Corporate Australia

A look into Corporate fraud in Australia, Stranglehold of Monopolies, Telecom's Oppression, Biased Law System, Corporate influence in politics, Industrial Relations disadvantaging workers, Outsourcing Australian Jobs, Offshore Banking, Petrochemical company domination, Invisibly Visible. It's not what you see, it's what goes on behind the scenes. Australia, the warrantless colony. Note: Site has more info in desktop mode or 'web version' as seen at bottom of page, when on smartphone.

18 April 2009

Hollywood scores win over Pirate Bay

The entertainment industry has won round one in a legal battle against file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay, with guilty verdicts and one-year prison sentences handed down to four men accused of running and financing the popular site.

The defendants vowed to appeal, setting the stage for a lengthy copyright dispute between music and movie corporations and an online swap shop they say has deprived them of billions of dollars in lost revenue.

In Friday's landmark ruling, the Stockholm district court convicted Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Peter Sunde, Fredrik Neij and Carl Lundstrom of helping millions of users illegally download music, movies and computer games.

All four received one-year terms and were ordered to pay damages of 30 million kronor ($A5.0 million) to entertainment companies, including Warner Bros, Sony Music Entertainment, EMI and Columbia Pictures.

"We can't pay and we won't pay," Sunde said in a defiant video clip posted on the Internet. Mockingly, he held up a hand-scribbled "I owe U" note to the camera. "This is as close as you will get to having money from us," Sunde said.

With an estimated 22 million users, The Pirate Bay has become the entertainment industry's enemy No. 1 after successful court actions against file-swapping sites such as Grokster and Kazaa.

Lundstrom helped finance the site while the three other defendants administered it.

Defense lawyers had argued the quartet should be acquitted because The Pirate Bay doesn't host any copyright-protected material (By the SAME TOKEN, Google should also be sued and ordered to pay for pointing to copyright material) . Instead, it provides a forum for its users to download content through so-called torrent files. The technology allows users to transfer parts of a large file from several different users, increasing download speeds.

The court found the defendants guilty of helping users commit copyright violations by providing a Web site with "sophisticated search functions, simple download and storage capabilities, and through the tracker linked to the Web site."

The case focused on dozens of works that the prosecutor said were downloaded illegally. They included songs by the Beatles, Robbie Williams and Coldplay, movies such as Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and computer games including World of Warcraft - Invasion.

Judge Tomas Norstrom told reporters that the site was "commercially driven," which the defendants have denied.

John Kennedy, the head of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, called the verdict good news for anyone "who is making a living or a business from creative activity and who needs to know their rights will be protected by law."

The Pirate Bay had assured users the trial wouldn't affect the site, and it remained operational after the verdict. Authorities temporarily shut it down in May 2006 after seizing servers and computer equipment during raids in several locations in Sweden. But it soon reappeared, running on servers elsewhere.

Andre Rickardsson, a computer expert and former investigator for the Swedish security police, said the ruling could encourage the entertainment industry to threaten Internet operators with lawsuits unless they block access to the site.

File-sharing wouldn't go away, he added, but users would likely turn to more advanced technological tools to hide their activities.

"It's not as if people will turn around and say 'oops, I'll have to stop file-sharing now.' Instead the reaction will be 'oops, what can I do to protect myself from getting caught'."

Sunde's lawyer Peter Althin said he was confident that higher courts would dismiss the case against The Pirate Bay, which he described as a battle between the corporate world and "a generation of young people who want to take part of new technology."

The verdict comes as Europe debates stricter rules to crack down on those who share content illegally on the Internet.

Last week French legislators rejected a plan to cut off the Internet connections of people who illegally download music and films, but the government plans to resurrect the bill for another vote this month.

Opponents said the legislation would represent a Big Brother intrusion on civil liberties, while the European Parliament last month adopted a nonbinding resolution that defines Internet access as an untouchable "fundamental freedom."

Earlier this month, Sweden introduced a new law that makes it easier to prosecute file-sharers because it requires Internet Service Providers to disclose the Internet Protocol-addresses of suspected violators to copyright owners.

The country of 9 million has one of Europe's highest rates of Internet penetration, but has also gained a reputation as a hub for file-sharers.

