Counterfeiting and piracy is a global crime, and it requires a global solution.
Victoria Espinel, the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator
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mazsa
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mazsa
English Anti-Tax Haven Ideologues Are Just as Foolish and Ignorant as their American Cousins http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/english-anti-tax-haven-ideologues-are-just-as-foolish-and-ignorant-as-their-american-cousins : “[...] Are the leftists upset that multinational companies exist? If so, there’s really no point in having a discussion.
Are they angry that these firms are legally trying to minimize tax? If so, they must not understand that management has a fiduciary obligation to maximize after-tax returns for shareholders.
Are they implying that these businesses are cheating on their tax returns? If so, they clearly do not understand the difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion.
Are they agitating for governments to impose worldwide taxation so that companies are double-taxed on any income earned (and already subject to tax) in other jurisdictions? If so, they should forthrightly admit this is their goal, notwithstanding the destructive, anti-competitive impact of such a policy.
Or, perhaps, could it be the case that leftists on both sides of the Atlantic don’t like tax competition? But rather than openly argue for tax harmonization and other policies that would lead to higher taxes and a loss of fiscal sovereignty, they think they will have more luck expanding the power of government by employing demagoguery against the big, bad, multinational companies and small, low-tax jurisdictions.
To give these statists credit, they are being smart. Tax competition almost certainly is the biggest impediment that now exists to restrain big government. Greedy politicians understand that high taxes may simply lead the geese with the golden eggs to fly across the border. Indeed, competition between governments is surely the main reason that tax rates have dropped so dramatically in the past 30 years. This video explains”
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mazsa
Which places will gain most from the next transition?
“The transitions to farming and to industry were associated with huge sudden increases in growth rates. Growth had remained pretty steady before each transition, and then boom, within a quarter of a previous doubling time, doubling times fell by over a factor of 150. Going by the number of doublings in these previous modes, we are already overdue for another transition. So I suspect that within a century or so we will see another such “singularity.” And since the current doubling time is about fifteen years, we should roughly expect that within a space of about five years the world economy will transition to doubling every few weeks or less.
[...] which places will gain most from the next transition?
[...] a [...] factor may matter most: legal and regulatory flexibility. If it is to radically remake the economy within a space of five years, this new mode will quickly run afoul of a wide range of existing laws and regulations. Places that require many years of discourse between diverse stakeholders to begin even incremental legal and regulatory changes are just not going to be where this new mode first grows big. Much more promising are places where new industries and ventures can just do things, or lobby a small set of key decision makers to quickly get big changes, and commit to keeping such changes. Random empty declarations of policy changes that could easily be soon reversed, or not enforced, won’t do either.”
http://www.overcomingbias.com/2010/11/flexible-law-wins.html
sequel: http://www.overcomingbias.com/2010/11/expand-bounty-hunting.html
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mazsa
Law in Hungary: any company can be nationalized by decree. Shareholders of limited liability companies may be liable with their personal assets.
“Hungary’s parliament voted by an overwhelming majority yesterday (12 October) to nationalise the company [in fact, any company, without legal constraints, by government decree] responsible for the toxic sludge spill from a ruptured reservoir one week earlier, which killed eight [nine] people and caused the country’s worst ever ecological disaster. [...]
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán also announced the arrest of the company’s CEO, Zoltán Bakonyi, who stands accused of endangering the public and harming the environment.
The law stipulates that the government must freezes all MAL’s assets and appoint a new board. Government sources said the company would be headed by Gyorgy Bakondi, head of the government’s disaster response service.
Reportedly, as well as being responsible for maintaining operations and protecting jobs, Bakondi will also be in charge of determining the company’s responsibilities, launching a compensation scheme for the victims and making sure that similar accidents do not happen again.
