Attorney general proposes regulation of freedom of expression

The Venezuelan Attorney General Luisa Ortega (botox anyone?) yesterday has proposed for a strict regulation of the right of freedom of expression. While the Attorney General, Luisa Ortega, recognized (thanks be to God) the constitutional right of freedom of expression, she proposes to regulate the freedom of expression by criminalizing the act based on "false news" that could trigger social reactions, including political retaliations by hecklers. She introduced a special law titled Law of Mediated Crimes. The rationale behind the law, according to Luisa Ortega, is that the constitutional right of freedom of expression must be curtailed and balanced. Now, I really think that Luisa Ortega is forgetting that the only limitation to the right of freedom of expression is defamatory laws or the criminalization of defamation. Venezuela provides for the criminal penalty of defamation, as the only limitation to the right of freedom of expression. If we compare legislations worldwide, there is not a single additional limitation to the right of freedom of expression. This limitation will surely constitute a further violation of the Venezuelan Constitution.

The proposed law includes a wording that any television reporter, broadcaster, artist or any citizen utilizing the media outlet for that matter, that bases itself on "false or erroneous news" will trigger criminal penalties, including prison from 2 to 5 years, depending on the case. Now, the keyword here in "false news", what really constitutes false news, when comparing it to "true news". Who will decide whether or not the news was false will be entirely based on political judgments, moreover in practical terms this will create difficulties for the prosecution, proving to the Criminal Court that the news was false. And what constitutes the truth? Definitely a spiritual exercise...

If this law is passed, this will create additional censorship on Venezuelan media outlets, now added to the current government financial and tax terrorism will virtually silence opinions in the media.

Artist review - Tim Burton

Tim Burton was born in Burbank, California (August 25, 1958) the first of two sons to Bill Burton and Jean Erickson. His year of birth is sometimes mistakenly given as 1960. Burton described his childhood self as quirky, self-absorbed and highly imaginative. As he grew older, he found home life and school somewhat difficult, often escaping the reality by watching horror and low budget films, to which he would later pay tribute in his biography of Ed Wood. Burton grew up on Evergreen Street, very near the Valhalla Cemetery in Burbank. He has spoken in interviews about the "weirdness" of growing up near a cemetery. He attended Providencia Elementary School in Burbank, Luther Burbank Jr. High, and later Burbank High School, which his father Bill had also attended. His father Bill worked for many years in the Recreation Department for the City of Burbank. Another film figure of importance in Burton's childhood is Vincent Price, whose films would deeply influence the upcoming director's career. He was inspired early on by Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion films.

After high school, he won a Disney scholarship to attend the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California. He studied at the Character Animation program for three years. Burton's first job in animation was working as a cell painter on Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings. Burton was then hired by the Walt Disney Studios as an animator apprentice. Burton's job was to draw for The Fox and the Hound but he was dissatisfied with the artistic direction of the movie. He later commented on the refusal of Disney to use his design for The Fox and the Hound because his designs made the characters, in opposition to Disney's desires, "look like roadkill". Burton was unhappy during his Disney period, but it was then that he wrote and drew the poem and illustrations that would be the basis for The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Burton was married to a German-born artist for four years, whom he left for Lisa Marie, a model with whom he lived and was "engaged" to 1992 through 2001. Lisa Marie had parts in all of his films while they were a couple, most notably Ed Wood and Mars Attacks! Burton currently lives with Helena Bonham Carter, whom he met while filming Planet of the Apes. Burton abruptly left Lisa Marie for Bonham Carter and they now have a son, Billy Ray Burton, born October 4, 2003, and a daughter, Nell Burton, born December 15, 2007. Burton and Bonham Carter split time between Los Angeles and London.

Close friend Johnny Depp is a godfather of Burton's son. In Burton on Burton, Depp wrote the introduction, stating, "What more can I say about him? He is a brother, a friend, my godson's father. He is a unique and brave soul, someone that I would go to the ends of the earth for, and I know, full and well, he would do the same for me."

Microsoft takes on Yahoo

Microsoft has long been after the purchase of Yahoo. Now almost 2 and half years after, lawyers from both sides reached an agreement which Yahoo will give control of its search engine to Microsoft, which in turn will power its own search engine site Bing.com. As consideration Yahoo will get 88% of the revenue from all search ad sales for the first 5 years of the deal.

In my opinion this is a work of art deal in terms of contractual law. I give credit to the negotiating teams and specially to the lawyers from both sides. Now, will this a first series of steps towards the purchase of Google? Then Youtube?

Is Microsoft is waking up from the golden slumbers that lead Steve Jobs and Apple take over the gadget world?

My bets are all in favour of Google and youtube.com, however.

“It is difficult to keep quiet if you have nothing to do”

Arthur Schopenhauer


Sometimes, time is against fate...

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