hillary in pictures (in the uk media) January 9, 2008
Posted by Bradley in : Uncategorized , comments closedThe British media seem to have gotten very hung up on publishing horrific pictures of Hillary Clinton. Although there are some odd pictures of other candidates, such as this one of John McCain there seems to me to be a higher proportion of odd ones of Hillary Clinton. It’s worth comparing the gruesome Guardian‘s Clinton gallery from Iowa with the much friendlier McCain gallery. The pictures they have of John Edwards are mostly pretty cute. On the other hand, some of the others, such as Barack Obama don’t even seem to have any recent picture galleries up on the site, and if I were Mitt Romney, I would be a bit unhappy with my picture gallery. The first picture shows him wearing a red wreath halo, the third just shows his pants (pretty crumpled), and his face just makes it onto the edge of the fourth one, although the rest aren’t bad.
Here is a Hillary picture from tomorrow’s Guardian:
The BBC has this one:
And here is one from the Telegraph:
real world financial institutions cheat too January 8, 2008
Posted by Bradley in : Uncategorized , comments closedVirtual world financial institutions may generally be nothing more than ponzi schemes, but real world financial institutions cheat too. Take the story from today’s NY Times about Countrywide Financial Corporation, which seems to have tried to recoup escrow monies from a mortgage customer using “recreated” letters – letters that seem to have been dated years before they were in fact written. In one case a letter was addressed to the customer’s lawyer at an address he did not move to until after the purported date of the letter. Countrywide’s lawyer seems to have conceded that the letters contained no disclaimers recognising that they had never actually been sent.
No one can do what Countrywide Can.SM
Update Jan. 11, 2008: Calculated Risk suggests that it probably did not occur to the person who produced the letters that they “would be construed by any normal person as an implied claim that they had in fact been sent years ago.”
second life banking announcement January 8, 2008
Posted by Bradley in : Uncategorized , comments closedLinden announced today:
As of January 22, 2008, it will be prohibited to offer interest or any direct return on an investment (whether in L$ or other currency) from any object, such as an ATM, located in Second Life, without proof of an applicable government registration statement or financial institution charter. We’re implementing this policy after reviewing Resident complaints, banking activities, and the law, and we’re doing it to protect our Residents and the integrity of our economy.
Some of the language in the announcement suggests that the policy has a broader application than activities which are described as banks. For example, the new policy applies to the “offering of … a rate of return on L$ invested” and Linden says:
We will not apply this policy to companies who submit a registration statement, charter, or other applicable license from a governing regulatory authority, or who are merely conducting marketing or education, but not accepting payments.
The change in policy seems to arise out of the collapse of Ginko Financial this summer and claims to be about banking law, but it also seems to relate to securities law. I argued in a recent paper that real world securities laws apply to offerings of “securities” in virtual worlds. I would have preferred a solution that would have allowed virtual world securities activity (i.e. exempted it from real world securities regulation) subject to conditions. Linden’s FAQ on this issue suggests that stock exchanges may or may not be subject to the policy (and see Robert Bloomfield’s comments at Terranova). Comments posted to the Linden announcement include those which approve of the new policy (some say it came a bit late) and those which regret the intrusion of real world law into the virtual worldspace.
I saw this story first via Virtually Blind.
happy 2008 January 1, 2008
Posted by Bradley in : Uncategorized , comments closedThe state of the world economy, and the outcome of the US Presidential election, are uncertain, but the Olympics will be held in Beijing this year. Slovenia (a member state of the EU since 2004) holds the Presidency of the EU’s Council for the first half of 2008, and 2008 is the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. Malta and Cyprus have adopted the euro, which is at its lowest rate against the dollar since the euro was introduced in 1999.
christmas messages December 26, 2007
Posted by Bradley in : Uncategorized , comments closedThe Queen just gets better with time. The contrast between the Queen’s inclusive and compassionate Christmas message and the Downing Street Christmas tree setup video is dramatic.
merry xmas December 24, 2007
Posted by Bradley in : Uncategorized , comments closedWith Spiffworld and Jonathan Coulton:
us gambling regulation December 21, 2007
Posted by Bradley in : Uncategorized , comments closedJust days after the EU and US announced they had reached an agreement to compensate the EU for the US’ attitude to the regulation of gambling, the Remote Gambling Association announced that it was filing a complaint with the Commission. In other gambling-related news financial trade associations have been objecting to the Fed and Treasury’s proposed implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act. The BBA asks for more clarity. SIFMA’s comment states:
The proposed rule provides that the term “unlawful Internet gambling”means a bet or wager involving the Internet that is unlawful under federal or state law where the bet or wager is initiated, received or otherwise made. It is not clear what types of gambling transactions over the Internet, if any, might be lawful. The Agencies have determined not to further define gambling-related terms because the Act itself does not specify which gambling activities are legal or illegal. SIFMA is concerned that if the Agencies themselves are unwilling or unable to provide additional guidance to financial institutions regarding what constitutes unlawful Internet gambling, financial institutions run the risk of both processing unlawful Internet gambling payment transactions that should not be processed and preventing transactions that are lawful. Without additional guidance, financial institutions may, out of an abundance of caution, implement procedures that identify and block all gambling-related transactions, including lawful transactions. Although the Act would permit such an approach since it contains a safe harbor for blocking transactions, we do not believe that was the intent of the Act. Such an approach would also take resources and focus away from other compliance efforts. Accordingly, SIFMA urges the Agencies, in conjunction with the Department of Justice and State Attorneys General, to provide additional specificity and guidance to financial institutions regarding the legal status of certain Internet gambling transactions.
guild christmas December 20, 2007
Posted by Bradley in : Uncategorized , comments closedmedia literacy in the eu December 20, 2007
Posted by Bradley in : Uncategorized , comments closedEiuropeans don’t only need financial education, they also need to improve their media literacy, according to the Commission. There is an overlap with financial education, as one of the areas the Commission identifies as one where work is needed is “media literacy for commercial communication, covering issues related to advertising”. Although the idea of media literacy involves being creative as well as just absorbing what others produce it includes:
being aware of copyright issues which are essential for a “culture of legality”, especially for the younger generation in its double capacity of consumers and producers of content.
clear and conspicuous disclosure December 19, 2007
Posted by Bradley in : Uncategorized , comments closedThe Fed’s proposed changes to Regulation Z, published yesterday, in the sort of coincidence of transatlantic regulatory focus that is more and more common these days (see the EU Commission’s documents on financial education and mortgage finance also published yesterday) includes provisions to encourage clear and conspicuous disclosure of mortgage terms. In 2003 the Fed proposed to require clear and conspicuous disclosures across the spectrum, including under regulation Z, but withdrew the proposal the following year.
It is worth noting here that the UK’s Financial Services Agency has been promoting the general idea of treating customers fairly across a range of financial services for some time.