Statistics from the Netnod Internet Exchange, an organisation measuring Internet traffic in Sweden, suggested that daily online activity dropped more than 40 per cent after the law took effect on April 1.

18 Apr 2009

There could have been NO other decision made.

The "Hollywood Money Making Machine" is owned by FOUR families, and is one of the World's Largest economies.

The "Hollywood Lobby" is SO strong, you CANNOT and WILL NOT win,

as previously mentioned in this blog.

Therefore iiNet's battle will also be futile. See article :

Film studios battle iiNet in court

London cop questioned over G20 death

A London policeman has been questioned on suspicion of manslaughter over a man's death at G20 summit protests this month, after it was found he died of a haemorrhage and not a heart attack.

Ian Tomlinson, 47, was filmed being hit by a police officer with a baton on April 1 minutes before collapsing in London's financial district, the focus of demonstrations against the meeting of world leaders on the economic crisis.

He had not been taking part in the protests, which lasted two days and were marred with spells of violence.

Tomlinson's death raised concerns about the tactics deployed by police to contain the protesters and was followed by scores of complaints alleging police brutality at the demonstrations.

On Friday it was revealed that the results of an initial post-mortem examination which found Tomlinson had suffered a heart attack had been overturned by a second examination conducted by coroner Nat Cary.

"Doctor Cary's opinion is that the cause of death was abdominal haemorrhage. The cause of the haemorrhage remains to be ascertained," said the statement from the coroners' court but released by his family's lawyers.

Moments later the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), the police watchdog, said that an officer suspended after the death of Tomlinson had been questioned under caution.

"Following the initial results of the second post-mortem, a Metropolitan Police officer has been interviewed under caution for the offence of manslaughter as part of an ongoing inquiry into the death of Ian Tomlinson," it said, adding it could not provide further details at this stage.

Tomlinson's step-son Paul King said his family members were feeling stress mixed with anger.

"First we were told that there had been no contact with the police, then we were told that he died of a heart attack," he said.

"Now we know that he was violently assaulted by a police officer and died from internal bleeding. As time goes on we hope that the full truth about how Ian died will be made known.

"We just want the truth and hope that the IPCC do a thorough investigation."

London's Metropolitan Police expressed its "sincere regret" over Tomlinson's death soon afterwards but said it could not comment specifically on the post-mortem findings due to the ongoing probe.

"The Metropolitan Police Service wishes to reiterate its sincere regret in relation to the death of Ian Tomlinson. Our thoughts are with his family, and all those affected by this tragedy," it said.

Meanwhile, London Mayor Boris Johnson urged a "fast and transparent" conclusion to the investigation and said the police deserved "overwhelming support."

Metropolitan Police chief Paul Stephenson called in government inspectors to examine the force's tactics in dealing with mass protests following Tomlinson's death.

Stephenson has also said that footage of clashes will be reviewed to see if any other incidents need to be looked at.

Nearly 150 complaints have been made to the IPCC about officers' behaviour during two days of protests over the G20 London summit on April 2. Around 70 involve claims of excessive force.

The IPCC is also looking into the case of an animal rights activist, Nicola Fisher, who was filmed being slapped across the face and hit with a baton during an altercation with an officer.

18 Apr 2009

Current video footage of Tomlinson's assult shows that CLEARLY without provocation he was beaten.

His hands were in his pockets CLEARLY indicative of a NON threatening intentions.

Some of the masses are slowly waking up from their slumber, and seeing how this Global Economic Crisis, is being lead by the world's financiers to the detriment of the general populous.

No action / jail time will result from the Police Officer's manslaughter.

Any resistance to the New World Order will be met with force, and this is just the beginning of what is to become later on.

17 April 2009

Clinton calls for Cyprus solution soon

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called on rival leaders in Cyprus to seize momentum and reach a solution soon to reunify the divided island, her spokesman says.

Clinton met on Wednesday with Mehmet Ali Talat, leader of breakaway Turkish Cyprus. She met earlier this month in Prague with Markos Kyprianou, foreign minister of the internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus, who will come next week to Washington for further talks.

"She expressed her support for the efforts of both sides to build on the momentum and achieve a solution as soon as possible, which will require courage on all sides," State Department spokesman Robert Wood said on Thursday.