According to reports, MAL Zrt has a turnover of 157 million euros. The company is co-owned by Árpád Bakonyi, Lajos Tolnay and Béla Petrusz, all three of whom appear in a list of the 30 richest people in Hungary. The Hungarian press puts the fortune of Tolnay at 85 million euros, while Bakonyi and Petrusz are estimated to have 61 million euros each.” http://www.euractiv.com/en/climate-environment/hungary-nationalises-sludge-spill-company-news-498752
According to the PM Orbán, shareholders of MAL will be liable with their personal assets as well.
The text of the amendment of Act CV 2004 on defense [in Hungarian]: http://www.complex.hu/jr/gen/hjegy_doc.cgi?docid=A1000093.TV
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mazsa
“US Trade Representative Ron Kirk, whose office negotiated the US side of the deal, issued a statement this morning about the “tremendous progress in the fight against counterfeiting and piracy,” but the real story here is the tremendous climbdown by US negotiators, who have largely failed in their attempts to push the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) onto the rest of the world.” http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/10/near-final-acta-text-arrives-big-failure-for-us.ars
Original as of 2 Oct: http://www.ustr.gov/webfm_send/2338
Compare versions: http://euwiki.org/ACTA/diffs
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/5352/125/
Cf: http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/tag/ACTA
Mexico:
“it’s not clear exactly how much say the Mexican Senate has here. While the resolution claims that it needs to ratify any such agreements, I don’t know if that’s the case.” Comment: “Actually means a lot, even though is non-binding it was adopted by all every single senator and the final say on international treaties is on the Senate. The President can ratify if he wishes ACTA, but the Senate needs to approve it. And they are not very willing to.” http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101005/17320811304/mexican-senate-unanimously-votes-to-remove-mexico-from-acta-negotations.shtmlOriginal:
Spanish: http://www.senado.gob.mx/index.php?ver=sp&mn=2&sm=2&id=5264&lg=61
Translation: http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http://www.senado.gob.mx/index.php%3Fver%3Dsp%26mn%3D2%26sm%3D2%26id%3D5264%26lg%3D61&hl=en&langpair=autoCf: http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/10/06/2321203/Mexican-Senate-Votes-To-Drop-Out-of-ACTA
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mazsa
Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act [with quotations]
Lawmakers introduced legislation yesterday that would let the Justice Department seek U.S. court orders against “piracy” websites anywhere in the world, and shut them down through the sites’ domain registration:
“[...] the court may issue a temporary restraining order, a preliminary injunction, or an injunction against the domain name used by an Internet site dedicated to infringing activities to cease and desist from undertaking any infringing activity in violation of this section [...]” pp. 3-4.
“The Attorney General may commence an in rem action against any domain name used by an Internet site in the judicial district in which the domain name registrar or domain name registry is located [...]” p.4.
“(2) DOMAINS FOR WHICH THE REGISTRY OR REGISTRAR IS NOT LOCATED DOMESTICALLY.— [...] the in rem action may be brought in the District of Columbia to prevent the importation into the United States of goods and services offered by an Internet site dedicated to infringing activities if
(i) the domain name is used to access such Internet site in the United States; and
(ii) the Internet site
(I) conducts business directed to residents of the United States; and
(II) harms intellectual property rights holders that are residents of the United States.” pp. 5-6.“The Attorney General shall maintain a public listing of domain names that, upon information and reasonable belief, the Department of Justice determines are dedicated to infringing activities but for which the Attorney General has not filed an action under this section. [...] the individual may obtain judicial review of such determination in a civil action commenced not later than 90 days after notice of such decision [...] A civil action for such judicial review shall be brought [...] in the District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia.” pp. 12-13.
