Uncle Scrooge decides to put a tax on air

This is just ridiculous: Gov. David Paterson unveils dire New York State budget that includes new taxes, layoffs and cuts. This is the sort of progressive taxing plan that operates to hurt those not making those hefty six figure salaries. Taxes are going up on everything related to entertainment, junk food, travel, clothes, gas, and everything else. This almost reminds me of the Simpson's Radioactive Man episode where Springfield taxed the movie company out of production, but just not as funny. I wonder how McDonalds and Coke are going to react to this one. Why not start putting a tax on people's weight and complete the circle.

Tags: new york taxes fun and all vices

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A quick followup to the Dr Pepper and Chinese Democracy debacle

One additional post on this Dr Pepper deal that had good intentions but didn't quite have its intended effect (although given the publicity that was spawned as a result, I am inclined to think that the campaign was more successful than either camp lets on). The Entertainment & Media Law Blog reports that Dr Pepper has given a "fizzy" response. See Dr Pepper's Fizzy Response ot the 'Chinese Democracy' Shakeup. Their sentiments echo my own and similarly bring up Taco Bell, although they refer to another advertising campaign that led the parties down a much different legal path.

Speaking of chinese democracy, I did happen to catch the series finale to Boston Legal, which is the first episode I watched since last year when I axed it from my list. Having seen the US Supreme Court in action on more than one occasion, I think they took a lot of liberty with the decor (and I don't think they would have tolerated a lot of the nonsense, including speaking past the time), although the set was sort of similar.

Overall, I don't care what David E. Kelley is complaining about (see David E. Kelley Is Frustrated With Broadcast TV and David E. Kelley: ABC Shunned Boston Legal; "Satified" with Series Run): the show was axed (from both my list and ABC) not because it doesn't have some good dialog on occasion, but because it lacked in substance what it attempted to make up in character. While I'm not a fan of the serial storylines (although I still plan on watching Lost), they certainly can work if the story is compelling enough, and the series (for me anyway) became way too outrageous and disjointed for me to keep watching at all, let alone with any regularity.

Tags: dr pepper and gnr chinese democracy campaign, boston legal series finale, david e. kelley boston legal

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More bailing out - but don't forget who is in charge of the country right now

I see that the Big 3 auto industry is on the verge of receiving a bailout. See Automaker Plan in Bush's Court. I'm not getting into the logistics of all of this, but merely point out two aspects of this that are troubling. First, although the "Big 3" auto players are in trouble, I fail to understand how their plight is such that they require government help when other auto manufacturers who also have plants in the US are not suffering. See generally The Becker-Posner Blog: Bail Out the Big Three Auto Producers? Not a Good Idea-Becker. Granted, they have a much bigger employment base, but still. How many dozens of businesses have went under or have declared bankruptcy and survived nonetheless.

Second, unlike the banking industry, the auto industry is a significantly more private enterprise. This sort of relates to the first point, but isn't the whole idea of the free market to have minimal government interference? Maybe with this bailout the government will be able to do something about the unions, or at least interfere to the same degree.

Hopefully the president shoots this down (or better, it fails to pass Congress) and the effect on the market is minimal.

Tags: auto bailout a bad idea

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Chinese Democracy, GNR, and Dr Pepper

Did you ever notice that Dr Pepper doesn't have the "." in Dr.? Besides this factoid, the long awaited promotion that the Dr Pepper soft drink company would give a free can of soda when Guns N' Roses would finally release their Chinese Democracy album has run into a bit of a snag. But what is funnier is that the band is up in arms about it. Obviously there are a lot of underlying issues, but it's a rather funny story of promotion gone wild. Will GNR succeed? Well, you know what they say about any publicity. See Guns N' Roses Lashes Out At Dr Pepper. Next up, rabies shots for the Easter bunny.

It's a good thing the Phillies let one get by them during the world series or else people may have been unjustly denied their delicious free taco and that would just be legally upsetting. Just like this.

Tags: guns n roses mad about dr pepper, dr pepper chinese democracy promotion

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Libel lawsuits continue

In another story about online gossip and those who get offended by it, I saw a headline that shows another person who has turned to the court system to stop the spread of internet libel. See Colorado Man Charged With Libel Over Craigslist Posts. I find this story particularly interesting in light of a recent comment posted in response to one of my former television stories. Personally, I don't find it offensive but rather funny given the unnecessary use of profanity. See Eli Stone Write-Up comment number 5.

I'm beginning to think there are more subtle differences to anonymity on the internet than the founders actually considered when they blessed the freedom of speech in the Bill of Rights. Will this turn into another evolving standard? If only suits like the Juicy Campus one would survive a little longer for some interesting legal commentary. See also The Great E-Barrier Reef. But then again, with cases like the Myspace suicide one filling the news, it's sufficient to say that the area of first amendment law and its intersection with the internet will continue to provide news for many years to come.

Tags: internet free speech

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