Clinton voiced "her confidence they can meet this challenge," he said.

Talat, who succeeded hardliner Rauf Denktash in 2005, headed to Washington for the talks just days before Turkish Cyprus holds elections. His left-wing Turkish Republican Party has been down in opinion polls.

The State Department said Clinton had a "positive, constructive meeting" with Talat.

"She reaffirmed the support of the United States for a just and lasting settlement that reunifies Cyprus into a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation," Wood said.

Clinton also welcomed the work of the special envoy on Cyprus, former Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer.

Cyprus has been divided along ethnic lines since 1974 when Turkey invaded the island's northern third in response to an Athens-engineered Greek Cypriot coup to unite the island with Greece.

The State Department said Clinton's meeting with Talat did not imply any recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, with which only Ankara maintains diplomatic relations.

ninemsn 17 Apr 2009

So the solution is simple, REMOVE the terrorising occupants.

Just like in the Occupation of Palestine.

Not in anyone's interest ?

Who Profits

16 April 2009

Coca Cola - Deliberate Lies

In late 2008, Coca Cola advertised in the news print in Australia that its product

does NOT cause tooth decay, and

does NOT make you fat.

does NOT contain caffine

After in inquiry by the ACCC, Coca Cola had to retract from its misleading statements
as its products

DO cause tooth decay,

can contribute to being overweight.

DO contain caffine

In the early renditions of the popular drink the formula contained cocaine.

Also "Coke" was known for its properties in cleaning an Australian copper 2c coin to mint condition, the acid that also strips teeth of their enamel.

King Solomons (acid) reign

King Solomon Trujillo I of Telstra, was imported from the colony of the United States of America, with strong links to President Bush, in order to rape the Australian Telco. cash cow by cutting jobs and services to the detriment of the Australian public, shareholders and consumers alike.

What is more concerning that he was allowed to under perform in ALL aspects of the business and receive a large bonus as a reward.

Since King Solomons reign :

Telstra shares have fallen
12,000 jobs were axed
5,000 public telephone booths removed
information on billing system removed
Complaints risen 240%

From an archived Wikipedia article which no longer exists under Solomon's directive:

He resigned as CEO of U S West Communications, Inc. just before the company became the subject of a federal criminal probe for overstating nearly a billion dollars in profits. [7] He was not charged by the justice department and has denied any knowledge of accounting irregularities.

See also comments on ZGEEK forum thread:
Dept. of Fail: Sol Trujillo's Telstra legacy

Telstra complaints are up by 240 per cent under CEO Sol Trujillo

CUSTOMER complaints about Telstra's phone service rocketed by a massive 52 per cent in just 90 days, company statistics have revealed.

And over the three-year reign of Telstra boss Sol Trujillo, complaint levels have risen by 241 per cent, figures from the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman show.

Mr Trujillo has been paid about $30 million over the same period, and is to receive a $3 million golden handshake when he steps down in June.

"It's frustrating because you can't get through and when you do no one can tell you anything," Telstra Bigpond customer Michael Murray told The Courier-Mail.

Between October last year and the end of 2008 Telstra received about 236 complaints a day, or nearly 10 an hour, about landline and mobile phone services over the three months, for a total of 21,283.

In the previous three months the phone giant received 14,014 complaints.

Over the same period, complaints about Telstra's Bigpond internet service climbed 65 per cent, from 3382 to 5607.

Mr Murray complained after his internet connection was down for four days last week, calling Telstra "10 to 12 times" asking when the problem would be fixed.

Telstra executive director of corporate complaints Chloe Monroe said the company "acknowledged these are not good results".

She said the company had put more resources into taking customer calls.

Ms Munroe said it would be "drawing a long bow" to see a connection between Mr Trujillo's time at the top and the number of complaints.

news.com.au source 6 Apr 2009

Inbreeding brought down Habsburg dynasty

The Habsburg dynasty, which ruled Spain during the height of its power and influence, may been brought down by genetic disorders caused by inbreeding, according to a new study.

The 174-year dynasty was replaced by the French Bourbons in 1700 when King Charles II died at the age of 39 without offspring.

Spanish researchers computed "the inbreeding coefficient" of the Habsburg kings to conclude that "a high incidence consanguineous marriages", or those between two close relatives, may have caused genetic disorders in Charles II.