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mazsa
Pope: Atheism causes Nazism
“Even in our own lifetime, we can recall how Britain and her leaders stood against a Nazi tyranny that wished to eradicate God from society and denied our common humanity to many, especially the Jews, who were thought unfit to live. I also recall the regime’s attitude to Christian pastors and religious who spoke the truth in love, opposed the Nazis and paid for that opposition with their lives. As we reflect on the sobering lessons of the atheist extremism of the twentieth century, let us never forget how the exclusion of God, religion and virtue from public life leads ultimately to a truncated vision of man and of society and thus to a “reductive vision of the person and his destiny”” http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2010/september/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20100916_incontro-autorita_en.html
Cf. “[...] as well as religious fanaticism that in some contexts impedes the exercise of the right to religious freedom, so too the deliberate promotion of religious indifference or practical atheism on the part of many countries obstructs the requirements for the development of peoples, depriving them of spiritual and human resources. God is the guarantor of man’s true development, inasmuch as, having created him in his image, he also establishes the transcendent dignity of men and women and feeds their innate yearning to “be more”. Man is not a lost atom in a random universe: he is God’s creature, whom God chose to endow with an immortal soul and whom he has always loved. If man were merely the fruit of either chance or necessity, or if he had to lower his aspirations to the limited horizon of the world in which he lives, if all reality were merely history and culture, and man did not possess a nature destined to transcend itself in a supernatural life, then one could speak of growth, or evolution, but not development. When the State promotes, teaches, or actually imposes forms of practical atheism, it deprives its citizens of the moral and spiritual strength that is indispensable for attaining integral human development and it impedes them from moving forward with renewed dynamism as they strive to offer a more generous human response to divine love. In the context of cultural, commercial or political relations, it also sometimes happens that economically developed or emerging countries export this reductive vision of the person and his destiny to poor countries. This is the damage that “superdevelopment” causes to authentic development when it is accompanied by “moral underdevelopment”.” http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html#29.
vs.
“The notion that it was the atheism of Nazis (who were mostly not atheists in any case) that led to their extremist and hateful views or that somehow fuels intolerance in Britain today is a terrible libel against those who do not believe in god. The notion that it is non-religious people in the UK today who want to force their views on others, coming from a man whose organisation exerts itself internationally to impose its narrow and exclusive form of morality and undermine the human rights of women, children, gay people and many others, is surreal.” http://www.humanism.org.uk/news/view/647
Cf. “Why was the line “(who were mostly not atheists in any case)” removed from your article [ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11332515 ]? Even if that line had not been in the quote (which it was) surely it is your duty and obligation to the public to make it clear that Hitler and the majority of the Nazis were Catholics? Are you trying to distort the facts and lead people to believe the Nazi’s were atheists? Surely comparing any group to Nazis is the worst insult which can be made. If you think about it why would atheists want to kill only Jews, homosexuals, intellectuals and non-whites?” http://richarddawkins.net/discussions/519631-bbc-unfair-reporting-and-bias
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mazsa
> We just reached the 369 signatures of Members of the European Parliament
> required for WD12 to be adopted!!!
>
> Completion of WD12 shows that alltogether we can weight in making the
> European Parliament take care of our fundamental freedoms. With WD12,
> the European Parliament rejects both the un-democratic process of ACTA
> – -whatever the final content of the agreement will be- and its content,
> harmful for fundamental freedoms.
>
> WD12 is a strong political signal sent by the EP to the Commission that
> ACTA is not tolerable as a way of bypassing democratic process; that
> legislation related to Internet, freedom of speech and privacy cannot be
> traded off in secrecy and under full influence of entertainment industry
> lobbies. Whatever the content of the final agreement, ACTA will remain
> an illegitimate circumvention of democracy and should be opposed as such.
>
> Let’s hope that WD12 announces the “consent” vote that the EP will have
> to take in order to accept or reject ACTA when it is finalized. Then
> again, citizens will need to act to make sure that their Internet and
> their fundamental freedoms are properly defended, by a full rejection of
> ACTA.
>
>
> Thanks to everyone who participated in that great effort!
