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The Power Of Silence: Why The SimCity Story Went Away
Sticking your fingers in your ears helps too.
Why has the SimCity story gone away? It's a good question. And the answer for it reveals much about how both the games industry, and the games journalism industry, work.
In March, shortly after SimCity's disastrous launch (servers couldn't cope, the game barely ran, features had to be removed, and the always-on DRM was seriously crippling the game), EA and Maxis' PR went into damage protection mode. And one refrain we saw over and over was a line from Maxis' studio head, Lucy Bradshaw, that the 'single-player' game had to "offload a significant amount of the calculations to our servers."
On 12th March, RPS revealed that this statement simply wasn't true. Via a source from inside Maxis, we learned that the server was doing no such thing, and that the calculations were running on the player's PC. Two days later these claims were confirmed by a modder who had the game running indefinitely offline. It was clear that the message coming from Maxis simply wasn't true. (There's no better round-up of the events than the one put together by Kotaku.)
(One thing that's important to note here: That the claims weren't true does not provide room to conclude that Bradshaw was "lying". Not knowing the circumstances within Maxis at all, there's no way to know that Bradshaw did not believe what she was saying to be entirely accurate. Miscommunication, deliberate misinformation, we just don't know, and as such accusations don't help this discussion.)
So what to do next? Via RPS, and much of the gaming press, the reality that the servers were not running offline calculations became widely understood. So how did EA or Maxis handle this situation? With silence.
And if simply telling the truth isn't considered an available option, silence is by far the most effective response in this industry.
When RPS first broke the story, only a few other gaming sites picked up on it. It was a big story, unquestionably, so why was it left alone by so many? That breaks down into two parts. Firstly, and most importantly, the story was based on an anonymous source. We of course know who the source is, and verified it until we were very comfortable running the story. But that wasn't possible for other sites – they had the choice of running the story based on a "rumour" from RPS, or not at all. And that's understandable – repeating rumours is often the gaming press at its worst, and with no means to verify our story, repeating it could have been risky. It could easily have led to legal threats being thrown all over. Which brings us to the second part – they needed some sort of confirmation, or at the very least a response, from EA to offer 'balance'.
Not reporting the story couldn't be immediately dismissed as capitulation, being in the pocket of EA, cowardliness, etc. (Not that it excludes it, of course.) What most sites would have done was immediately fire off an email to EA and Maxis asking for them to provide comment. We, of course, had done the same. And here's where the power of silence played its first part.
EA and Maxis simply ignored all those emails. Sites may have received a, "We're waiting for a response," from their regional PRs, but that was it. And so if you're running GamePow.com, and you've decided you can't run RPS's anonymously sourced story without giving EA a response, ta-da – no story on GamePow. And EA knows that.
Our efforts to get a response were equally futile. On the 12th March we were told by EA's UK PR,
"I will have a response from Maxis for you shortly."
On the 13th we were told,
"Unfortunately I am still waiting on a response, I will let you know as soon as I hear more."
And from then on we heard nothing back, emails about it simply ignored.
Then on the 16th March, Maxis' Senior Director of Worldwide Communications, Erik Reynolds, tweeted me out of the blue.
"No response was my fault not UK PR folks or Maxis. Not a PR tactic, just had to unwind the complex issues and gather right info"
An odd statement, certainly. Taken at face value, it would suggest they were preparing to response. They never have. So in hindsight, it's only possible to interpret as his having instructed people not to give us (or anyone else) a response on this subject, and then left it at that. Which one might interpret as a PR tactic.
Reynolds (with the apposite handle "@buzzspinner") has a disarming way on Twitter. After his tweet, a number of other people piled in with accusations, and his responses were pitched to imply that Maxis were victims in all this. They were trying their best, and it was all so heartbreaking for them. Many backed off in reaction. But within it, the same immediately obviously dubious lines were coming out, not least,
"This is a disappointing thing bc we dont want to but we also want to say the same thing we've been saying since GDC12"
Linking to an article I'd written, painstakingly pointing out how often their story had changed since GDC 2012, I suggested this is "not a thing you've been doing." His responses had nothing to do with anything. After I pointed this out Erik replied suggesting he would try to sort out an interview, but, "yesterday I shut all of them down so the team can focus on the more important things". I noted that it was sad that addressing these questions wasn't considered important. He then added,
"We've said something officially every day since 3/5 to be transparent with our fans. Maybe not through your site, but no silence"
This was another clever statement. Maxis had done no such thing, but – so far as I have been able to tell – instead had sent out responses to questions asked long before the RPS story had broken. So it was that sites were running their interviews with Maxis that not only couldn't have addressed the key issues, but only further repeated the statements that our coverage had revealed to not be the case. What they'd done is continued to wallpaper the internet with the debunked claims, after the fact. Not only were sites not reporting the reality of the situation, but they were in fact continuing to report the nonsense.