Charles was physically and mentally disabled and disfigured, the researchers noted in their study, published in the US Public Library of Science journal PLoS ONE.

According to contemporary writings, he was unable to speak until the age of four, could not walk until the age of eight, and during the last years of his life he barely could stand up and suffered from hallucinations and convulsive episodes, it said.

"It is speculated that the simultaneous occurrence in Charles II of two different genetic disorders: combined pituitary hormone deficiency and distal renal tubular acidosis ... could explain most of the complex clinical profile of this king, including his impotence/infertility which in last instance led to the extinction of the dynasty."

It said that in a bid to maintain the dynasty, the Habsburg kings had "frequently married close relatives in such a way that uncle-niece, first cousins and other consanguineous unions were prevalent."

In total, nine of 11 marriages were "consanguineous unions in a degree of third cousins or closer."

The inbreeding coefficient increased strongly along the Habsburg generations, said the study by researchers at the University of Santiago de Compostela and the Galician Public Foundation for Genomic Medicine.

It noted a coefficent of 0.025 for King Philip I, the founder of the dynasty and who married his niece, Anne of Austria, to 0.254 for Charles II, and said several members of the dynasty had coefficients higher than 0.20.

In addition, it pointed to other evidence that infant and child mortality was very high among the Spanish Habsburgs, far higher that the rates registered for Spanish villages at the time.

"These data suggest that inbreeding depression for infant and child survival could be occurring in the Spanish Habsburg families as a consequence of prolonged consanguineous marriages."

During the Habsburg dynasty, Spain's worldwide empire reached its apogee, controlling territories in the Americas and the Philippines and parts of western Europe.

For that very reason the Royals are referred to a s "Blue Bloods".

The very public face of the Royal Family is under scrutiny here,

BUT in the Financial sector, the Dynasty of the Rothschilds is NEVER publcised. They also suffered because of inbreeding.

In the current British Windsor Family, Prince Charles exhibits the traits of an inbred.

The reason why Princess Diana was brought in is to bring new blood into the gene pool, and once her job was done she could be disposed of.

Pirates in rocket attack revenge on US ship

Somali pirates attacked an American freighter with rockets to "destroy" the ship in revenge for an operation that freed a US captain last weekend, one of their commanders said.

The freighter escaped the attack late on Tuesday, but more vessels have fallen into the hands of marauding Somali bandits. A French warship meanwhile intercepted a pirate "mother ship" and arrested 11 gunmen, the French defence ministry said.

"This attack was the first against our prime target," pirate commander Abdi Garad told AFP of the attack on the Liberty Sun freighter late on Tuesday.

"We intended to destroy this American-flagged ship and the crew on board but unfortunately they narrowly escaped us.

"The aim of this attack was totally different. We were not after a ransom. We also assigned a team with special equipment to chase and destroy any ship flying the American flag in retaliation for the brutal killing of our friends."

In another development on Wednesday, Greece said Somali pirates on Wednesday released the Greek-owned, St Vincent-flagged cargo ship that had been seized with its crew of 24 on March 19.

The Titan was sailing with a load of iron from the Black Sea to South Korea when it was seized. The crew was in good health, the merchant marine ministry in Athens said.

Pirates have taken four ships since losing two battles with US and French forces at the weekend.

Their latest target was the Liberty Sun which was heading for the Kenyan port of Mombasa with international food aid, the owners said.

The USS Bainbridge, which mounted the operation to rescue the captain of US cargo Maersk Alabama, came to the rescue of the Liberty Sun, officials said.

Crew members gave a dramatic account of the attack.

"We are under attack by pirates, we are being hit by rockets. Also bullets," crewman Thomas Urbik told his mother in email messages, CNN television reported.

"We are barricaded in the engine room and so far no one is hurt. [A] rocket penetrated the bulkhead but the hole is small. Small fire, too, but put out."

Urbik said the US Navy escorted the ship to safety. "The navy has showed up we are now under military escort," he wrote.

Garad said the attack was revenge for the weekend operation that freed Maersk Alabama captain Richard Phillips and killed three pirates.