[On Tue, Sep 07, 2010 at 05:10:47PM +0200, Jérémie ZIMMERMANN - La Quadrature du Net wrote]Cf. http://www.laquadrature.net/en/european-parliament-vs-acta-rejection-is-the-only-option
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mazsa
The future of the internet – A virtual counter-revolution: “The internet has been a great unifier of people, companies and online networks. Powerful forces are threatening to balkanise it [...] Theory demonstrates that interconnected networks such as the internet can grow quickly, he explains—but also that they can dissolve quickly. “This looks rather unlikely today, but if it happens, it will be too late to do anything about it.”” http://www.economist.com/node/16941635
Cf. http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/08/ff_webrip/all/1
http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2010/08/whats-wrong-with-x-is-dead/61663/
https://projects.eff.org/~barlow/Declaration-Final.html -
mazsa
The Icelandic Modern Media Initiative’s parliamentary resolution proposal has passed unanimously
The WikiLeaks advised parliamentary resolution proposal to build an international “new media haven” in Iceland, with the world’s strongest press and whistleblower protection laws, and a “Nobel” prize for Freedom of Expression [cf. http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/tag/iceland ] has passed through a vote at Alþingi and was accepted today at 8:54am with a unanimous vote.
50 votes were cast in favor, zero against, one abstained. Twelve members of parliament were not present. Vote results are available at http://www.althingi.is/dba-bin/atkvgr.pl?nnafnak=43014
One of the inspirations for the proposal was the dramatic August 2009 gagging of Iceland’s national broadcaster, RUV by Iceland’s then largest bank, Kaupthing.
Two changes were made to the proposal from its original form as per the opinion of the parliament’s general affairs committee [ http://www.althingi.is/altext/138/s/1329.html ]. The first of these altered slightly the wording of the first paragraph so as to widen the arena for research. The second of these added two new items to the list of tasks for the government:
- That the government should perform a detailed analysis, especially with respect to operational security, for the prospect of operating data centers in Iceland.
- That the government should organize an international conference in Iceland regarding the changes to the legal environment being caused by expansion of cloud computing, data havens, and the judicial state of the Internet.
Video footage from the proposal’s vote will be available at:
http://www.althingi.is/altext/hlusta.php?raeda=rad20100616T033127&horfa=1
http://www.althingi.is/altext/hlusta.php?raeda=rad20100616T033306&horfa=1
A more detailed press release will follow.
For details of the proposal and press contacts, please see http://www.immi.is
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The United Persons: Congratulations!) -
mazsa
mazsa are discussing. 
mazsa
Iceland new media haven bill before parliament in days. We NEED statements of endorsement NOW or NEVER to core@immi.is http://twitter.com/wikileaks/statuses/15399523963
Iceland: we http://theunitedpersons.org need you NOW or NEVER:)
Cf. http://immi.is/?l=en&p=endorsements
http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/the-legislative-initiative-outlined-he
http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/icelandic-modern-media-initiative-video
Via stef
mazsa
The solution for Israelis and Palestinians: a parallel state structure “[...] the idea suggests the creation of two-state structures on the same land, both covering the whole territory, both providing the freedom for their citizens – Israelis and Palestinians – to live between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River.
The most important innovation of a parallel state structure is that state sovereignty would be linked primarily with the individual citizen, and only in a secondary way with territory. Separating the territorial and citizenship/identity dimensions of sovereignty would allow Israelis and Palestinians to retain their national symbols, have political and legislative bodies that are responsible to their own electorate, and retain a high degree of political independence.
Precisely by no longer defining sovereignty through exclusive control over territory, this structure would enable the creation of an independent Palestinian state while preserving the state of Israel, both Jewish and democratic. The contours of political authority and security would be shared by the two states in a manner that guarantees the long-term secure existence of each community. It would be guaranteed by international treaty and, if necessary, a strong international monitoring presence.
Legal, educational, and other functions that pertain to each state’s relationship with citizens would be exercised separately, while those that necessarily encompass the whole territory would be shared or in common. [...]”
“I want to take this out of the context of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute and suggest that it is a great idea in general. I live in teachers-occupied territory. That is, the teachers’ union governs Montgomery County, Maryland. I would like to have a different sovereign, but without having to move. Under virtual federalism (as proposed in the widely-unread Unchecked and Unbalanced), we would unbundle the services that the County provides. I could then contract with another provider for trash collection, snow removal, fire protection, or other services. [...]