The conversation with Reynolds concluded with his apologising for not having sent RPS a statement in response, as I had repeatedly said was all we'd asked for.
No statement has been sent since.
And that's the second stage of the silence tactic. RPS ran the story as far as we could without any response from EA. We'd revealed the issue, confirmed the issue, and discussed the issue. But without EA or Maxis giving us some sort of statement, other than to just repeat ourselves, there was nothing new we could say. And EA and Maxis knows this. So we, like most of the industry, haven't written about the story since the middle of March.
Silence is a powerful weapon in the industry. The mad truth is, when it comes to gaming controversies, if you ignore it it will go away. This article is a fairly futile attempt to not let it, and to make sure our readers know that EA and Maxis never spoke to us, never responded to any of our questions, and never sent so much as a statement.
And they got away with it! SimCity sold over a million copies in its first couple of weeks, despite barely working. Many reviews ran before the game had been played properly, giving it huge initial scores, failing to recognise how disastrous its simulations were after the first 10 hours or so. The line about server-side calculations is still being stated as fact, with some major journalists losing their minds on Twitter with anyone who dared to question it. EA and Maxis are still sticking to their utterly ridiculous claims that the game was built as an "MMO", despite that being patently untrue in every possible interpretation. And incredibly, at GDC last month, they were arguing that their game demonstrated how outdated "DRM" was – as if the always-on weren't the most destructive form of DRM imaginable!
The principle is if you keep saying the same thing over and over, people will start to accept it. And heck, that couldn't be more true. Sites reporting the nonsense from GDC showed it, reinforcing this latest angle that the game is an "MMO", despite it featuring literally none of the identifying features of an MMO, from the "massively" part onward. The reason for this, of course, is because we all accept that an MMO has to be online – of course it does – so if they say "MMO" then they hope that association will be made to their game, despite how comprehensively it's been shown to not need to be running online at all. Their response, perhaps even impressively, was to double-down on the online nonsense. It worked.
This tactic isn't unusual. PRs very frequently will ignore emails they just don't want to/have been told not to answer. Silence is by far the most effective means of spreading silence. With a press so frequently under the spell of the belief that one must offer 'balance' to report anything, stories will simply go unreported if one side refuses to comment. (Let alone the implicit idiocy of telling a massive corporation what news you are going to write about it before you write it, so they can shut it down before it ever sees daylight. It effectively boils down to asking for permission to run a negative story about a company. Journalists need to pull their heads out of their arses and start having the integrity to run stories they know to be valid, and then asking the corporation for comment.)
The credulous press (edit: please understand that here I'm referring to "the credulous portion of the press", rather than being mad enough to suggest that the press as a whole is credulous!) is then flooded with "positive" stories, which they dutifully report, and the questions and controversy slide off the bottom of everyone's news feeds.
And that, you see, is why the SimCity story went away.


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This was published 7 years ago
Privacy concerns as UK supermarket 'spies' on customers
London: British supermarket chain Tesco is installing hundreds of hi-tech screens that scan the faces of shoppers as they queue at tills to detect their age and sex for advertisers.
The supermarket has signed a deal with Amscreen, a digital signage company owned by Lord Alan Sugar, in a move which drew concern from privacy campaigners about the growing use of "invasive" technology in shops.
The "OptimEyes" system will be installed on the forecourts of 450 Tesco petrol stations, which serve millions of customers a week.
Cameras built into a digital advertising display above the tills identify whether a customer is male or female, estimate their age and judge how long they look at the advertisement displayed.
The "real-time" data is fed through to advertisers to give them some idea of how effective their campaigns are and to enable them to tailor advertisements to certain times of the day.
The scenario is reminiscent of one in Minority Report, the 2002 science fiction film in which actor Tom Cruise's character is bombarded with personalised advertisements as he walks down the street, after sensors detect him by scanning his eyes.
