Barry Diller Defends Aereo, Says Legal Battle is Over - The ...

Barry Diller said Monday that Aereo's recent legal victories make it clear that networks and studios suing to stop his IAC-owned service are fighting a losing battle.

?We think the lawsuit is over, but what we think is broadcasters are doing is saying this is a terrible threat and [they are trying to] get Congress to act," the IAC chairman and senior executive told a crowd at the Milken Institute's Global Conference in Los Angeles. "I don?t think it will happen, but its up for grabs.?

Diller said it was not his intent to disrupt the cable and broadcast industry. Aereo it just part of the changes in business models being brought about by technology advances.

?The reason it interested me was not that I wanted to go into the newly enabled business of technology with antennas,? said Diller? ?We?re just starting on video.. It's just beginning and its going to absolutely change most things. It will break up the closed and bundled system of cable and satellite distribution because I think it has? gotten unwieldy.?

ANALYSIS: How Talent Loses if Aereo Wins

The resistance has not surprised him. ?No incumbent ever wants to see its territory invaded,? said Diller. ?That makes them angry if you invade the territory of a closed system.?

Diller is the primary backer of Aereo, which broadcasters and studios see as the latest technological challenge to owners of intellectual property. Aereo takes signals from over the air -- without paying royalties or retransmission consent fees -- and delivers them over the Internet in packages sold to viewers as an less expensive alternative to paying for cable TV. ?

Aereo offers consumers a full lineup of broadcast stations. That includes the ability to fast-forward past commercials and record programs on digital recorders for later use.

On April 1, The Second Circuit Court of Appeals declined to issue an injunction against the streaming-TV service Aereo in a legal battle with broadcasters and film studios including Disney?s ABC network and Twentieth Century Fox. Hollywood says Aereo is the same as a cable-television network, so it falls under the 1976 Copyright Act which bans unlicensed communications with ?the public,? ?by means of any device or process.?

The three-judge panel ruled that by providing individual streams to consumers Aereo was similar to a consumer streaming a TV show from a Slingbox in one room to a TV set in another room. The judges said Aereo has one TV antenna and one recording device for each subscriber, so it is not the same as a cable TV system.

PHOTOS: 10 Highly-Paid Entertainment CEOs

Aereo is already available in the New York City market and will launch in Boston on May 15. The company has said it will soon expand to about 20 other markets, including Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

When asked about the threat by broadcasters to move their prime programming to cable TV to protect it from Aereo, Diller said ?there is literally no chance. I think they are doing it? so enough people will say that would be terrible. Let?s get Congress to change the law.?

"The networks most profitable business are their local stations," he added. "The idea they can rip the primetime programming from the local stations and the stations will survive is kind of silly... These companies -- and I used to be one of them -- have for years resisted any kind of change. What fool wouldn?t resist change if change might take away their neat little situation?"

Source: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/barry-diller-defends-aereo-says-448340

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Koyim bisiklete: Structured settlement

A?structured settlement?is a?financial?or?insurance?arrangement, defined by Internal Revenue Code as periodic payments; a claimant accepts to resolve a personal injury?tort?claim or to compromise a statutory periodic payment obligation. Structured settlements were first utilized in?Canada?after a settlement for children affected by?Thalidomide.^[1]?Structured settlements are widely used in product liability or injury cases (such as the birth defects from Thalidomide). Benefits of a structured settlement can be to reduce legal and other costs by avoiding trial.?^[2]?Structured settlement cases became more popular in the United States during the 1970s as an alternative to?lump sumsettlements.^[3]?The increased popularity was also due to several rulings by the IRS, an increase in?personal injury?awards, and higher interest rates. The IRS rulings changed policies such that if the requirements were met then claimants could have federal income tax waived.^[4]?Higher interest rates resulted in lower?present values, hence annuity premiums, for deferred payments versus a lump sum. Structured settlements have become part of the statutory tort law of several?common law?countries including Australia, Canada, England and the United States. Structured settlements may include?income tax?and spendthrift requirements as well as benefits and are considered to be an?asset-backed security.^[5]?Often the periodic payment will be created through the purchase of one or more?annuities, which guarantee the future payments.^[6]?Structured settlement payments are sometimes called periodic payments and when incorporated into a trial judgment is called a ?periodic payment judgment."

