FreeCreditReport.com wins lawsuit against typosquatters
You've probably experienced this: Type in the address of your favorite blog but make one small error, and you end up at a page that isn't quite right. It has the same appearance and similar text, but a few elements are misplaced, the language a bit awkward. If you notice these inconsistencies, you're lucky, because you've identified a website spoof, thereby dodging a scam. This week brought some good news for consumers and legit companies on this front. FreeCreditReport.com, a part of ConsumerInfo.com, Inc, which is owned by Experian (EXPN) company, won a complaint that grants it ownership of over a thousand Internet addresses very similar to FreeCreditReport.com.
Harley-Davidson to shut down Buell, MV Augusta Brands, finally
As it continues to struggle with its sputtering performance, Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) announced two long-overdue steps aimed at returning the company to the halcyon days of two years ago: Shutting down its Buell line and selling off the legendary high-performance brand MV Augusta. The moves will cost the company millions, but will allow it to refocus on its core business, the cruiser bike market. Buell represented the company's foremost attempt to break out of the cruiser mold. Harley bought the name and product of inventor Erik Buell in 2003 with the hope of breaking into new markets, including sport (high performance) and standard bikes. However, a lack of acceptance by the company's dealer network and inadequate investment in building the brand kept Buell from finding any real traction. According to CFO John Olin, the Buell brand is not accounted for separately on the Harley-Davidson books, and therefore the company has chosen to kill it rather than sell it off. Another explanation might be that the brand has little to no value.
E-mail is dead? Don't take my anti-boor shield away!
Wall Street Journal writer Jessica E. Vascellaro recently wrote a provocative article arguing that e-mail is giving way to other, richer forms of communication: Facebook, Twitter, instant messaging, and (on an approach vector) Google Wave (GOOG). Fifteen years ago, electronic mail was fresh and shiny, efficient and economical. Today, it's a stone ax next to communication methods that let us tag, filter, and engage in real-time exchanges, group conversations, and multimedia. In a society that increasingly depends on consensus for decision-making, these new tools play an important role in keeping the tribes intact.Yet e-mail will still have its place in this world for years to come.
China's Macau review could spell bad news for gaming industry
With the casino business in Las Vegas taking a huge hit during the recession, companies including Las Vegas Sands (LVS), MGM Mirage (MGM) and Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) have looked east for profit -- as far as Macau, the world's biggest gambling center. On Monday, however, the Chinese city's government threw a pail of cold water on their plans by suggesting it may limit the aggressive expansion in this booming market.
According to the Wall Street Journal, representatives of Macau's government met with casino operators to "review" the industry and lay down new restrictions, including raising the age for gaming from 18 to 21. Last year, the Chinese government clamped down on travel to Macau from nearby Guangdong province, ostensibly to fight gambling addiction, resulting in a drop in revenue. Since then, however, restrictions have been loosened and returns from the casinos hit a new high in August of $1.4 billion.
States' bet on gambling industry to balance budgets hasn't paid off
In many of the nation's cash-strapped statehouses, legislators have turned to increased gambling venues to fill gaping holes in their budgets. But rolling the dice on this industry does not appear to be a winning strategy, a new study from the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute shows. Why not? This past year has seen gaming revenue shortfalls, some tied to the recession and some part of long-term trends. More specifically, gaming revenue declined 2.6 percent nationally, with 28 of 42 states showing losses. The biggest losers were Oregon (-15.2 percent), Illinois (-14.6 percent) and Nevada (-12.5 percent).
Great Lakes Journal: $500 million worth of rail fever
Less than a hundred years ago, Ohio was crisscrossed with passenger-rail lines and thousands of miles of electric interurbans, shuttling its residents between the countryside and big cities. The introduction of the auto made those obsolete. Now the state is in frenzied pursuit of federal stimulus money to return rail service to the state.The question is, will we use it? Ohio hired Amtrak to study the feasibility of its Quick Start plan, an eight-train-a-day passenger service connecting Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, and Cleveland and using existing rails at modest speeds. Last week, Amtrak unveiled its findings, including an estimate that 478,000 riders a year would use the service, spending $12 million for the privilege. The full 225-mile route, from the Ohio River to Lake Erie, is projected to take around six hours, versus a drive time of four hours and 50 minutes on Greyhound. Ticket price estimates, based on those of the Chicago-St. Louis train, range from $23 to $60.
Can eating locally, organically hurt the environment? New book says yes
At first blush, James E. McWilliams' new book Just Food could be taken as an attack on three movements; eating locally, fighting genetically modified crops, and using organic farming practices. He argues that these three could be responsible for more, not less, damage to the environment.
Heresy? Perhaps. However, the author is neither a knee-jerk conservative nor one who bases his conclusions on hearsay. Just Food is a carefully researched, thoughtful presentation about what happens when our preconceptions collide with valid research. But lest you think that McWilliams is a toady of the status quo, he also includes a scathing take on the land meat industry as an ecological and economic nightmare, while expressing a surprising amount of hope for aquaculture.
Older Americans to dominate growth in labor force by 2016
You know that gray-haired gentleman who greets you when you enter Wal-Mart? Get used to him; he is the wave of the future. According to a new report by the Pew Research Center, over the next 10 years the age dispersion of the American labor force will skew considerably older.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that by 2016:
- The number of people in the labor force ages 16-24 will actually drop by 1.5 million
- Those falling in the 25-54 age bracket will increase by 2.5 million
- Those falling in the 55+ age group will increase by 11.9 million. Those 55-64 will increase by 7.3 million, while those 65-74 will go up 3.6 million
Apple Tablet could be the real Kindle killer
Although the Apple (AAPL) world is disappointed that the rumored announcement of an Apple Tablet computer didn't transpire at the company's press conference on September 9, virtually everyone watching the industry expects it to arrive within the next year, if not by the 2009 Christmas season. While this year has been rife with the announcement of new devices to compete with Amazon's (AMZN) Kindle, none have the potential of the Tablet to turn the entire market upside down. Like the iPod and iPhone, the Tablet could overwhelm its competitors. Why? For two reasons; the Tablet promises a quantum leap forward in customer experience over e-readers, and can tap into the enormous iTunes merchandising system.
EBay: Internet sales tax hurts businesses
Internet sales tax is a hot button in many state legislatures that are attempting to find ways to balance recession-depleted budgets by raking in the sales tax revenue. At the center of this is eBay (EBAY), which reported $8.5 billion sales in 2008 and served as the marketplace for almost $60 billion in transactions.
I spoke with eBay's Brian Bieron, Senior Director, Federal Government Relations and Global Public Policy, about the company's position on the subject.
D-Day for Harry Reid: Can he wrangle 60 votes for Senate health reform bill?
Fed stalls on Chinese bank deal, costs taxpayers $1.7 billion
Dell in a handbasket: Should founder Michael Dell resign?