Simon Sugar, Lord Sugar's son and the chief executive of Amscreen, told The Grocer magazine: "Yes, it's like something out of Minority Report, but this could change the face of British retail and our plans are to expand the screens into as many supermarkets as possible."
He insisted that OptimEyes, which was developed in conjunction with a face detection software specialist, does not store images or recognise people, and instead simply "works out gender and sorts customers into one of three age brackets".
Privacy campaigners in Britain said on Sunday that the sharp increase in personal data collection was threatening to spiral out of control. Nick Pickles, of Big Brother Watch, said camera technology was already available that matched scans of people's faces with their pictures on Facebook to tailor special offers to their "likes" on the social media website.
He told London's Daily Telegraph: "People would never accept the police keeping a real-time log of which shops we go in, but this technology can do just that. It is a surveillance state by the shop door."
The technology is already used in forecourts across Britain, but Amscreen claims the deal with Tesco is the biggest of its kind since the system was unveiled earlier this summer.
Peter Cattell, category director for Tesco petrol stations, said the technology would "enhance" its customers' shopping experience.
He said: "The ability to tailor content based on time and location means this can be extremely useful and timely for interacting with our customers."
Telegraph, London

subset: commoncrawl


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Don Draper never claimed to be a nutritionist. But what's the line between clever marketing and misleading claims? That's the question at hand in the ongoing lawsuit against the maker of 7UP. The lawsuit claims that 7UP's "Cherry Antioxidant," "Mixed Berry Antioxidant," and "Pomegranate Antioxidant" varieties misled customers.
That made us think: what other dubious claims on packages allow junk food to masquerade as health food? With help from Ilyse Schapiro, M.S., a registered dietitian in private practice in the New York City area, we got the scoop on six suspect phrases you've seen in the supermarket.
"Fortified with Omega-3s"
Breads and cereals with this claim often contain ingredients like flaxseed or canola oil, which contain a type of omega-3 called ALA. The catch: ALA isn't as readily absorbed and used by the body as the omega-3s found in fish DHA and EPA. Translation: They're not really doing much for you. Even if DHA and EPA are added--and the packaging will say so--there simply may not be enough in each serving to make a difference. For example, a two-tablespoon serving of omega-3 peanut butter contains 32 milligrams (mg) of DHA and EPA--far less than the 250 mg daily USDA recommendation. Best to get the nutrient through fish or pop fish oil supplements. (Click here for the 10 Best Supplements for Men.)
"100% Vitamin C"
As you're eating a serving or two of fruits or vegetables daily, you're likely getting enough. One orange supplies 116 percent of your daily C value, while a half-cup of chopped red bell pepper contains 158 percent.
"Made with Whole Grains"
The FDA suggests these products contain some amount of whole grain, but doesn't specify the percentage. What that means for you? Your whole grain crackers may be made of mostly white flour. The first ingredient should say "whole grain" or "whole-wheat flour." (Warning: "Unbleached wheat flour" is a name for white flour, so skip.)
"With Added Fiber"
These days, foods that used to be fiber-free, like yogurt, now contain fiber--typically in the form of ingredients like inulin or chicory root. They contain insoluble fiber to help you stay regular in the bathroom, but they're not a good source of heart-healthy soluble fiber, which can help lower cholesterol. Good sources of soluble fiber include oatmeal, nuts, seeds, and beans.
These may be fortified with antioxidants A, C, and E. However, there isn't sufficient research to suggest that A or E can prevent the common cold or cancer in supplement form. Large doses of C may be effective to improve immunity, but research isn't conclusive and you'd have to get about 1,000 mg--or more than 10 times the amount found in a serving of that immune-boosting water. Want to stop a cold in its tracks? Here are 10 Ways to Fight a Cold at the First Sneeze.
"Made With/From Real Fruit"
These yogurts, waffles, cereal, and fruit snacks may boast big pictures of plump, ripe fruit on their packaging, but contain a trivial amount of actual fruit. And even then, it's usually in the form of pear juice concentrate or fruit "bits," mixed with non-fruit ingredients like sugar and oil. Stick to the produce section, and fill your cart with the 5 Fruits that Fight the Flu.
More Links:
The Truth about Flu Shots
20 Shockingly Healthy Restaurant Foods
What Doctors Eat
Can You Trust Your Omega-3 Supplement?
