Tag: corporations

How John Deere Hijacked Copyright Law To Keep You From Tinkering With Your Tractor

Discussions about the repairability of high-tech devices tend to focus on mass-market products: smartphones, laptops, video game consoles, and other commonplace devices. Less apparent is the repairability of tractors, cultivators, combines, and other heavy agricultural equipment that are equally reliant on computers and software. As with smartphone or laptop repairs, farmers and right-to-repair advocates have long complained that agricultural equipment manufacturers have used software to lock owners out of their products. To combat such restrictions, farmers and white-hat hackers have joined in an unlikely alliance to “liberate the tractors.”

As with other types of hardware, such as smart cars, the “techiness” of heavy agricultural machinery has become an impediment to meaningful ownership. Now, companies such as John Deere have vertically integrated the entire ecosystem for equipment, requiring customers to purchase repair services exclusively from dealers and using software to prevent independent repairs. 

Whenever software has been used to prevent the owners of products from altering or repairing their property, groups of ideologically driven individuals have used their skills to circumvent such constraints. Agricultural equipment is no different, and hackers have taken it upon themselves to “jailbreak” or open up the closed software systems that prevent independent repairs. In the words of one such hacker, “We want farmers to be able to repair their stuff for when things go wrong, and now that means being able to repair or make decisions about the software in their tractors.”

Hackers have now developed tools that would give power back to the owners of farm equipment, allowing farmers unversed in handling software to circumvent manufacturers’ software locks and independently make repairs and service their equipment. There’s only one problem with this movement to liberate the tractors: It’s a violation of federal copyright law.

Under Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), any individual who produces or uses a tool designed to circumvent software intended to keep them out of a system faces five years in federal prison and a fine of up to $500,000. Those penalties double for each subsequent infraction. This means software developers who build tools to get around John Deere’s software blocks could receive a 10-year prison sentence and a $1 million fine for each time they distribute their tool. Although the Copyright Office has implemented a narrow exception to the law for certain circumstances, a farmer who purchases such a tool could also end up in federal prison. 

The Copyright Office technically has the ability to implement broad, permanent exclusions to Section 1201 but has so far refused to act absent expressed congressional authorization. Fortunately, there are some in Congress that recognize this issue and have proposed solutions.

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State Governments Promised Private Companies More than $10 Billion in Subsidies Last Year

Governments often make deals with private companies, offering generous subsidies to encourage development in their respective states. The year 2023 was unfortunately no exception.

According to a new report from Good Jobs First, a watchdog group that tracks economic development deals, 16 states promised more than $10 billion to private companies last year. The group counted 23 “megadeals,” which it defines as any agreement involving at least $50 million in subsidies to a private company.

The most spendthrift state was Michigan, which agreed to shell out $2.73 billion for three projects, including $1.7 billion to Ford Motor Company, the single largest economic development deal in the nation last year. The Center for Economic Accountability, a Michigan-based think tank that opposes corporate welfare, previously named the Ford subsidy 2023’s Worst Economic Development Deal of the Year.

Economic development subsidies are often sold with the promise that the state will recoup its initial investment in the form of greater tax revenues, as the development projects spur economic growth. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer pledged that the Ford project “has an employment multiplier of 4.38, which means that an additional 4.38 jobs in Michigan’s economy are anticipated to be created for every new direct job.” A multiplier of 4.38 would be extraordinarily high, and a much more realistic number would be closer to 1.5 or 2.

When broken down by the number of jobs the subsidies are supposed to directly create, the math is still unfavorable. Michigan’s $1.7 billion investment, intended to “create 2,500 good-paying jobs,” works out to a staggering $680,000 per job, for which state taxpayers would be on the hook. (Ford has since announced it would be “re-timing and resizing some investments,” which included paring back its project in Michigan and lowering its job creation goal to 1,700).

