Chinese shenanigans

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

In the case of Snow White I wouldn't have thought they paid anything at all. And nor do they have the rights to the story or the name. What they do own is their version of Snow White, which would seem fair enough.

That's what I thought, too, but apparently (from Wikipedia): In 2013, the US Patent and Trademark Office issued a trademark to Disney Enterprises, Inc. for the name "Snow White" that covers all live and recorded movie, television, radio, stage, computer, Internet, news, and photographic entertainment uses, excluding literary works of fiction and nonfiction.

Maybe Disney was savvy and clever, but I think "buying" stories hundreds of years old or at bargain basement prices and then exploiting these to the max is morally questionable.

[wagyl]

Once again proving that the US Patent Office is perfectly happy to grant any rights at all, and to take the application fees and continue to receive the annual registration fees, and to rely on those objecting to the issue of rights to go to the courts and sue to have the grant declared invalid. They do this again and again. At first I thought they were understaffed and overwhelmed, but it seems more and more like a deliberate policy.

[Samurai_Jerk]

I'm not a Disney fan. To say the least.

Wait for it.

[Russell]

Once again proving that the US Patent Office is perfectly happy to grant any rights at all, and to take the application fees and continue to receive the annual registration fees, and to rely on those objecting to the issue of rights to go to the courts and sue to have the grant declared invalid. They do this again and again. At first I thought they were understaffed and overwhelmed, but it seems more and more like a deliberate policy.

But wait!

Isn't Snow White originally from China some couple of thousand years ago?!?

[Wage Slave]

That's what I thought, too, but apparently (from Wikipedia): In 2013, the US Patent and Trademark Office issued a trademark to Disney Enterprises, Inc. for the name "Snow White" that covers all live and recorded movie, television, radio, stage, computer, Internet, news, and photographic entertainment uses, excluding literary works of fiction and nonfiction.

Maybe Disney was savvy and clever, but I think "buying" stories hundreds of years old or at bargain basement prices and then exploiting these to the max is morally questionable.

Wow. In 2013 eh? Fuck me.

and

Once again proving that the US Patent Office is perfectly happy to grant any rights at all, and to take the application fees and continue to receive the annual registration fees, and to rely on those objecting to the issue of rights to go to the courts and sue to have the grant declared invalid. They do this again and again. At first I thought they were understaffed and overwhelmed, but it seems more and more like a deliberate policy.

Yes. Very fair comment.

How does enforcement work then? Do they attempt to enforce their trademark of the name Snow White worldwide or does it only apply in the US?

[matsuki]

That's what I thought, too, but apparently (from Wikipedia): In 2013, the US Patent and Trademark Office issued a trademark to Disney Enterprises, Inc. for the name "Snow White" that covers all live and recorded movie, television, radio, stage, computer, Internet, news, and photographic entertainment uses, excluding literary works of fiction and nonfiction.

Maybe Disney was savvy and clever, but I think "buying" stories hundreds of years old or at bargain basement prices and then exploiting these to the max is morally questionable.

Wow. In 2013 eh? Fuck me.

and

Once again proving that the US Patent Office is perfectly happy to grant any rights at all, and to take the application fees and continue to receive the annual registration fees, and to rely on those objecting to the issue of rights to go to the courts and sue to have the grant declared invalid. They do this again and again. At first I thought they were understaffed and overwhelmed, but it seems more and more like a deliberate policy.

Yes. Very fair comment.

How does enforcement work then? Do they attempt to enforce their trademark of the name Snow White worldwide or does it only apply in the US?

Only within the US but I think they'd have a hard time successfully going after infringement cases there that weren't based upon their own version/characters.

[Russell]

Isn't it time that Disney paid royalties to the descendants of the Brothers Grimm?



Holy cow, I shouldn't have used the word descendants. Now I'll have to pay royalties too...