Don Draper never claimed to be a nutritionist. But what's the line between clever marketing and misleading claims? That's the question at hand in the ongoing lawsuit against the maker of 7UP. The lawsuit claims that 7UP's "Cherry Antioxidant," "Mixed Berry Antioxidant," and "Pomegranate Antioxidant" varieties misled customers.


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IWCE 2010: New two-way radios among Vertex Standard announcements
Radio manufacturer rolls out new radios and plans for digital radios
By Scott M. Bruner
EMS1 Product Editor
At March's IWCE show in Las Vegas, communications designers and manufacturers came together to present their wares and, in some cases, make a little news. Japanese company Vertex Standard had two announcements of product news of interest to first responders. They announced a new series of two-way analog radios, the VX-4500/4600 as well as the new VX-450 Series for industrial applications. In addition, they released plans to enter the digital age with a series of digital radios to be released later this year.
The VX-4500/4600
The new VX-4500/4600 series offer 2-tone and 5-tone encode/decode and MDC-1200 encode/decode along with voice inversion encryption built into the unit. They include channel announcement and an emergency alert.
"These radios are designed for low-end public safety, high-end commercial industrial users in the marketplace," said Chris Lyons, Vertex Standard's director of global product operations. "What's neat about them is that they've got a lot of channels, a lot of embedded signaling, voice aversion scrambling –not high security encryption – and it enables users to avoid people readily eavesdropping on conversation. It's got channel announcements where the radio announces the channel. It's a suite of features we haven't had before."
Frequency ranges include 134-174 MHz, 400-470 MHz and 450-512 MHz with no sub-bands. Both radios will come with a three-year warranty stateside. The new radios were on display at Vertex' booth at IWCE.
Digital Radio Strategy
Vertex also announced plans to begin making digital radios. The new radios will be based on two-slot, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) 6.25 kHz digital tech. According to Vertex, the new radios will be designed to provide improved audio clarity and a wider range than analog counterparts.
"We understand our customers are evolving their radio communications needs seeking solutions that make them more productive and are more cost-effective. Vertex Standard is committed to developing digital communications to bring customers a new choice in TDMA digital technology that provides double the capacity on existing licensed channels, increased coverage, longer battery life and superior audio performance," Mike Gray, North American LMR sales vice president, said.
Vertex is a founding member of the Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) Association, and the new radios will be based on the protocol, the ETSI DMR Tier 2 open standard. The radios will be released later in 2010 along with a new portable, mobile repeater to provide an entire DMR system. The radios will be able to operate in analog or digital modes in order to assist with agencies making the digital leap.
Vertex Standard Co. Ltd. is a Japanese company that has been engaged in radio communication products for land, marine, airband, and amateur for over 50 years. They are the makers of the world's smallest P25 portable radio in the world, the VXP829. For more information, visit www.vertexstandard.com.


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This time of year is filled with joy and excitement but it's also full ciaos of runny here and there and doing this and that! Yesterday MC had a choir performance at the capital so it was off to Little Rock we went!
MC and Kayln getting ready to perform!
Then it was off to the mall to see the jolly old soul! They all did great!


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Arkansas Beats Auburn, 24 - 7
Dennis Johnson rushed for two touchdowns and the Arkansas defense had eight sacks to help the Razorbacks snap a four-game skid with a 24-7 victory over Auburn on Saturday.
Arkansas (2-4, 1-2 Southeastern Conference) had been blasted by a combined score of 110-10 in its first two league games.
The Tigers (1-4, 0-3) were left at the bottom of the SEC West after a second-half quarterback change failed to provide much of a spark to an offense that committed five turnovers.
Tyler Wilson completed 20 of 27 passes for 216 yards. The Razorbacks scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to pull away before Auburn scored again in the final minutes.
Auburn coach Gene Chizik replaced struggling starter Kiehl Frazier with Clint Moseley in the second half, seeking a spark for a sputtering offense. Moseley threw a pair of interceptions in the end zone during the fourth.


text:
With the birth of BrightHouse in 1995, we became the first creative consultancy designed to uncover an organization's purpose. We created a whole new methodology to harness the power of purpose to transform, as well as revolutionary frameworks for leadership, marketing, and innovations. We soon discovered that some ideas are better than others, the biggest of which is what we call your master idea: a memorable story that articulates your purpose, along with a single, simple phrase that acts as a rallying cry. Why is a master idea so important? Because it leads to bigger profits that also profit the world.