Good Jobs First noted in its report that 18 of the deals announced last year included “job creation targets,” for a total of 34,928 jobs promised. When compared against the amount of state funding promised in return, though, that works out to an average subsidy of $262,800 per job.

Among the other most egregious examples on the list, Amazon received property tax exemptions worth $1 billion over 15 years for its Oregon data centers. At the time, Good Jobs First noted that Amazon—which recorded $4.3 billion in profits and $524.9 billion in revenue last year—”hasn’t said how many jobs it will create, but the program under [which] the tax breaks were approved requires just 10 jobs per project.”

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Disney Shamed into Retracting Phony ‘Steamboat Willie’ Copyright Claim After Film Enters Public Domain

The Disney Grooming Syndicate has been forced to back down from bullying a private citizen who legally used Steamboat Willie in a YouTube video.

YouTuber and voice actor Brock Baker published all eight minutes of Steamboat Willie on his popular YouTube channel (1.1 million subscribers). That alone would normally be considered a copyright violation. On top of that, Brock added his own audio to the classic cartoon that introduced Mickey and Minnie Mouse to the public in 1928.

But.

Steamboat Willie has been in the public domain since the beginning of the year, and Brock published his video a few days after that. Nevertheless, Disney still slapped him with two copyright claims. First, Disney filed a copyright claim on the cartoon itself. The result was that YouTube demonetized the video. After Disney backed off that, the Grooming Syndicate filed a second copyright claim for Steamboat Willie’s soundtrack — which is also in public domain. The whole thing is public domain. Nevertheless, Brock’s video got demonetized — until they earned enough negative media attention to reverse course.

In a way, you can see Disney’s point… The disgraced company is losing billions on its lousy streaming service and theatrical releases, so every dollar does count. But public domain is still public domain, and this bullying campaign is obviously meant to scare off anyone else who would dare do what Disney can no longer do: make money by entertaining the public.

This vile multinational corporation has enjoyed so much special treatment over the years with copyright protection and legislation, and it’s still harassing a private citizen on YouTube who is only guilty of having a few laughs about a cartoon that no longer enjoys copyright protection.

Overall, unless no one files for copyright protection, I’m opposed to the idea of public domain. As evil as Disney is, it is still in business, and its property should be protected for as long as it stands. That’s Good John’s thinking…

Bad John loves seeing Disney lose, fail, and drown in its own greed and perversions.

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Get Ready to Spend Two Years in Prison

Hunter Biden most likely isn’t going to jail any time soon despite an obvious track record of fraud and criminality. But if you happen to be a small business owner in the Land of the Free, you are looking at potentially two years in prison if you don’t comply with a new law that just took effect yesterday.

It started nearly five years ago, in the spring of 2019.

Back then, a member of Congress from the state of New York– a career politician with five decades of experience named Carolyn Maloney– introduced a new bill to the House of Representatives called the Corporate Transparency Act, or CTA.

At first her bill didn’t go anywhere.

But the following summer, during the peak Covid insanity of 2020, the CTA was jammed into the nearly 1,500-page National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), i.e. the military budget that Congress is required to pass each year.

The NDAA (and hence the CTA along with it) were passed on January 1, 2021. And now, three years later, the CTA has formally taken effect.

Now, the whole premise behind the Corporate Transparency Act is the classic bogeyman premise that evil criminals and terrorists use US corporations and LLCs to conduct their illicit activities, so therefore the government wants more rules, regulations, and reporting for US companies.

This is the same simple-minded hysteria that we always hear about cryptocurrency, i.e. criminals and terrorists use Bitcoin, therefore it should be tightly regulated by hapless government bureaucrats.

Obviously, it’s true that criminals can and do use crypto– or US business entities like Delaware LLCs– to commit their crimes.

Criminals also use iPhones, Facebook, Gmail, Dell laptops, JP Morgan Chase bank accounts, Ford F-150 pickup trucks, Amazon gift cards, and Verizon Wireless to commit their crimes.