[Takechanpoo]

US firm scraps plan for China to build LA-Vegas rail line
Venezuela, mexico, indonesia and this.
chinese promoted "their" crappy bullet train to these countries and got contracts with enormous bribes and an impracticable option. and roared with laughter, "we got the better of japan! nee nee chee chee chon chon! ". however after all they blew up their own ship and ironically contributed to enhance j-reputation as a result. thank you so much!

[wagyl]

Which is all well and good but if you actually read the article (the actual article itself: I didn't even have to search out other opinion) you will see that the main reason that the contract was cancelled was that the Federal Government requires the rolling stock to be built in the US, and the US does not have that capability. This is a problem all bids face equally. It looks like this High Speed Rail program in the US is more a technology stealing program than a transport program. Inscrutable Occidentals AKA Fucking Cowboys AKA Tea-Tossing Rebels.

[Wage Slave]

Tacky, yet again you are misrepresenting. That report says nothing of the kind. It says:

XPressWest said its biggest challenge in implementing the project, which was announced nine months ago, was a federal government requirement that high-speed trains must be built in the United States.

"As everyone knows, there are no high-speed trains manufactured in the United States," the company said in a statement. "This inflexible requirement has been a fundamental barrier to financing high-speed rail in our country.

Exactly the same reason that Japan lost that submarine contract to France. They will have to go with someone who has built better local partnerships and is capable of working in partnership. France again? They make excellent high speed trains too.

There is zero indication that a Japanese firm will get the contract - Although Hitachi are better at partnership/localisation than most Japanese firms (not saying all that much) and they do make very good trains.

[Takechanpoo]

treating france and china on the same page. its so funny.
it seems like you dont know what options china offered and won a bullet train contract in indonesia.
its no government spending and no loan guarantee.
what fucking kind of options can defeat this one? eh?

and after defeating japan out of the contract, china barefacedly cancelled no loan guarantee option and abandon the construction.
and in the current phase indonesia came to beg a forgiveness from japan. "pls give me one more chance, mr japan!"

[matsuki]

[Grumpy Gramps]

Chinese online loan sharks demand nude photos as guarantees

BEIJING: Web-based loan sharks in China have found an unconventional way of guaranteeing loans: demanding naked photos from female borrowers.


The state-run Southern Metropolis Daily reported this week that private lenders are asking female borrowers to send nude photos of themselves along with their ID cards, warning that the photos will be made public if payments are not made on time.

[...]

Free guarantees? Not the best of business models, I guess

[matsuki]

Not illegal but porn is?

[Wage Slave]

So, come last in a training exercise at a Chinese Bank and get spanked in front of your colleagues. The trainer did apologise later - To the leadership of the bank for causing them problems following the outcry.

https://www.facebook.com/PeoplesDaily/videos/1186274268091055/

[Samurai_Jerk]

Clashes Amid Italy's Crackdown on Its Chinese Community

A crackdown by Italian authorities on the increasingly powerful Chinese community in Tuscany resulted in new searches Friday in Italy's Chinatown and clashes this week that drew the ire of China's Foreign Ministry.

Several people were injured in clashes Wednesday outside a factory near Florence where workers tried to prevent Italian health inspectors from entering. Riot police were called in after members of the Chinese community, including the leader of a vigilante group, descended on the scene.

On Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the Chinese embassy and consulate had lodged a complaint with Italy, "urging it to carry out civilized law enforcement and fair investigation" while protecting the rights and safety of Chinese citizens in Italy.

Italy has beefed up inspections of Chinese-run businesses following a 2013 fire at a Chinese-run garment factory that killed seven people in Prato, the heavily Chinese manufacturing district in Tuscany known for its black market factories and illegal workers.

A court last year convicted three people for the factory deaths.

[matsuki]

LOL, and what a community it is....

[Takechanpoo]

508523_pcl.jpg

immoderate "explosive" clam digging by greedy arrogant chinese destroys the river ecosystem and even the harmony of the local community.

[Russell]

immoderate "explosive" clam digging by greedy arrogant chinese destroys the river ecosystem and even the harmony of the local community.

You do realize that Australians look at Japanese in a similar way when it comes to whales, do you?