As a pioneer in the field of purpose, we have helped companies like Procter & Gamble, McDonald's, KPMG, and American Express discover and articulate the more meaningful roles they can play in the world, then helped them activate and embed their purposes within their organizations.
In 2015, we became an independent business division of The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Together, we're the only resource for full purpose-driven transformation. We offer clients a range of creative and strategic thinking—from insights, actions, branding, films, and more.


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M. Hammad Bhatti
M. Hammad Bhatti is a web and graphic artist with more thanfive years of experience using Adobe Fireworks as his main professional toolfor creating web graphics. He runs the web design studio, Everonsoft. Hammad tries to work withFireworks in unusual ways to get the effects he desires. He blogs frequently at Hammad Bhatti Blogs.


text: Sijun Forums :: View topic - Meeting with vice pres of PIXAR - please read Log in to check your private messages Sijun Forums Forum Index >> Archive : Sep99 - Dec00 View previous topic :: View next topic Author Topic : "Meeting with vice pres of PIXAR - please read" SuperbugmemberMember #Joined: 12 Jul 2000Posts: 544Location: Canada Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2000 11:16 am Hi, i don't really know if this belongs here but I'm kind rushed. The topic pretty much says it. Im goin to have dinner with the vice pres of pixar, and I get to talk to him. I'e always wanted to do 3D stuff, but the amount of question I want to ask him about the job, oppurtunities, industry are so enormous i don't know where to start. Are there any pointers some of you could give me. Just questions that may have come up in your career or things you wished you might have known earlier. I guess this one goes out to all the 3d guys out there. thanks! ------------------ "What we do in life, echoes an eternity" Back to top FrostBitejunior memberMember #Joined: 15 Dec 2000Posts: 41Location: Santa Cruz, CA, USA Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2000 11:25 am well, I don't know if this is what you wanted. But I do want to get into the same industry. I usually ask how soso got started in the industry, any cool/rare things that came up. You got a cool opportunity dude, go for it! ------------------ [Frost Bite] Back to top BradfordGuestMember # Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2000 11:52 am Not sure what I could say either, but the best reference I could give you would be to go read as many interviews with the 3d artists as you possibly can, this might help. ------------------ email@example.com icq#:3704871 Back to top WaldomemberMember #Joined: 01 Aug 2000Posts: 263Location: Irvine, CA Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2000 1:11 pm Buy the dinner. Seriously though and much more importantly, be yourself. General Confusion speaks from experience and he speaks well. Many years ago, I was fortunate enough to be a tag-along on some lunches and dinners with big shots and half of them, I'd never heard of. Looking back though, what I think they appreciated most was the fact that there was someone in their presence, who knew their stuff, but didn't gush and gloat all over them. They seemed to be more put off by individuals who were hell bent on impressing them with their "vast knowledge of everything right and how huge my *cough* ego can be!". Then again, there were some egos that did need stroking, but they were few and far between. It can be quite a fine dance... Research and educate yourself the best you can, but don't fall over yourself trying to impress them/him. Keep that it mind and good luck! Back to top SuperbugmemberMember #Joined: 12 Jul 2000Posts: 544Location: Canada Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2000 1:31 pm Thank you so far guys. Yeah, I know im not gonna ask him crap, like stuff the company wouldn't want the public to know. I guess, i dunno, i'll just chat with him. It's actually not a big dinner. My friends dad and the guy were highschool buds, and so he's just comming over here to visit them, so my friend, knowing i want to get into comp ani, called me over too so we could meet. I think it'll be quite an interesting experience. General confusion, I agree totally with what you say. He is here for dinner after all and probably doesn't want to be bothered with so many questions...eh samdragon Frostbite, that's an awesome question. It's always good to know how people start up. Whats his name...hmmm...actually his name eludes me for now. I'll find out. That name doesnt seem familiar to be ballistic ------------------ "What we do in life, echoes an eternity" Back to top [Shizo]memberMember #Joined: 22 Oct 1999Posts: 3938 Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2000 2:24 pm You don't deserve it. Your signature is a lie. My signature is true. ------------------ nothing really matters to me Back to top FrostBitejunior memberMember #Joined: 15 Dec 2000Posts: 41Location: Santa Cruz, CA, USA Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2000 3:36 pm Shizo's just jealous :P ------------------ [Frost Bite] Back to top SuperbugmemberMember #Joined: 12 Jul 2000Posts: 544Location: Canada Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2000 5:29 pm Hey come on shizo, i love you and your