But in this case, in the infinite wisdom of Congress, it’s business entities that are being singled out for additional scrutiny.

So, because criminals sometimes use US business entities to launder money, every law-abiding US citizen with a completely legitimate business now must jump through all sorts of hoops and reporting requirements.

And if you fail to report, you’re looking at two years in prison.

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Do Not Under Any Circumstances Nationalize Greyhound

America has an extensive network of private, for-profit (and profitable) intercity bus services primarily serving lower-income people. It’s a great example of how the free market can provide an essential service without public subsidies.

Naturally, the socialists want to shut it all down.

In response to recent news reports about Greyhound closing bus stations (in favor of curbside pick up) and shutting down service to some midsized cities entirely, Jacobin columnist and Rutgers philosophy professor Ben Burgis advocates for nationalizing the company and running its buses on dedicated interstate lanes.

“A publicly owned intercity bus service with dedicated highway lanes could do for travelers what the US Postal Service does for letters and packages,” writes Burgis.

Travelers, like Postal Service packages, would “criss-cross the country cheaply and quickly,” says Burgis. This new government-run bus company would extend service to everywhere, he writes, and “like the USPS,” this government-run bus company would be “financially self-sufficient.”

That the Postal Service is “financially self-sufficient” would be news to USPS, which reported a $6.5 billion net loss this past fiscal year. Indeed, the Postal Service is currently shuttering facilities and raising prices as part of a 10-year restructuring plan meant to get it out of the red.

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Pornhub Admits To Profiting From Sex Trafficking, Agrees To $1.8 Million Settlement In Deal With Feds

Aylo Holdings, the owner of Pornhub – one of the largest adult content websites, has admitted to profiting from the sex trafficking, including minors, and has agreed to pay $1.8 million to the US government, as well as separate payments to women whose videos were posted without their consent, federal prosecutors in New York announced late Thursday.

The move comes months after the acquisition of Aylo (formerly MindGeek) by investor and Rabbi Solomon Friedman, who says he wants to turn the company’s image around following this and other scandals involving illegal content on the platform.

In addition to the $1.8 million and individual compensation to women harmed by trafficking, Pornhub must appoint an independent monitor for three years, after which the charges will be dismissed.

“It is our hope that this resolution, which includes certain agreed payments to the women whose images were posted on the company’s platforms and an independent monitorship brings some measure of closure to those negatively affected,” according to US Attorney Peace in a statement.

The company is estimated to have generated more than $200 million in 2022, with operating margins of nearly 30%. 

James Smith, head of the FBI’s New York office, said Aylo Holdings “knowingly enriched itself by turning a blind eye” to victims who told the company they had been deceived and coerced into the videos.

Prosecutors said Aylo has agreed to pay victims compensation, but details such as who is eligible and how they can apply will be forthcoming.

The charge stemmed from Aylo’s role in hosting videos and accepting payments from GirlsDoPorn. -CBS News

The operators of GirlsDoPorn, the now-defunct adult film production company, were charged with and eventually convicted of a range of sex trafficking crimes, including coercing young women into sexual acts on camera which were then posted on Pornhub and other adult websites.

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Carnival Cruise Lines Denies That Anti-Marijuana Enforcement Measures Are Meant To Boost Alcohol Sales On Ships

Passenger cruise lines like Carnival and Royal Caribbean have policies against marijuana, noting that the substance is illegal in many ports it sails to and that they’re following federal law. But as more people return to the ships, and as more of them come from states where the drug is legal, operators are reportedly taking more extreme measures to detect cannabis and cracking down on people who attempt to use it—including those who simply pack CBD products, which are legal across the U.S.

As the Wall Street Journal reported in a story on the trend this week, Carnival Cruise Lines not only sends pre-cruise messages reminding passengers not to bring marijuana, but also now employs drug-sniffing dogs.

Companies say they’re focused on legal compliance and providing a comfortable experience for non-users, but the article notes that cruise operators may have an ulterior motive to discourage marijuana use.

