California Attorney General


 

Today:

 

California Attorney General

Google

 

California Attorney General Considering Further Attacks on Microsoft to Help CA High-Tech Industry!

Even though the FTC Federal Trade Commission is ending its probationary period for Microsoft, a few states in the United States are not. Why you ask? Well, I believe it is because of their in-state businesses in the high-tech field that they wish to protect from Microsoft. For instance in California the Attorneys General has met with industry leaders in the high-tech sector and other state attorneys generals to extend sanctions.

A recent story came across the AP stating that the regulators wanted to extend the sanctions against Microsoft for five whole years longer. The US District Court was petitioned, by why? Surely it is for protectionism barriers for California's high-tech competing businesses, exactly the same thing that is going on in the EU, it is about protectionism, trade barriers and exactly what Adam Smith warned us about.

Apparently, Judge Colleen Kollar�Kotelly will consider this since in November of 2007 the expiration of the settlement is over. If you will recall the biggest complaint on Microsoft was the bundling of their free Internet Browser for their customers and thus no one was ever damaged.

The companies at the time that considered it a big win were companies like AOL, which turned out to have given some incredible forward looking statements costing shareholders millions and almost bankrupting Ted Turner, who also got suckered into the deal from false earning projections.

From a pure free-economic statement this on-going harassment of Microsoft does not help the consumers, nor does it help competition in the marketplace, rather it gives an advantage to Microsoft Competitors like Google and others who clearly do not need it. And in doing so will make them lazy and thus unable to compete in more fierce foreign markets. Economically speaking it is a very bad idea and it speaks of hypocrisy.

Personally, I am worried about these types of cases, not only here in the US, where they should never occur, but around the world as others learn our bad habits and destroy free-trade and free-enterprise making markets suspect and making companies weak. Sincerely, Lance.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/ . Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow

 

Fugitive mom to ask Granholm for help

SANTEE, Calif. -- A Grand Rapids-based attorney said he plans to petition Gov. Jennifer Granholm to commute the nine years remaining on the sentence of a woman arrested in California 32 years after escaping a Detroit prison.

Susan LeFevre, who, using the name Marie Walsh, was married and raised three children in a posh San Diego suburb, has agreed to be extradited to Michigan to face the consequences of her 1975 guilty plea to drug-trafficking charges.

She served one year of a 10- to 20-year sentence before climbing a fence to meet her waiting grandfather in February 1976.

LeFevre, 53, was arrested April 24 outside her home. She is being held at a women's jail in San Diego County, wearing a plastic bracelet bearing the identity she never revealed to her husband of 23 years.

Business People

Assistant County Attorney Clinton Cross was awarded the El Paso Bar Association's Special President's Award recently during a ceremony at the Butterfield Trail Golf Club. Cross was recognized for his contributions to the organization and his efforts to ensure that the history of the El Paso Bar Association is documented through his interviews of local senior lawyers. Cross is an assistant editor of the El Paso Bar Journal.

BORDERPLEX Real Estate

Mackie Sue Gilchrist has been named a designated broker by BorderPlex Real Estate Associates LLC. A licensed broker since 1981, Gilchrist brings residential and commercial real estate experience to the company. She was previously manager and trainer for one the area's largest real estate firms.

New York Life

Tony Benitez, CPA, recently received New York Life's 2007 Established Agent of the Year Award for the El Paso General Office.

Watchdog Report: Too Much?

When he was appointed last February as Hanford's legal counsel, attorney Robert Dowd swore he wouldn't bill the city more than $250,000 a year -- no matter how busy he might get.Dowd, a personal injury and business litigation lawyer, went so far as to say that if he reached that cap in a month, he wouldn't get paid a penny for the rest of the year.This was the sales pitch he made when he stood before an audience of residents on March 29, 2007, explaining how his contract could be a money-saving proposal for taxpayers because of the limit.And the people nodded, including the city council members who had hired him on that condition.One year has since passed. .

Construction-defect lawsuits hammer homebuilders, insurers

California's residential construction industry is approaching uncharted waters as a housing slump, tight liability insurance coverage and new laws for handling construction defect litigation all collide.

The collision makes an already challenging business environment fraught with even more danger. Some attorneys, especially those representing subcontractors, say they fear for their clients' future.

"This is going to be a big problem," said Blane Smith, an insurance-coverage attorney.

But there are some who see no such looming crisis. Legislation from the past few years actually resolved a lot of problems with how construction defect litigation was handled, said Mike Stretch, vice president of member services in Sacramento for the California Building Industry Association.

Former district attorney Daly dies

William Crawford Daly, a former Fresno County district attorney and deputy public defender, died Wednesday after a battle with cancer. He was 78.Mr. Daly was elected district attorney in 1968 and served until June 1973. He resigned under pressure after he was investigated by the California Attorney General's Office for possible criminal misconduct. No charges were filed.While district attorney, Mr. Daly led a campaign to rid county theaters of pornographic movies and books, though the effort resulted in few convictions. He later became a private attorney and joined the Fresno County Public Defender's Office in 1978 to handle major criminal cases. He left the public defender's office about a decade later, said his granddaughter, Meghan Wilson. Mr. Daly's son, David Daly, said Thursday that his father was involved in the First Congregational Church near Fresno City College.

 

Home - Link to Us - Contact Us - Partners - Privacy
Copyright 2008 By www.CaliforniaAttorneyGeneral.Info All Rights Reserve