It hit me as odd, when I heard on the radio that overnight,
Samsung stock value had dropped a billion dollars-- because of the
decision by Obama, communicated by US Trade Representative Michael
Froman, to overturn the court ruling that favored Samsung. It's the
first time such a veto has been made in 25 years.
Usually, for big players, when the first, civil route fails to yield success, the ITC route is chosen.
This
time, it worked for Samsung. All but one of the six ITC commissioners
supported Samsung's claims against Apple. But the dissenting voice,
Dean A. Pinkert , opposed the decision because of failure to meet
FRAND-- Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory- criteria for licensing.
Apple iPhone 4S vs Samsung Galaxy note by sidduz
So Obama's brand spanking new US Trade Representative, Michael Froman,
stepped in and issued a letter voiding the decision, a virtual veto.
That will earn Apple many billions of dollars in revenues-- which, as
are the rest of Apple's revenues, un-taxed, because of the loopholes
Apple has used to avoid taxation.
A
Gigaohm article explained the reasons for the veto,
The decision
signed by the U.S. Trade Representative cited "substantial concerns"
over "the potential harm that can result in owners of
standards-essential patents"gaining undue leverage and engaging in a
"patent holdup.'"
That 'patent holdup' is ALL about the failure to FRAND criteria for fair and reasonable licensing.
Let's talk about Trade Rep Froman for a moment. He's one of the Robert
Rubin bankster acolytes, a former managing director at Citigroup, that
Obama has surrounded himself with, also a classmate of Obama's. He
actually introduced Obama to Rubin-- sort of like introducing someone to
the devil.
Froman
will be Obama's main lead man for getting TPP-- the Transpacific
Partnership trade deal passed. This is a horrific treaty that is bad for
America.
Mike Massnick writes, in
Techdirt.com,
"...
Hopefully, this signals a bit of a change in understanding under the
new USTR, such that there's a real recognition that overaggressive
intellectual property laws and enforcement can have a seriously negative
impact. Of course, the more cynical among you might note that this is
also the US government stepping in to protect the US company (Apple)
against a foreign company (Samsung). An even more cynical group might
further note that the Obama administration also probably didn't want to
deal with the headache of headlines about how the federal government had
suddenly banned a bunch of iPhones and iPads... But, for the sake of
being optimistic, let's hope that this really is a sign of a more
thoughtful USTR, which isn't quite as wedded to intellectual property
maximalism, as its predecessors have been."
The problem is, the ITC is a US agency and it ignored the
FRAND criteria,
siding with corporate "intellectual property maximalism." Imagine if,
and probably WHEN, the TPP trade deal is passed, when anonymous business
leaders will be the ones making such decisions. And remember that the
TPP agreement will allow the TPP to prevail over US laws.
Frankly, I've written this because it's odd, the first time in 25
years. And it involves a Rubin bankster acolyte I don't trust and expect
bad things from. So, I'm hoping you, the readers, will help do some
digging and tying together connections I haven't seen.
. He is also published regularly on the
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