In the United States

The United States has enacted structured settlement laws and regulations at both the federal and state levels. Federal structured settlement laws include sections of the (federal)?Internal Revenue Code.^[7]?State structured settlement laws include structured settlement protection statutes and periodic payment of judgment statutes. Forty-seven of the states have structured settlement protection acts created using a model promulgated by the National Conference of Insurance Legislations ("NCOIL"). Of the 47 states, 37 are based in whole or in part on the NCOIL model act.?Medicaid?and?Medicare?laws and regulations affect structured settlements. To preserve a claimant?s Medicare and Medicaid benefits, structured settlement payments may be incorporated into ?Medicare Set Aside Arrangements? ?Special Needs Trusts." Structured settlements have been endorsed by many of the nation's largest disability rights organizations, including the American Association of People with Disabilities?^[8]?and the National Organization on Disability.^[9]

Definitions

Congress adopted special tax rules in Public Law 97-473, the?Periodic Payment Settlement Tax Act of 1982?to encourage the use of structured settlements to provide long-term financial security to seriously injured victims and their families. These structured settlement rules, as codified in sections 104(a)(2) and 130 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. 104(a)(2) and 130, have been in place working effectively since then. In the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, Congress extended the structured settlements to worker?s compensation to cover physical injuries suffered in the workplace. A ?structured settlement? under the tax code's terms is an "arrangement" that meets the following requirements:

The structured settlement tax rules enacted by Congress lay down a bright line path for a structured settlement. Once the plaintiff and defense have settled the tort claim in exchange for periodic payments to be made by the defendant, the full amount of the periodic payments constitutes tax-free damages to the victim. The defendant then may assign its periodic payment obligation to a structured settlement assignment company (typically a single purpose affiliate of a life insurer) that funds its assumed obligation with an annuity purchased from its affiliated life insurer. The rules also permit the assignee to fund its periodic payment obligation under the structured settlement via U.S. Treasury obligations. However, this U.S. Treasury obligation approach is used much less frequently because of lower returns and the relative inflexibility of payment schedules available under Treasury obligations. In this way, the defense can close its books on the liability, and the claimant can receive the long-term financial security of an annuity issued by a financially strong life insurance company.

To qualify for special tax treatment, a structured settlement must meet the following requirements:

• A structured settlement must be established by:
  • A suit or agreement for periodic payment of damages excludable from gross income under Internal Revenue Code Section 104(a)(2) (26 U.S.C.???104(a)(2)); or
  • An agreement for the periodic payment of compensation under any workers? compensation law excludable under Internal Revenue Code Section 104(a)(1) (26 U.S.C.???104(a)(1)); and
• The periodic payments must be of the character described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of Internal Revenue Code Section 130(c)(2) (26 U.S.C.???130(c)(2))) and must be payable by a person who:
  • Is a party to the suit or agreement or to a workers' compensation claim; or
  • By a person who has assumed the liability for such periodic payments under a qualified assignment in accordance with Internal Revenue Code Section 130 (26 U.S.C.???130).

[edit]Legal Structure

The typical structured settlement arises and is structured as follows: An injured party (the claimant) settles a?tort?suit with the defendant (or its insurance carrier) pursuant to a settlement agreement that provides that, in exchange for the claimant's securing the dismissal of the lawsuit, the defendant (or, more commonly, its insurer) agrees to make a series of periodic payments over time.^[10]?The defendant, or the property/casualty insurance company, thus finds itself with a long-term payment obligation to the claimant. To fund this obligation, the property/casualty insurer generally takes one of two typical approaches: It either purchases an?annuity?from a life insurance company (an arrangement called a "buy and hold" case) or it assigns (or, more properly, delegates) its periodic payment obligation to a third party ("assigned case") which in turn purchases a "qualified funding asset" to finance the assigned periodic payment obligation. Pursuant to IRC 130(d) a "qualified funding asset" may be an annuity or an obligation of the United States government. In an unassigned case, the defendant or property/casualty insurer retains the periodic payment obligation and funds it by purchasing an annuity from a life insurance company, thereby offsetting its obligation with a matching asset. The payment stream purchased under the annuity matches exactly, in timing and amounts, the periodic payments agreed to in the settlement agreement. The defendant or property/casualty company owns the annuity and names the claimant as the payee under the annuity, thereby directing the annuity issuer to send payments directly to the claimant. If any of the periodic payments are life-contingent (i.e., the obligation to make a payment is contingent on someone continuing to be alive), then the claimant (or whoever is determined to be the measuring life) is named as the annuitant or measuring life under the annuity. In some instances the purchasing company may purchase a life insurance policy as a hedge in case of death in a settlement transfer.^[11]