The key, I think, is to transfer people’s emotional attachment from their government to something else, like a religious sect, ethnic identity, or a sports team. You can have Yankee fans and Red Sox fans living next door to one another without infringing on each others’ rights. It’s when people give their emotional loyalty to government that you get friction.”
http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2010/05/virtual_federal.html
Cf.
http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/the-pulls-of-conflicting-loyalties
Cf.
http://www.amazon.com/New-Democratic-Federalism-Europe-Jurisdictions/dp/1843769018
mazsa
Should Obama Control the Internet? – A new bill would give the President emergency authority to halt web traffic and access private data. http://motherjones.com/politics/2009/04/should-obama-control-internet
Cf.
“Netsukuku is the name of an experimental peer-to-peer routing system, developed by the FreakNet MediaLab (Italian), born to build up a distributed network, anonymous and censorship-free, fully independent but not necessarily separated from Internet, without the support of any server, ISP and no central authority. It does not rely on a backbone router, or on any routing equipment other than normal network interface cards.”
mazsa
The inescapable trilemma of the world economy: “Sometimes simple and bold ideas help us see more clearly a complex reality that requires nuanced approaches. I have an “impossibility theorem” for the global economy that is like that. It says that democracy, national sovereignty and global economic integration are mutually incompatible: we can combine any two of the three, but never have all three simultaneously and in full.
Here is what the theorem looks like in a picture:
[...]”
http://rodrik.typepad.com/dani_rodriks_weblog/2007/06/the-inescapable.html
mazsa
Obama on the globalization of taxation “[...] one of the strengths of our economy is the global reach of our businesses. And I want to see our companies remain the most competitive in the world. But the way to make sure that happens is not to reward our companies for moving jobs off our shores or transferring profits to overseas tax havens. This is something that I talked about again and again during the course of the campaign. The way we make our businesses competitive is not to reward American companies operating overseas with a roughly 2 percent tax rate on foreign profits; a rate that costs — that costs taxpayers tens of billions of dollars a year. The way to make American businesses competitive is not to let some citizens and businesses dodge their responsibilities while ordinary Americans pick up the slack.
“It’s the kind of tax scam that we need to end. That’s why we are closing one of our biggest tax loopholes. It’s a loophole that lets subsidiaries of some of our largest companies tell the IRS that they’re paying taxes abroad, tell foreign governments that they’re paying taxes elsewhere — and avoid paying taxes anywhere. And closing this single loophole will save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars — money that can be spent on reinvesting in America — and it will restore fairness to our tax code by helping ensure that all our citizens and all our companies are paying what they should. [...]
“One of these measures would let the IRS know how much income Americans are generating in overseas accounts by requiring overseas banks to provide 1099s for their American clients, just like Americans have to do for their bank accounts here in this country. If financial institutions won’t cooperate with us, we will assume that they are sheltering money in tax havens, and act accordingly. And to ensure that the IRS has the tools it needs to enforce our laws, we’re seeking to hire nearly 800 more IRS agents to detect and pursue American tax evaders abroad.
“So all in all, these and other reforms will save American taxpayers $210 billion over the next 10 years — savings we can use to reduce the deficit, cut taxes for American businesses that are playing by the rules, and provide meaningful relief for hardworking families.”
May 4, 2009
Cf. http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/rowling-the-single-mother-s-manifesto
Cf.
“What Can You Do — The thing to do is acquire your offshore organization in place before the various countries ratify any new rules and regulations. Have your structure in place earlier so it will be grandfathered in. Next move all the assets you are thinking about moving offshore, out now. Do not wait or remain to see what will happen next.”
Cf. http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/states-let-them-prey-on-atoms-but-not-on-bits
mazsa
“Our law enforcement agencies, the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, announced today the formation of a national network of law enforcement personnel.
