Hey, you remember that time when you were 14 and you called up your crush with your best friend secretly listening in so that after they could tell you what to say? President Donald Trump did just that, except with the Air Force General in charge of the F-35 program and the fucking CEO of Boeing in the room listening.
Source: Trump Made Calls To Air Force General About The F-35 With Boeing CEO Secretly Listening In
an Apple representative, staffer, or lobbyist will testify against the bill at a hearing in Lincoln on March 9. AT&T will also argue against the bill, the source said. The source told me that at least one of the companies plans to say that consumers who repair their own phones could cause lithium batteries to catch fire.
PayPal’s released a new batch of User Agreements that includes a new “non-discouragement clause for sellers” that prevents them from talking down the service, plus price hikes a-plenty.The new new clause reads as follows:
“In representations to your customers or in public communications, you agree not to mischaracterize PayPal as a payment method. At all of your points of sale (in whatever form), you agree not to try to dissuade or inhibit your customers from using PayPal; and, if you enable your customers to pay you with PayPal, you agree to treat PayPal’s payment mark at least at par with other payment methods offered.”
Source: New PayPal T&Cs prevents sellers trash-talking PayPal • The Register
He’s not charged with a crime. Judge demands he help prosecutors build their case.
Source: Man jailed 16 months, and counting, for refusing to decrypt hard drives | Ars Technica
Stripping Planned Parenthood of federal funding could seriously damage the networks of providers that offer women’s health services, leaving thousands of women without access to preventive care.
Source: Sen. Joni Ernst Puts Planned Parenthood — and Access to Birth Control — on the Chopping Block
DONALD TRUMP’S FEBRUARY 3 executive order enabling financial advisers to continue ripping off their clients could prove a lifeline for a surprising beneficiary: the private equity industry.The Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule would have forced investment advisers in workplace retirement plans like 401(k)s to operate in their clients’ best interests, rather than recommending high-cost, high-risk products that offer the advisers kickbacks and perks.The Obama White House estimated in a 2015 report that conflicts of interest cost retirement savers $17 billion annually, though that figure has been challenged.The fiduciary rule, finalized last year, was to go into effect in April. But the new order directs the Labor Department to review the rule, which is expected to initiate the process of rescinding it.
Source: Donald Trump’s Executive Order Will Let Private Equity Funds Drain Your 401(k)
For many years, we’ve written about Carl Malamud and his non-profit organization Public.Resource.org, which goes to great lengths to make sure that the law and other government documents are widely available to the public. While he’s gotten lots of attention for battling states over their claims to hold a copyright in the law, perhaps his biggest fight has been over the question of whether or not private standards that are “incorporated by reference” into the law, are still covered by copyright. And, unfortunately, the federal district court in Washington DC has just ruled against him, and effectively said it’s okay to lock up some important elements of the law with copyright. This is bad news.
Source: Federal Court Basically Says It’s Okay To Copyright Parts Of Our Laws | Techdirt
Will the FBI’s Rap Back service notify your boss that you got arrested protesting the inauguration?
Source: The FBI Is Building A National Watchlist That Gives Companies Real Time Updates on Employees
It’s a stripped-down version of anti-evolution legislation.
Source: South Dakota Senate considering questionable science education bill | Ars Technica
FCC lawyers no longer authorized to defend intrastate calling caps.
Source: Republican-led FCC drops court defense of inmate calling rate cap | Ars Technica
