough to do the paperwork, and just dumb enough to accept these increasingly shittier jobs with lower pay, longer hours, reduced benefits, the end of overtime and a vanishing pension that disappears the minute you go to collect it.”
If you manage to break free from that control mechanism, you still have to contend with the media machine and how they control the minds of many people worldwide. The media is owned by only a few corporate interests vested in keeping the current system limping.
The power of the media to collude and influence was on full display back in 2020 during the height of the pandemic when the world was bombarded with messages about wearing a mask, despite that being reversed, “15 days to slow the spread,” despite that not being true, and all the other propaganda that was being aired on behalf of governments. It worked. How many people ended up doing exactly what the government said? Billions of people. They could quickly turn this power against Bitcoiners.
Who was portrayed as the evil people that wanted to kill grandma? The people who were questioning the narrative about the virus. They were ridiculed by their families and lost their jobs because they didn’t want to be forced to take a vaccine.
When push comes to shove, the government must crush dissent and opposition to the fiat system in order for it to survive. They have to block exits and burn the bridges; it’s that simple. As recently as last year, the President of the ECB, Christine Lagarde, made a passing reference to blocking access to “cryptos” in general, but we all know bitcoin is the real target.
Will Public Bitcoiners Be Targeted In The Future?
Honestly, anything is possible. If you are a significant Bitcoin influencer with thousands of followers on social media, you should probably assume you are on your government’s radar. Governments make plans for this type of stuff all the time. If you are Bitcoiner, you are automatically a dissident in their book and will be treated as such if the stability of government operations is threatened.
It would not be that hard for the media to label Bitcoin advocates as domestic terrorists, urge the public and their family turn against them, and throw them in jail. They could use a “crisis” in the sovereign debt market as a pretext to come after Bitcoiners in general.
Bitcoiners should take note of what is happening worldwide and plan accordingly. We are in the midst of a financial revolution; it’s up to Bitcoiners to ensure the revolution is a success. Education is the key.
This is a guest post by Robert Hall. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.
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