vodka. i love ur vodka even more. Back to top [Shizo]memberMember #Joined: 22 Oct 1999Posts: 3938 Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2000 7:07 pm Oh you do?!! Well that's good because nobody touch MEIN vodkaA!! AHAHAHa AHAHAAJHAAGH&^S&^ i kis you :o ------------------ nothing really matters to me Back to top samdragonmemberMember #Joined: 05 May 2000Posts: 487Location: Indianapolis Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2000 12:02 am OH boy, I've got some question! How important are 2D skills for the animators and modelers? Do they rely on someone else to produce the 2D elements and only concentrate on 3D? Where will Pixar be in 5 years? Are they going to continue to do animated features or will they do other things? ToyStory and the others are great, but eventually the public will get tired of these types of movies, or something new will come along, are they ready to adapt if this happens? How much modeling is done through scanning in objects as compared to actually modeling everything from the ground up inside a program. What does Pixar think about Mainframe,the people who did beastwars etc. They were producing these types of animations for T.V. on a rushed schedule before Toystory was thought of. Will they be releasing any of their software for the public? Such as the new material shaders they used for the toystory 2. Or any other plug-ins or shaders for that matter. What do they think of the advances that Alias has made in the world of 3D. They (alias) has alot on the drawing board for the future of 3D. Does Pixar contribute to these advances in 3D by working with alias, or other companies. In general, when hiring someone, what is the one skill they wished they saw more of? Are they still doing the "pixar school". Where they train their new people? IF so, are there any plans to open this up to the public eventually? There are rumors that ILM will be opening a private school like this in the future..only rumors though What is their view on 3D in general? If you want to learn a 3D package you have to have a mountain of manuals and a whole lot of free time. Does pixar see the future of 3D becoming easier to use and more "artist" friendly. An example would be Maya's paint Fx and artisan tools. It looks like some packages are trying to be more artist friendly, but at the same time they still have that deep level of complexity to them. What kind of new goodies will we see in their new feature. "monsters inc." I noticed the fur on the teaser was amazing! Must have taken forever to render one frame. And most importantly, you must ask him to hire me immediately Let us know how it goes Back to top General ConfusionmemberMember #Joined: 13 Apr 2000Posts: 365Location: NJ Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2000 12:14 am This might be a stretch, and not knowing the reasons why or the forum in which you will be meeting him, but why not try to leave a personal impression on the dude. If you think about it, he probably deals with questions every day that relate to work, and there is no answer he could give you that you couldn't, with a bit of research find out on your own. With exceptions to maybe some proprietary stuff that Pixar has created. And IMO, I don't think he's gonna divulge much of that to you aside form what you could find on one of their DVD releases (Toy Story, Bugs Life, etc.) I would say to maybe try to stand out from the typical fan worship that he already recieves, and maybe if you can develop a kind of relationship, it may help you out in getting a job. I have been working as a professional artist for over ten years now, and pretty much all of the jobs I've had have been mostly by word of mouth. When working in any creative endeavor, you'll find that there are little families of people who tend to know each other, either by working with one another, or again by word of mouth. And it's these rapports that make people possibly rememebr you when they're looking to hire. Go out and do a lot of research on Pixar, and try to illustrate a strong and serious interest in the company. But as far as asking technical questions. I don't think that would be a good thing to do. You figure this person does this every day, so maybe for dinner they want to let it go. good luck and when and if you get a job at Pixar, don't forget us little people ------------------ State of Confusion Back to top balisticmemberMember #Joined: 01 Jun 2000Posts: 2599Location: Reno, NV, USA Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2000 12:19 am Is that Ed Catmull? I can't remember who the VP is. ------------------ "What we're hearing, techno, is the process of trying to create something of the future." - J.M. Brian "balistic" Prince 3D Artist Eggington Productions www.bprince.com Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First Sijun Forums Forum Index -> Archive : Sep99 - Dec00 All times are GMT - 8 Hours Page 1 of 1 Jump to: Select a forum Digital Art----------------Digital Art DiscussionWork in ProgressGallery/Finished Work Miscellaneous----------------Random MusingsArchive : Sep99 - Dec00 You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forum Powered by phpBB © 2005 phpBB Group


text:
- 2018.09.04.07.12
- Dossier
- [ca. 1850-1992]
Fait partie de Bass Stereoscopic Photography Collection
File consists of stereographs depicting structures, famous locations, and scenes in the Philippines.