The Department of Justice announced that the FBI is increasing its manpower that focuses of IP [Intellectual Property] significantly, by creating regional IP squads in major cities around the nation and adding an additional 20 new agents to those squads. In addition, the DOJ announced that it will be adding 15 new prosecutors throughout the country to add to its current force of 200 prosecutors specially trained to handle IP enforcement. In collaboration, the Department of Homeland Security announced that its multi-agency IPR Center is creating partnerships with 70 federal, state and local law enforcement in 22 cities to collaborate on IP enforcement actions.
And ICE announced the efforts of a major sweep – Operation Spring cleaning – that resulted so far in 45 arrests, the seizure of 701,384 counterfeit items valued at $44 million.”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/04/26/world-intellectual-property-day
mazsa
“The idea behind Icelandic Modern Media Initiative is simple but it’s ambitious: bring together some of the most progressive media laws from many different countries to create one holistic law that will position Iceland at the forefront of the battle to protect journalists, whistleblowers and their sources from oppressive liability laws.” (via http://immi.is )
mazsa
“ACTA: Partial transparency isn’t legitimacy – The release of the public draft of ACTA [ http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2010/april/tradoc_146029.pdf ] is a milestone in the long opposition to this illegitimate agreement, which aims at tackling trademark, copyright and patent infringements. Now, citizens, NGOs and parliaments all around the world must continue to act together to expose ACTA and its dangers. This whole policy laundering is incompatible with democracy and the ideals of preserving fundamental rights, Internet, public health and innovation at large. [...]
Today’s release of the text does not legitimize the content of ACTA, as transparency is no excuse for political laundering and the circumvention of democratic processes.”
http://www.laquadrature.net/en/acta-partial-transparency-isnt-legitimacy
mazsa
“What is PT? PT – The Perpetual Traveler Permanent Tourist, Prior Taxpayer = Perfect Thing!
“INDIVIDUAL SOVEREIGNTY
In a nutshell, a PT merely arranges his or her paperwork in such a way that all governments consider him a tourist. [...]
“To Summarize:
Don’t waste time on meaningless speculations by trying to figure out what will happen in the world over the next 2000 years. Fine if you want to write a book of predictions for which there is always a market. But for your own personal use there is no point in trying to figure out where the world his going politically, socially or economically. There is not even the hope of getting any useful answers.
“The only answer is that everything will change. A ‘PT’ is Pragmatic. The PT mentality merely asks “Am I happy with what I am? Do I enjoy who I’m with and doing what I do?” If the answer is “No” (to any question), the next step is to make changes. Start by reading, or re-reading my ‘PT’ Reports. [...]
“HARRY SCHULTZ
In 1964, Harry D. Schultz – the world’s highest paid financial consultant, according to “Guinness Book of World Records”, and author of a number of books on investing that were bestsellers in the 1970s – published a book entitled “How to Keep Your Money and Your Freedom”. He espoused his Three Flags concept that described the need to have a second passport, a safe location for your assets outside your own country and a legal address in a tax haven. The concept later expanded to Five Flags to include a conventional place of business and a place to play.”
mazsa
Pastor Niemöller spoke for the thousands and thousands of men like me when he spoke (too modestly of himself) and said that, when the Nazis attacked the Communists, he was a little uneasy, but, after all, he was not a Communist, and so he did nothing; and then they attacked the Socialists, and he was a little uneasier, but, still, he was not a Socialist, and he did nothing; and then the schools, the press, the Jews, and so on, and he was always uneasier, but still he did nothing. And then they attacked the Church, and he was a Churchman, and he did something—but then it was too late.
You remember those early meetings of your department in the university when, if one had stood, others would have stood, perhaps, but no one stood. A small matter, a matter of hiring this man or that, and you hired this one rather than that. You remember everything now, and your heart breaks. Too late. You are compromised beyond repair.
Milton Mayer
mazsa
Obama on ACTA: “We’re going to aggressively protect our intellectual property. Our single greatest asset is the innovation and the ingenuity and creativity of the American people…It is essential to our prosperity and it will only become more so in this century. But it’s only a competitive advantage if our companies know that someone else can’t just steal that idea and duplicate it with cheaper inputs and labor.”