In an assigned case, the defendant or property/casualty company does not wish to retain the long-term periodic payment obligation on its books. Accordingly, the defendant or property/casualty insurer transfers the obligation, through a legal device called a qualified assignment, to a third party. The third party, called an assignment company, will require the defendant or property/casualty company to pay it an amount sufficient to enable it to buy an annuity that will fund its newly accepted periodic payment obligation. If the claimant consents to the transfer of the periodic payment obligation (either in the settlement agreement or, failing that, in a special form of qualified assignment known as a qualified assignment and release), the defendant and/or its property/casualty company has no further liability to make the periodic payments. This method of substituting the obligor is desirable for defendants or property/casualty companies that do not want to retain the periodic payment obligation on their books. A qualified assignment is also advantageous for the claimant as it will not have to rely on the continued credit of the defendant or property/casualty company as a general creditor. Typically, an assignment company is an affiliate of the life insurance company from which the annuity is purchased.

An assignment is said to be "qualified" if it satisfies the criteria set forth in Internal Revenue Code Section 130?[1]. Qualification of the assignment is important to assignment companies because without it the amount they receive to induce them to accept periodic payment obligations would be considered income for federal income tax purposes. If an assignment qualifies under Section 130, however, the amount received is excluded from the income of the assignment company. This provision of the tax code was enacted to encourage assigned cases; without it, assignment companies would owe federal income taxes but would typically have no source from which to make the payments.

[edit]Financing

The nature of structured settlements requires people to wait to obtain funding. However, there are options to cash out or obtain a cash advance on one's structured settlement. Various?legal financing?companies can offer to buy part or all of one's structured settlement (or other fixed annuity payments) in return for a lump sum cash upfront. Basically, such companies allow one to switch, for example, a structured settlement payment of over 20 years to one (lesser-valued) payment now. Such financing can be used to pay for a house, send a child to college, or pay off one's debts. Such financing will need the approval of a judge and the insurance company.^{[citation needed]}?In 2012, a Tennessee Chancery Court issued an order denying a payee's transfer of workers' compensation settlement payments under a structured settlement agreement. Judge William E. Lantrip held that (i) workers' compensation payments are not within the definition of "structured settlement " under the Tennessee Structured Settlement Protection Act, Tenn. Code. Ann. ?47-18-2601?^[12]

[edit]Purchasers of Structured Settlements

A purchaser of a structured settlement is an individual or company who buys a pre-existing structured settlement. These settlements can include lottery winnings, annuities, etc.

An example: There's a court ordered structured settlement which pays five thousand dollars a year, to individual A, for twenty years. Individual A doesn't want to wait for twenty years to receive their money so they approach purchaser A, a SS purchaser. Purchaser A offers them fifty thousand dollars for their SS. In this case Indiv. A receives less money than they would if they waited twenty years, however they get more money immediately which they might need.

This type of transaction is pretty basic and easy.^{[citation needed]}?Things become more complicated if individual A only wants to sell some of their SS, or if the purchaser A buys this SS and then sells it to purchaser B and keeps a percentage. This could extrapolate to an unlimited number of individuals and purchasers. While the purchasing of SS has been around for a while, it has become a larger industry in recent years, probably because of the risk-free incentive. These purchasers are essentially buying loans which are guaranteed to be paid off. Because of the growing market and the growing complexities, SS purchasers are finding it more and more difficult to track their settlements(loans).^{[original research?]}?Because of this, there is a growing market of loan servicing software being used by SS purchasers to keep track.^{[dubious???discuss]}

[edit]See also

Source: http://byuzun.blogspot.com/2013/04/structured-settlement.html

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Fotopedia Reporter for iPad lets photographers publish their own photo stories

Fotopedia Reporter is a gorgeous app that lets you create your own photo stories and publish them to the popular social magazine. Whether it's a gallery from your last vacation, a tour of your garden, a review of your favorite restaurant, there's a place for your editorial creativity on Fotopedia.

Creating a photo story is easy: start with a cover photo, choose a title and description, add a location, pull text from Wikipedia or add your own, and share for all to see!

In addition to sharing your own stories, you can also browse stories posted by other people. Fotopedia has a featured page of great content as well as the most popular and new stories organized by category.

Fotopedia is very social at lets you rate stories up to 5 stars as well as leave comments. You can also follow users and see all their work viewed as a list or thumbnails.

The good

• Stunning design
• Easy to create a photo story
• Find amazing work by other users
• Organize by featured or category (new or popular)
• Leaving ratings and comments
• Follow users and view profiles
• Share to Facebook and Twitter

The bad

• No complaints

The bottom line

Fotopedia Reporter is incredibly well designed and is a great way for photographers to showcase their work. I am in awe by some of the photos I've come across and it makes me want to pick a theme and take a stab at photojournalism.

