Google on Thursday afternoon unveiled a new copyright section of its “Transparency Report,” a two-year-old website that documents the requests Google receives from governments to remove content deemed unlawful. The new copyright section specifically reveals the number of requests over the last month Google has recieved by copyright owners to remove from Google Search links to content that the owners say is infringing or pirated. Last month, Google said it received 1.2 million such requests. The search company did not reveal how many it complied with, but previously it said that it complies with 97 percent of its takedown requests. However, Google also said it was trying to strike a balance between policing content and protecting its users. As such, Google copyright attorney Fred von ... Continue reading →

If you only see one hilarious newspaper correction today, make it this one. http://t.co/In5fOPzL Continue reading →

Enlarge image More Companies and Execs Fight the SEC in Post-Crisis Lawsuits “If you don’t have a legitimate trial threat, if you don’t communicate to the targets of your investigation that you’re prepared to go to trial, then you can be exploited,” SEC Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami said. Photo: Chris Kleponis/Bloomberg “If you don’t have a legitimate trial threat, if you don’t communicate to the targets of your investigation that you’re prepared to go to trial, then you can be exploited,” SEC Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami said. Photo: Chris Kleponis/Bloomberg The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, long known for settling enforcement actions without having to prove its case in court, is struggling to cope with a surge in the number of executives and companies willing ... Continue reading →

BY JULIE STEINBERG AND DAN FITZPATRICK An executive who oversaw risk management at the unit responsible for trading blunders that cost J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. at least $2 billion this year earlier lost millions while trading for the same unit, according to people familiar with the bank. Irvin Goldman, who was installed as chief risk officer for the Chief Investment Office this past February before being relieved of his duties this month, suffered between $10 million and $15 million in losses on one bet in 2008 in his prior role as a trader for the bank, these people said. J.P. Morgan halted Mr. Goldman's trading ...BY JULIE STEINBERG AND DAN FITZPATRICK An executive who oversaw risk management at the unit responsible for trading blunders ... Continue reading →

Approximately 375 million people speak English as their first language, in fact it’s the 3rd most commonly spoken language in the world (after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish). Interestingly enough it’s the number 1 second language used worldwide – which is why the total number of people who speak English, outnumber those of any other. But whilst it’s the most widely spoken language, there’s still a few areas it falls down on (strange and bizarre punctuation rules aside). We look at 25 words that simply don’t exist in the English langauge (and yet after reading this list, you’ll wish they did!) 1 Age-otori (Japanese): To look worse after a haircut 2 Arigata-meiwaku (Japanese): An act someone does for you that you didn’t want to have them ... Continue reading →

MIAMI (AP) — Sen. Marco Rubio has close ties to a colleague accused of questionable financial dealings. The freshman senator also once was enmeshed in a controversy over the use of the state party's credit card for his personal expenses. And he has faced increased scrutiny over his personal background since bursting onto the national political scene, including conflicting details of his parents' immigration from Cuba and his recently disclosed ties to the Mormon faith. Will issues like those in Rubio's personal and political background hold back one of the GOP's fastest-rising stars? That's a question being debated in Republican circles in Washington, Florida and elsewhere as the Cuban-American senator with solid conservative credentials works to raise his profile beyond Florida, if not position himself ... Continue reading →

Certain business ideas seem doomed to fail. You can walk into a restaurant or retail chain and know instantly that its days are numbered. That’s the gut sense I had when I learned that someone new had bought the Harvard Bookstore – a comforting oasis for bibliophiles and casual browsers – just a few blocks from my office in Cambridge. In a town where independent bookstores have been folding faster than Starbucks can open coffee shops in China, this naïve optimist embarked on his new venture in the dark days of the recession, under the shadow of Amazon, and as e-books began their zenith rise. Jeff Mayersohn, the new owner, elicited my sympathy, but I also wanted to get to know him. I respected his ... Continue reading →

As Wal-Mart reported higher-than-expected first-quarter earnings on Thursday, it suggested in a regulatory filing that the scope of an internal investigation into bribery accusations had widened beyond the retailer’s subsidiary in Mexico. The company reported that the audit committee of the Wal-Mart Stores board was examining possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and “other alleged crimes or misconduct in connection with foreign subsidiaries, including Wal-Mart de México.” It was the first public disclosure by the company that the internal inquiry could involve additional subsidiaries, though none was named. The regulatory filing also confirmed that Wal-Mart is the subject of investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department. And while Wal-Mart said in December that it did not expect the bribery ... Continue reading →

In March of 1962, acclaimed author John Steinbeck wrote the following letter to Edith Mirrielees — a lady who, as his professor of creative writing at Stanford 40 years previous, had been an enormous influence on his development as a writer and, he later claimed, one of the few things he respected about the university. His fantastic, insightful letter later featured in the paperback edition of Mirrielees's book, Story Writing. (Source: Story Writing; Image: John Steinbeck, via.) March 8, 1962 Dear Edith Mirrielees: I am delighted that your volume Story Writing is going into a paperback edition. It will reach a far larger audience, and that is a good thing. It may not teach the reader how to write a good story, but it will ... Continue reading →