“Besides limiting potential legal liability, cruise lines could benefit financially by prohibiting cannabis on board,” the paper reported. “Alcohol is a major revenue-generator for ships, and cruises also limit how much booze passengers bring on board.”

It talked to a Florida-based personal-injury attorney who said he’s “convinced that the decision to take such a hard line on marijuana or CBD is because they’re trying to drive alcohol sales.”

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Federal Civil Rights Complaint Filed Against IBM for Racial Discrimination and Unlawful Hiring Practices Targeting White and Asian American Executives

O’Keefe Media Group on Monday evening released a leaked video of IBM CEO Arvind Krishna admitting to using coercion to fire people and take away their bonuses unless they discriminate in the hiring process, as reported by The Gateway Pundit.

IBM, or International Business Machines, is a multinational technology company that specializes in producing and selling computer hardware, middleware, and software.

“You got to move both forward by a percentage that leads to a plus on your bonus,” Krishna said about hiring Hispanics, “and by the way if you lose, you lose part of your bonus.”

James O’Keege pointed out that after pulling ads from X for ‘racism,’ IBM chief Arvind Krishna says he will fire, demote, or strip bonuses from execs who don’t hire enough blacks and Hispanics — or hire too many Asians.

“Asians are not an underrepresented minority in tech in America…I’m not going to finess this, for blacks we should try to get towards 13 percent,” says Krishna.

O’Keefe: Paul Cormier, the chairman of Red Hat, a subsidiary of IBM, says in the leaked recording that Red Hat has terminated people because they weren’t willing to engage in racial discrimination through hiring and promotion.

“Title VII of the Civil Rights Act makes it illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of race in the workplace,” James O’Keefe said.

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Michigan Lawmakers Signed Nondisclosure Agreements, Can’t Discuss Corporate Welfare Scheme

When a state gives away tax money to a private company in an attempt to sway its business decisions, the least that a taxpayer can hope for is some openness in the process.

Unfortunately, the state of Michigan’s economic development agency is actively preventing transparency, leaving questions on how the state plans to spend billions of taxpayer dollars unanswered.

In December 2021, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, signed legislation establishing the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve (SOAR) program, intended “to ensure the state can compete for billions of dollars in investment and attract tens of thousands of jobs to bolster our economy.” SOAR funds would be disbursed with approval from the state Senate Appropriations Committee and would benefit companies that chose to do business in the Great Lake State.

As Reason reported in May, SOAR disbursed $1.4 billion in its first 18 months, all to benefit companies making electric vehicles, batteries, or battery components.

This week, Beth LeBlanc of The Detroit News reported that since its founding, “at least 163 individuals or entities have signed non-disclosure agreements” (NDAs) related to SOAR projects. The agreements were required by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), which manages the SOAR program.

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Police Circumventing Warrant Requirements By Purchasing Data from Private Vendors

John Adams warned us that if we give government an inch, it will take a mile.

“The nature of the encroachment upon the American Constitution is such, as to grow every day more and more encroaching. Like a cancer, it eats faster and faster every hour.”

We’ve seen this play out dramatically when it comes to the Fourth Amendment.

The courts have created all kinds of exceptions to the Fourth Amendment. But the government continues to push for more and look for ways to circumvent the restrictions on searches and seizures currently in place.

In the latest ploy to gobble up as much personal information as possible, state and federal law enforcement agencies have turned to buying information from private data miners. According to a report from LawFare Media, buyers of private data include the Department of Homeland Security, the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations Division, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and police departments across the country.

If government agents collect the same data directly from cell phones or internet providers, they would have to get a warrant. However, government attorneys argue that purchasing data from private brokers does not violate the Fourth Amendment because once the data becomes “public,” the expectation of privacy disappears. Furthermore, most user agreements stipulate that third parties may collect data. Since customers agree to the TOS, government lawyers contend that they effectively give up their right to privacy.

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