• Free - Download now

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/CoGB8ldagU4/story01.htm

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Video: Power House: Motor City Real Estate

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Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/video/cnbc/51664086/

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Strategy Analytics: Microsoft's share of tablet market quadrupled after Windows 8

Say what you like about Windows 8, but before it arrived Microsoft's presence in the tablet sphere was as small as it was stagnant. By the reckoning of number-crunchers at Strategy Analytics, just 400,000 Windows-running slates were shipped globally in Q3 of last year -- a figure that was largely unchanged from the year before and which represented just 1.6 percent of the global tablet market. Six months later, now that the Windows-powered Acers, Lenovos and Surfaces of this world have had a chance to get their game on, Microsoft's share has quadrupled to 7.5 percent, with a total of three million Windows 8 and RT tablets shipped in Q1 2013. That's still pretty niche, but three million units would have equated to a bigger share were it not for the fact that the overall tablet market also grew over this period, from 25 million to 41 million units -- and at least Microsoft can now claim to be a part of that boom. Look past the break for the numerical breakdown.

Filed under: Tablets, Microsoft

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Via: CNET, Neowin

Source: Strategy Analytics

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/bk6Bt5vx9uM/

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Did online feud fuel ricin-laced letters case?

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) ? The investigation into poisoned letters mailed to President Barack Obama and others has shifted from an Elvis impersonator to his longtime foe, and authorities must now figure out if an online feud between the two men might have escalated into something more sinister.

Paul Kevin Curtis, 45, was released from a north Mississippi jail on Tuesday and charges against him were dropped, nearly a week after authorities charged him with sending ricin-laced letters to the president, Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi and an 80-year-old Lee County, Miss., Justice Court judge, Sadie Holland.

Before Curtis left jail, authorities had already descended on the home of 41-year-old Everett Dutschke in Tupelo, a northeast Mississippi town best known as the birthplace of the King himself. On Wednesday, they searched the site of a Tupelo martial arts studio once operated by Dutschke, who hasn't been arrested or charged.

His attorney, Lori Nail Basham, said Dutschke is "cooperating fully" with investigators and that no arrest warrant had been issued.

Curtis, who performs as Elvis and other celebrities, describes a bizarre, yearslong feud between the two, but Dutschke insists he had nothing to do with the letters. They contained language identical to that found on Curtis' Facebook page and other websites, making him an early suspect.

Federal authorities have not said what led them to drop the charges against Curtis, and his lawyers say they're not sure what new evidence the FBI has found.

After being released from jail Tuesday, Curtis described a long feud between himself and Dutschke, but said he's not sure exactly what started it. It involves the men's time working together, a broken promise to help with a book by Curtis and an acrimonious exchange of emails, according to Curtis.

The two worked together at Curtis' brother's insurance office years ago, Curtis said. He said Dutschke told him he owned a newspaper and showed interest in publishing his book called "Missing Pieces," about what Curtis considers an underground market to sell body parts.

But Dutschke decided not to publish the material, Curtis said, and later began stalking him on the Internet.

For his part, Dutschke said he didn't even know Curtis that well.

"He almost had my sympathy until I found out that he was trying to blame somebody else," Dutschke said Monday. "I've known he was disturbed for a long time. Last time we had any contact with each other was at some point in 2010 when I threatened to sue him for fraud for posting a Mensa certificate that is a lie. He is not a Mensa member. That certificate is a lie."

Curtis acknowledges posting a fake Mensa certificate on Facebook, but says it was an online trap set up for Dutschke because he believed Dutschke was stalking him online. He knew Dutschke also claimed to be a member of the organization for people with high IQs. Dutschke had a Mensa email address during his 2007 legislative campaign.

Dutschke started a campaign to prove him a liar, Curtis said, and allegedly harassed him through emails and social networking.

Curtis said the two agreed to meet at one point to face off in person, but Dutschke didn't show up.

"The last email I got from him, was, 'Come back tomorrow at 7 and the results of you being splattered all over the pavement will be public for the world to see what a blank, blank, blank you are.' And then at that point, I knew I was dealing with a coward," Curtis said.

Hal Neilson, one of the attorneys for Curtis, has said the defense gave authorities a list of people who may have had a reason to hurt Curtis, and that Dutschke's name came up. Efforts to reach Curtis, his lawyers and his brother were unsuccessful on Wednesday.

Both men say they have met Wicker, and they each have a connection to Holland.