[wagyl]

Anybody who is prepared to eat a filter-feeder from the mouth of Edogawa deserves a medal.

[Russell]

Anybody who is prepared to eat a filter-feeder from the mouth of Edogawa deserves a medal.

LOL

But they won't eat those themselves, they'll sell them...

[matsuki]

immoderate "explosive" clam digging by greedy arrogant chinese destroys the river ecosystem and even the harmony of the local community.

You do realize that Australians look at Japanese in a similar way when it comes to whales, do you?

Anybody who is prepared to eat a filter-feeder from the mouth of Edogawa deserves a medal.

Needs more pepper and plutonium to balance the cesium flavor.

[Takechanpoo]

excuse me, japan hunt whales outside of aussies EEZ withing the limits not at all to harm the ecosystem of whales.
its NOT the same at all. thank you.

[wagyl]

Anybody who is prepared to eat a filter-feeder from the mouth of Edogawa deserves a medal.

Needs more pepper and plutonium to balance the cesium flavor.

Oh it is about more than heavy metals, whether radiostable or not.

That river and its tributaries have pretty substantial industrial wastewater inflows. They are better than they were, but the northern Tokyo Bay area is not somewhere to collect and eat organisms which by their nature concentrate whatever they find in the water.

I have long had a policy of only eating oysters I prised off the rock myself. They are fresher that way, too.

[wagyl]

not at all to harm the ecosystem of whales.

Wait... do we know this?

I thought that was what the "research" was "studying."

If we already know this, what is the "research" for?

If we don't already know this, how can you say that?

It is not scientific research if the conclusions are set in advance.

[matsuki]

Anybody who is prepared to eat a filter-feeder from the mouth of Edogawa deserves a medal.

Needs more pepper and plutonium to balance the cesium flavor.

Oh it is about more than heavy metals, whether radiostable or not.

That river and its tributaries have pretty substantial industrial wastewater inflows. They are better than they were, but the northern Tokyo Bay area is not somewhere to collect and eat organisms which by their nature concentrate whatever they find in the water.

I have long had a policy of only eating oysters I prised off the rock myself. They are fresher that way, too.

I can only imagine...what I can't imagine is who they're able to sell that shit to? Restaurants?

[Russell]

Anybody who is prepared to eat a filter-feeder from the mouth of Edogawa deserves a medal.

Needs more pepper and plutonium to balance the cesium flavor.

Oh it is about more than heavy metals, whether radiostable or not.

That river and its tributaries have pretty substantial industrial wastewater inflows. They are better than they were, but the northern Tokyo Bay area is not somewhere to collect and eat organisms which by their nature concentrate whatever they find in the water.

I have long had a policy of only eating oysters I prised off the rock myself. They are fresher that way, too.

I can only imagine...what I can't imagine is who they're able to sell that shit to? Restaurants?

Chinese restaurants?

It's a pity the Japanese don't bury their dead, otherwise it would provide some free meat for those gangs...

[Russell]

not at all to harm the ecosystem of whales.

Wait... do we know this?

I thought that was what the "research" was "studying."

If we already know this, what is the "research" for?

If we don't already know this, how can you say that?

It is not scientific research if the conclusions are set in advance.

In that sense these Chinese are doing research into the water quality of the Edogawa river...

[Samurai_Jerk]

Heavy rain turns stadium into 'bathtub'

stadium.jpg

Uninterrupted rainfall has caused a football stadium to flood so much the goalposts are under water and it now looks like nothing more than a giant swimming pool.

Reports said similar freak weather conditions have not been seen for decades, and tens of thousands are now being evacuated from their homes.

Heavy storms in the city of Ezhou, in Central China’s Hubei Province, have inundated the streets with water and have caused serious disruptions to public transport.

Mingtang Stadium, the city’s landmark, is now also full of floodwater, making it look more like a bathtub than football grounds.

[matsuki]

Probably the largest (and cleanest) swimming pool in China.

Are the drains fucked or do they even exist...it's China, wouldn't be surprised if it's the latter.