3 stereoscopic photographs by Keystone View Co.
2 stereoscopic photograph by Kilburn Brothers, in association with James M. Davis
1 stereoscopic photograph by Underwood & Underwood
1 stereoscopic photograph by H. C. White Co.
2 stereoscopic photographs by unidentified publishers


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HARTFORD FIRE INSURANCE CO. ET AL. v. CALIFORNIA ET AL. 509 U.S. 764Subscribe to Cases that cite 509 U.S. 764
HARTFORD FIRE INSURANCE CO. ET AL. v. CALIFORNIA ET AL.
No. 91-1111. Argued February 23, 1993-Decided June 28, 1993*
Nineteen States and many private plaintiffs filed complaints alleging that the defendants-four domestic primary insurers, domestic companies who sell reinsurance to insurers, two domestic trade associations, a domestic reinsurance broker, and reinsurers based in London-violated the Sherman Act by engaging in various conspiracies aimed at forcing certain other primary insurers to change the terms of their standard domestic commercial general liability insurance policies to conform with the policies the defendant insurers wanted to sell. Mter the actions were consolidated for litigation, the District Court granted the defendants' motions to dismiss. The Court of Appeals reversed, rejecting the District Court's conclusion that the defendants were entitled to antitrust immunity under §2(b) of the McCarran-Ferguson Act, which exempts from federal regulation "the business of insurance," except "to the extent that such business is not regulated by State Law." Although it held the conduct involved to be "the business of insurance," the Court of Appeals ruled that the foreign reinsurers did not fall within § 2(b)'s protection because their activities could not be "regulated by State Law," and that the domestic insurers had forfeited their § 2(b) exemption when they conspired with the nonexempt foreign reinsurers. Furthermore, held the court, most of the conduct in question fell within § 3(b), which provides that nothing in the McCarran-Ferguson Act "shall render the ... Sherman Act inapplicable to any ... act of boycott .... " Finally, the court rejected the District Court's conclusion that the principle of international comity barred it from exercising Sherman Act jurisdiction over the three claims brought solely against the London reinsurers.
Held: The judgment is affirmed in part and reversed in part, and the cases are remanded.
938 F.2d 919, affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.
JUSTICE SOUTER delivered the opinion of the Court with respect to Parts I, II-A, III, and IV, concluding that:
*Together with No. 91-1128, Merrett Underwriting Agency Management Ltd. et al. v. California et al., also on certiorari to the same court.
1. The domestic defendants did not lose their § 2(b) immunity by conspiring with the foreign defendants. The Court of Appeals's conclusion to the contrary was based in part on the statement, in Group Life & Health Ins. Co. v. Royal Drug Co., 440 U. S. 205, 231, that, "[i]n analogous contexts, the Court has held that an exempt entity forfeits antitrust exemption by acting in concert with nonexempt parties." Even assuming that foreign reinsurers were "not regulated by State Law," the Court of Appeals's reasoning fails because the analogy drawn by the Royal Drug Court was a loose one. Following that language, the Royal Drug Court cited two cases dealing with the Capper-Volstead Act, which immunizes certain "persons" from Sherman Act liability. Ibid. Because, in contrast, the McCarran-Ferguson Act immunizes activities rather than entities, an entity-based analysis of § 2(b) immunity is inappropriate. See id., at 232-233. Moreover, the agreements at issue in Royal Drug Co. were made with "parties wholly outside the insurance industry," id., at 231, whereas the alleged agreements here are with foreign reinsurers and admittedly concern "the business of insurance." pp. 781-784.
2. Even assuming that a court may decline to exercise Sherman Act jurisdiction over foreign conduct in an appropriate case, international comity would not counsel against exercising jurisdiction in the circumstances alleged here. The only substantial question in this litigation is whether "th,e:re is in fact a true conflict bE;Jtween domestic and foreign law." Societe Nationale Industrielle Aerospatiale v. United States Dist. Court for Southern Dist. of Iowa, 482 U. S. 522, 555 (BLACKMUN, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part). That question must be answered in the negative, since the London reinsurers do not argue that British law requires them to act in some fashion prohibited by United States law or claim that their compliance with the laws of both countries is otherwise impossible. Pp. 794-799.