Authorities say the letters were mailed April 8, but the one sent to Holland was the only one to make it into the hands of an intended target. Her son, Democratic state Rep. Steve Holland of Plantersville, said his mother did a "smell test" of the envelope and a substance in it irritated her nose. The judge was not sickened by what authorities say was a crude form of the poison, which is derived from castor beans.

Sadie Holland has declined to comment on the case.

She was presiding judge in a case in which Curtis was accused of assaulting a Tupelo attorney in 2003. Holland sentenced Curtis to six months in the county jail. He served only part of the sentence, according to his brother.

Running as a Republican, Dutschke lost a lopsided election to Steve Holland in 2007, and observers say the judge publicly chastised Dutschke at a political rally that year.

Brandon Presley, Mississippi's northern district public service commissioner and a distant cousin of Elvis Presley, attended the 2007 political rally in Verona. He told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he remembers Dutschke giving a "militant" speech with personal and professional attacks Steve Holland.

Presley, also a Democrat, said he doesn't recall details of the speech ? just the tone of it, and the crowd's reaction.

"I just remember everybody's jaw dropping," Presley said.

Dutschke, who ran as a Republican, said his speech included sharp criticism of Steve Holland's record in public office.

Steve Holland said earlier this week that his mother made Dutschke get down on his knees at the 2007 rally and apologize. On Wednesday, he said he was mistaken about her telling Dutschke to kneel.

"She just got up and said 'Sir, you will apologize," Steve Holland said.

Dutschke said Steve Holland exaggerated the incident. Presley said he remembers Sadie Holland chastising Dutschke.

Presley said of Sadie Holland: "I don't believe the woman has an enemy in the world.... I don't know anybody who doesn't love Ms. Sadie Holland, except whoever this fool is who sent the letter. Whoever it is, they ought to be ashamed of themselves, picking on Ms. Sadie."

Dutschke ? who unsuccessfully ran as a Democrat for Lee County election commissioner in 2008 ? told AP on Tuesday that he has no problem with Sadie Holland. "Everybody loves Sadie, including me," he said.

On Wednesday, dozens of investigators were searching at a small retail space where neighboring business owners said Dutschke used to operate a martial arts studio. Officers at the scene wouldn't comment on what they were doing.

Investigators in gas masks, gloves and plastic suits emerged from the business carrying five-gallon buckets full of items covered in large plastic bags. Once outside, others started spraying their protective suits with some sort of mist.

Dutschke was seen outside the studio observing the search.

Dutschke told the AP on Wednesday morning that he and his wife had gone to a friend's house because they didn't feel safe at their home. He didn't immediately respond to messages Wednesday afternoon.

"They ripped everything out of the house," he said, adding: "I haven't slept at all."

____

Wagster Pettus contributed from Jackson, Miss., and Associated Press writers Jeff Amy and Jay Reeves contributed from Tupelo, Miss.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mens-yearslong-feud-looms-over-ricin-probe-205602937.html

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Fish was on the menu for early flying dinosaur

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

University of Alberta led research reveals that Microraptor, a small flying dinosaur was a complete hunter, able to swoop down and pickup fish as well as its previously known prey of birds and tree dwelling mammals.

U of A paleontology graduate student Scott Persons says new evidence of Microrpator's hunting ability came from fossilized remains in China. "We were very fortunate that this Microraptor was found in volcanic ash and its stomach content of fish was easily identified."

Prior to this, paleontologists believed microraptors which were about the size of a modern day hawk, lived in trees where they preyed exclusively on small birds and mammals about the size of squirrels.

"Now we know that Microraptor operated in varied terrain and had a varied diet," said Persons. "It took advantage of a variety of prey in the wet, forested environment that was China during the early Cretaceous period, 120 million years ago."

Further analysis of the fossil revealed that its teeth were adapted to catching slippery, wiggling prey like fish. Dinosaur researchers have established that most meat eaters had teeth with serrations on both sides which like a steak knife helped the predator saw through meat.

But the Microraptor's teeth are serrated on just one side and its teeth are angled forwards.

"Microraptor seems adapted to impale fish on its teeth. With reduced serrations the prey wouldn't tear itself apart while it struggled," said Persons. "Microraptor could simply raise its head back, the fish would slip off the teeth and be swallowed whole, no fuss no muss."

Persons likens the Microraptor's wing configuration to a bi-plane. "It had long feathers on its forearms, hind legs and tail," said Persons. "It was capable of short, controlled flights."

This is the first evidence of a flying raptor, a member of the Dromaeosaur family of dinosaurs to successfully prey on fish.

###

University of Alberta: http://www.ualberta.ca

Thanks to University of Alberta for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127861/Fish_was_on_the_menu_for_early_flying_dinosaur

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