Phillips was taken hostage on a lifeboat after his crew managed to overpower pirates who had hijacked the ship. The crew left Kenya's Mombasa port on Wednesday for home, an airport official told AFP.

The captain was freed in a spectacular Navy Seals operation Sunday which prompted US President Barack Obama to pledge tough action in the fight against piracy.

According to sources close to the pirates, French ships were also prime targets following the weekend rescue of the Tanit yacht in which a hostage and two pirates were killed.

Three Somali pirates arrested during the French military rescue operation were taken to France on Tuesday and put in custody.

On Wednesday, a French warship with an EU anti-piracy force intercepted a pirate "mother ship" and arrested 11 gunmen whom they had been pursuing since the previous day.

"The pirates were sailing a 10m mother ship carrying 17 drums holding 200 litres of fuel each and two assault skiffs," a French defence ministry spokesman said.

French commandos had already launched rescue operations in two previous cases over the past year, killing and capturing pirates.

But pirates were swift to brush off their recent losses and have attacked four more ships since.

"The pirates were sailing a 10m mother ship carrying 17 drums holding 200 litres of fuel each and two assault skiffs," a French defence ministry spokesman said.

At least 17 ships and close to 300 crew are being held by Somali pirates. Ten of the ships have been taken this month.

Experts predicted that pirate attacks and hijackings in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean would continue at a similar rate for at least another two weeks on the back of calm sea conditions.

In a statement, the top UN envoy to Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, said robust naval operations "are sending a strong message to the pirates and, more importantly, to their backers who are exploiting the poverty and desperation of their young, unemployed compatriots."

So far Somali pirates have sought to release ships for ransoms and have not killed any hostages. But their attacks have prompted naval powers to deploy ships to patrol pirate-infested waters.

Somalia has gone through close to two decades of war and lawless chaos which have made piracy one of the few viable businesses.

16 Apr 2009

Since this is an act of TERRORISM against AMERICA,

Team America World Police MUST level Somalia like they are doing with Afghanistan.

Pirate Bay Trial To Receive Resolution This Week

This week, a Swedish court will decide the fate of the Pirate Bay, the Web site that provides easy access to copyrighted material like movies and music. Until last year, when it filed criminal charges against the four men who operate the file sharing directory, the Swedish government had taken little interest in regulating online piracy, which is rampant in the country. For their part, the defendants claim that they merely provided an index of content and didn't control what other people did with it.

Both sides have now presented their case, and a ruling is due by Friday, The Wall Street Journal reports. The defendants face up to two years in jail, but prosecutors are only asking for sentences of one year. The plaintiffs, big entertainment companies like Warner Bros., EMI Group Ltd. and Sony Corp.'s Columbia Pictures, are also seeking $14.2 million in compensation for lost revenue.

"The case represents the culmination of U.S. attempts to get Sweden to take intellectual-property theft more seriously," the Journal notes. In a 2007 survey, 43% of Swedes said they didn't see anything wrong with downloading entertainment without paying, and they planned to download music during the year. However, under pressure from the U.S. government, Sweden has started taking a tougher stance against piracy. Earlier this month, a new law allowed content companies to obtain names and addresses of individuals suspected of sharing copyrighted material from ISPs, a move that immediately resulted in a 40% drop in total Internet usage in the country, according to a traffic measurement firm.

mediapost.com 14 Apr 2009 article

Maybe the US Government should also take a TOUGH stance on PIRACY

off the coast of SOMALIA, where people are being KILLED !

Downloading a movie / music NEVER killed anyone.

15 April 2009

Student killed in teacher love triangle

Police say the boyfriend of a 48-year-old math teacher killed a high school student after he caught them in her bedroom having an affair.

Officers said on Tuesday that 20-year-old Sixto Balbuena found his girlfriend naked in her bedroom with 18-year-old student, Samuel Valdivia, who was wearing only boxer shorts early Friday.

Balbuena told police he kicked and punched Valdivia "to teach the victim a lesson", and then stabbed him in the side with a kitchen knife. Valdivia died at the hospital.

Balbuena was arrested on a second-degree murder charge.

He did not yet have a lawyer to speak for him.

15 Apr 2009

Looks like a demented individual.

No lawyer should represent this kind of 'human' garbage.

The death penalty should be applied liberally.