JUSTICE SCALIA delivered the opinion of the Court with respect to Part I, concluding that a "boycott" for purposes of § 3(b) of the Act occurs where, in order to coerce a target into certain terms on one transaction, parties refuse to engage in other, unrelated transactions with the target. It is not a "boycott" but rather a concerted agreement to terms (a "cartelization") where parties refuse to engage in a particular transaction until the terms of that transaction are agreeable. Under the foregoing test, the allegations of a "boycott" in this litigation, construed most favorably to the respondents, are sufficient to sustain most of the relevant counts of complaint against a motion to dismiss. pp.800-811.


text:
TPP And TAFTA/TTIP Done Right: The Alternative Trade Mandate
from the transparently-obvious dept
Insofar as we know what's in them, both TPP and TAFTA/TTIP appear to have deep, thorough-going problems, which are unlikely to be addressed by the current approach being used to draw them up. However, a justified criticism of that view might be that anybody can carp, but what should we put in their place? Rising to that challenge is an alliance of some 50 civil society groups, who over four years have put together what they call The Alternative Trade Mandate (pdf), which is specifically designed to present a radically different emphasis for European trade negotiations:
The new 20-page mandate proposes that core principles such as human and labour rights and environmental protection should drive EU trade policy. On several areas, such as food, work, money and raw materials, detailed proposals for change are outlined. One proposal is for the EU to become more self-sufficient in protein and oil crops as alternatives to imports of (genetically-modified) soybeans, palm oil and agrofuels, which are devastating for the environment and small farmers in the global south. The mandate also calls on the EU to hold European corporations accountable for human rights violations, environmental destruction, tax avoidance and tax evasion elsewhere.
One of the areas discussed that will be of particular interest to Techdirt readers concerns intellectual monopolies. The problems in this field are well known; here are some of the ways The Alternative Trade Mandate suggests Europe should fix them:
encourage broad public participation, base policy making on research rather than faith, ideology or corporate lobbying, use transparent research, with publicly documented methods, assumptions, funding sources, and underlying data.
Notice that the first point is about participation and transparency. One reason why the current document is so welcome is that unlike TPP and TAFTA/TTIP, it recognizes that transparency is not some unimportant feature that is tacked on as an after-thought, but a fundamental aspect that must inform the entire process -- before, during and after the negotiations. Its concrete suggestions in this area are probably the most important in the whole proposal:
respect the rights to due process and a fair trial, maintain adequate evidentiary thresholds, avoid undue expansion of criminal and third party liability, strictly scrutinise public enforcement responsibilities delegated to private actors, ensure that legal penalties are reasonable and proportional and do not include restrictions on access to essential goods and services, including access to the Internet or to needed medicines and learning materials.
set a permanent moratorium on further extensions of copyright, related rights and patent terms, place Free/Libre/Open Source Software on an equal competitive footing with proprietary software, require the use of open standards for information produced by or for public entities, grant the public free and unrestricted access to all government-funded endeavors.
All negotiating positions and draft texts must be published promptly. The [European] Commission, member states and parliaments
must regularly and pro-actively provide online access to information about meetings and correspondence between officials, parliamentarians and lobbyists, in order to inform the public on who's attempting to influence trade negotiations, on whose behalf, with what means and agenda, and with what success.
It's a pretty bold document: by their own admission, not even all its participating organizations agree with every part of it. Nobody expects the European Commission to adopt it as their roadmap, but it's important because it shows that there is an alternative to the current rounds of trade and investment negotiations driven solely by corporate demands, one that puts people, not profit, first. And in placing transparency and participation at the heart of its approach -- the authors call it a "living document", and invite anyone to comment and join the debate -- The Alternative Trade Mandate exposes what is perhaps biggest flaw of both TAFTA/TTIP and TPP: the lack of any meaningful transparency or public participation whatsoever.
The starting point for our alternative is reducing the role of the European Commission, and strengthening that of parliaments. This needs to happen at all stages of the decision-making and negotiating process. If democracy is about political decisions being made by people and their elected representatives, trade and investment policies cannot remain with an unelected body.
In order to ensure a maximum level of inclusion and participation, national parliaments should organise meaningful civil society participation at the national level. Only national parliaments and the European Parliament should be able to take the initiative to launch the process leading to trade negotiations.
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Filed Under: alternative trade mandate, tafta, tpp, ttip