“There’s nothing wrong with other people using our technologies, we welcome it. We just want to make sure that it’s licensed and that American businesses are getting paid appropriately. That’s why the (U.S. Trade Representative) is using the full arsenal of tools available to crack down on practices that blatantly harm our businesses, and that includes negotiating proper protections and enforcing our existing agreements, and moving forward on new agreements, including the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).”
[Notes: You can hear the president discuss ACTA and intellectual property in the video above starting at 18:14 and ending at 19:07; via cnet.com]
mazsa
On the illegitimate titles for the reduction of the aborigines of the New World into the power of the Spaniards
“[…] some have maintained that grace is the title to dominion and consequently that sinners, at any rate those in mortal sin, have no dominion over anything. [...] Mortal sin does not preclude civil ownership of the true kind. [...] the aborigines undoubtedly had true dominion in both public and private matters, just like Christians, and that neither their princes nor private persons could be despoiled of their property on the ground of their not being true owners. It would be harsh to deny to those, who have never done any wrong, what we grant to Saracens and Jews, who are the persistent enemies of Christianity. We do not deny that these latter peoples are true owners of their property, if they have not seized lands elsewhere belonging to Christians.
“It remains to ask whether the Indians lacked ownership because of want of reason or unsoundness of mind. […] The Indian aborigines are not barred on this ground from the exercise of true dominion. This is proved from the fact that the true state of the case is that they are not of unsound mind, but have, according to their kind, the use of reason. This is clear, because there is a certain method in their affairs, for they have polities which are orderly arranged and they have definite marriage and magistrates, overlords, laws, and workshops, and a system of exchange, all of which call for the use of reason; they also have a kind of religion. Further, they make no error in matters which are self-evident to others; this is witness to their use of reason.”
On the lawful titles whereby the aborigines of America could have cone into the power of Spain
“The Spaniards may lawfully carry on trade among the native Indians, so long as they do no harm to their country, as, for instance, by importing thither wares which the natives lack and by exporting thence either gold or silver or other wares of which the native s have abundance. Neither may the native princes hinder their subjects from carrying on trade with the Spanish; nor, on the other hand, may the princes of Spain prevent commerce with the natives.
“[…] inasmuch as things that belong to nobody are acquired by the first occupant according to the law of nations (Inst., 2, 1, 12), it follows that if there be in the earth gold or in the sea pearls or in a river anything else which is not appropriated by the law of nations those will vest in the first occupant, just as the fish in the sea do.
“If the Indian natives wish to prevent the Spaniards from enjoying any of their above-named rights under the law of nations, for instance, trade or other above-named matter, the Spaniards ought in the first place to use reason and persuasion in order to remove scandal and ought to show in all possible methods that they do not come to the hurt of the natives, but wish to sojourn as peaceful guests and to travel without doing the natives any harm; -and they ought to show this not only by word, but also by reason, according to the saying, “It behoveth the prudent to make trial of everything by words first.” But if, after this recourse to reason, the barbarians decline to agree and propose to use force, the Spaniards can defend themselves and do all that consists with their own safety, it being lawful to repel force by force. And not only so, but, if safety can not otherwise be had, they may build fortresses and defensive works, and, if they have sustained a wrong, they may follow it up with war on the authorization of their sovereign and may avail themselves of the other rights of war. The proof hereof lies in the fact that warding-off and avenging a wrong make a good cause of war, as said above, following St. Thomas (Secunda Secundæ, qu. 40). But when the Indians deny the Spaniards their rights under the law of nations they do them a wrong. Therefore, if it be necessary, in order to preserve their right, that they should go to war, they may lawfully do so. [...]
“ There is no inconsistency, indeed, in holding the war to be a just war on both sides, seeing that on one side there is right and on the other side there is invincible ignorance. […]
“If after recourse to alt other measures, the Spaniards are unable to obtain safety as regards the native Indians, save by seizing their cities and reducing them to subjection, they may lawfully proceed to these extremities. The proof lies in the fact that “peace and safety are the end and aim of war,” as St. Augustine says, writing to Boniface. And since it is now lawful for the Spaniards, as has been said, to wage defensive war or even if necessary offensive war, therefore, everything necessary to secure the end and aim of war, namely, the obtaining of safety and peace, is lawful. ”
Francisco de Vitoria, 1532: De Indis, Part 2,
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/De_Indis_De_Jure_Belli/Part_2
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mazsa
“Hudgins could argue that the analogy with the Kelo decision doesn’t make sense because this is tribal property, not individual property. OK. So imagine that some civilization more technologically advanced than ours discovers that there’s a rare mineral below the hills and mountains of Yosemite, which, in a sense, is tribal property. Our government has refused to sell. To get at the mineral, this other “civilization” must blast and bulldoze Yosemite down to nothing. If that more advanced group comes in and uses violence to grab Yosemite, would Hudgins say that was fine? I think not.” http://original.antiwar.com/henderson/2010/01/10/in-defense-of-avatar/
mazsa
“The legislative initiative outlined here is intended to make Iceland an attractive environment for the registration and operation of international press organizations, new media start-ups, human rights groups and internet data centers. It promises to strengthen our democracy through the power of transparency and to promote the nation’s international standing and economy.” http://immi.is/?l=en&p=proposal (via stef)
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mazsa
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mazsa
“BRUSSELS—Europe’s executive commission Wednesday recommended opening membership talks with Iceland that could lead to the country joining the bloc as soon as 2012 or 2013.” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704240004575085281895384778.html
from Smári McCarthy
to announce@immi.is
date 20 June 2010 21:07
On June 16th the Icelandic Parliament unanimously passed a proposal
tasking the government to intoduce a new legislative regime to protect
and strengthen modern freedom of expression, and the free flow of
information in Iceland and around the world. There is full government
support for the initiative and its objectives.
Birgitta Jonsdottir, the chief sponsor in parliament of the IMMI
proposal said: “Iceland will become the inverse of a tax haven; by
offering journalists and publishers some of the most powerful
protections for free speech and investigative journalism in the world.
Tax havens aim is to make everything opaque. Our aim is to make
everything transparent.” she said.
Highlights from the proposal:
Because of the complexity of the legislative changes required, the final
legislation will not pass through Parliament at the same date, at least
13 laws need to be changed and improved in 4 ministries. The Ministry of
Education, Science and Culture that will have an overall responsibility
of implementing the laws.
Estimated time for the entire IMMI package to be completed is about a
year. The creators of the IMMI hope by Iceland’s bold steps in the
direction of creating a haven for freedom of information, speech and
expression, that it will inspire other nations to follow suit by
strengthening their own laws in favor of the fundamental cornerstones
that are the base of democracies and thwart the trending of gagging,
legal harassment and destruction of historical records.
This proposal was created by international collaboration of activists,
lawyers, politicians and organizations, including the Icelandic Digital
Freedoms Society, The Sunshine Press (Wikileaks) and Index on
Censorship. The group of people involved share a comprehensive
understanding about how the current status of affairs are in our world
in regard of serious attacks on freedom of information and expression,
and possess a vast understanding of the legal measures that have been
employed to counteract these attacks and how they can be applied.
The Icelandic Modern Media Initiative is based on turning the tax-haven
concept on its head. Instead of pulling together asset hiding and
secrecy laws from around the world in order to shelter corruption and
financial crime, the IMMI pulls together the best transparency enabling
legislation, to create a stronghold for investigative journalists,
internet publishers, transparency watchdogs and the public.
The global support for the IMMI underlines the need for a robust
environment that supports the world’s best journalism and the activities
of transparency groups. The flow of information has no borders and most
of the media is moving to the Internet. That is why the time has come
for a modern legislative regime that can promote and defend global
freedom of expression, in principle and in practice.
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