U.S. Supreme Court Rules That Congress Can Allow Certain Public Domain Works to be Restored to Copyright

Golan v. Holder (Congress Can Pass Legislation to Copyright Works in the Public Domain)

This particular Golan v. Holder ruling is the result of the U.S. coming into compliance with various international intellectual property treaties including the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (as a part of The Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA)). As a result of these treaties, Section 514 of URAA (Section 104A in the Copyright Act) grants copyright protection to works protected in their country of origin, but lacking protection in the United States for any of three reasons: (1) The United States did not protect works from the country of origin at the time of publication; (2) the United States did not protect sound recordings fixed before 1972; or (3) the author had not complied with certain U.S. statutory formalities.

In 1996, copyright was automatically restored in certain foreign works that were then in the public domain in the United States but were protected by copyright or neighboring rights in the source country. Owners of a restored work were directed to notify reliance parties if the owner of the rights planned to enforce the rights. One means of notification was filing with the Copyright Office a Notice of Intent to Enforce (NIE) a Restored Copyright.

Works encompassed by §514 are granted the protection they would have enjoyed had the United States maintained copyright relations with the author’s country or removed formalities incompatible with Berne. As a consequence of the barriers to U. S. copyright protection prior to §514’s enactment, foreign works “restored” to protection by the measure had entered the public domain in this country. To cushion the impact of their placement in protected status, §514 provides ameliorating accommodations for parties who had exploited affected works before the URAA was enacted.

The potential danger of this ruling is that it provides an additional precedent for Congress to "re-copyright" works that may have fallen in the public domain. While this ruling applies to foreign works, there may come a time where Congress attempts to pass (or actually passes) legislation to re-copyright public domain works by American authors. If so, the constitutionality of any such law will have to be judged versus the Copyright Clause. Until then, this ruling will govern.

Has Your Doctor Received Money from the Pharmaceutical Industry?

The money in the pharmaceutical industry is staggering at times. I've had friends who used to work as sales reps in the pharmaceutical industry pushing various medicines and it was big money at its finest. The best reps received trips and lavish getaways at choice destinations around the world, and these perks were reserved for the reps who generated the most sales in their respective territories. Sales were based on the number of prescriptions that were written by the doctors in the territories.

Needless to say, some of the sales reps did whatever was necessary to get the doctors in their territories to write more prescriptions for the drugs the reps were pushing - including offering things of consideration such as meals, trips, gift certificates or even ca$h. Just like payola in the music industry, except this was payola for people's health.

Perhaps your doctor has received monies from the pharmaceutical industry and you want to know this information. If so, you can check the ProPublica database to see if your doctor is listed as being a recipient of pharmaceutical monies. Please note that this database is not an exhaustive search, but rather, it is the information that has been disclosed by twelve (12) companies.

For decades, drug companies kept the names of their speakers -- and how much they paid them -- secret. But over the past two years, companies have begun posting this information on their web sites, some as the result of legal settlements with the federal government. ProPublica took these disclosures and assembled them into a single, comprehensive database that allows patients to search for their physician.

Source: ProPublica

China's Space Activities in 2011 (Information Office of the State Council White Paper)

China Space Activities in 2011

This is a white paper about China's space programs is from the Chinese government, so take it for what it is. This document will definitely present the Chinese program in the most favorable light, so it might even be considered propaganda! I am quite sure that is what my grandfather would have called it if he was still alive to read this story - propaganda.

The next five years will be a crucial period for China in building a moderately prosperous society, deepening reform and opening-up, and accelerating the transformation of the country's pattern of economic development. This will bring new opportunities to China's space industry. China will center its work on its national strategic goals, strengthen its independent innovative capabilities,further open to the outside world and expand international cooperation. In so doing, China will do its best to make the country's space industry develop better and faster. At the same time, China will work together with the international community to maintain a peaceful and clean outer space and endeavor to make new contributions to the lofty cause of promoting world peace and development.

Electronic Arts Files Lawsuit Saying Use of Trademark Brands in Video Games Is Free Speech

EA Battlefield 3 trademark suit

I deal with intellectual property from time to time, so EA's lawsuit seeking a judicial declaration that the use of brands in video games is free speech is interesting to me. I will provide updates to this article as the Court makes its ruling(s). The case can be viewed above or in the sourced article below.

In its latest claim, EA is asking a California court to declare that its use of Bell helicopters is a form of artistic expression protected by the First Amendment. It claims the helicopters help depict realistic combat in Battlefield 3, a game set in 2014 in which players can command US soldiers in Paris, New York and Tehran to stop an impending nuclear attack.

Source: paidContent.org

Senator Schumer Advocates Hancock Field as National Test Site for Unmanned Drone Flights

I just want to point out that these drones flights will depart where civilian flights will depart, because the Hancock Field Air National Guard Base is co-located with Syracuse-Hancock International Airport. I was pretty shocked when I when I read this article about Senator Schumer pushing for drone flights in Central New York at Hancock Field in Mattydale, New York. For what purpose will these particular drone flights (see video above) be used for? According to Schumer, he feels that it will be beneficial to Central New York and to others.

He [Sen. Schumer] said that “making Hancock a test site for this technology would be a boon for Central New York, creating jobs and bringing new investments to our defense contractors that provide thousands of good paying jobs.”

I want to know what type of tests the military will be operating with these drones, especially in civilian airspace. I don't have a problem if the military wants to play with its hardware and toys on the bases, but I cannot imagine many military bases (especially ones on the East Coast) being large enough to allow a drone to operate at its full capacity. If the military brass starts flying flights in New York, they will be in every other State soon enough and then it is just a matter of time before a plane has a mid-air collision with one of these drones.

I wonder if Senator Schumer will be receiving any campaign donations from the various defense contractors who will eventually get the aforementioned investments as per the National Defense Authorization Act.

Source: Syracuse.com

Texas Department of State Health Services to Aerial Drop 1.8 Million Doses of Rabies Vaccine This Month

I have to thank a Facebook friend for posting a news story today that caused me to research this matter about the aerial vaccination program in Texas. Texas says that the annual aerial vaccine program has been effective in controlling rabies, but I wouldn't expect the State to say anything else. 1.8 million doses of a vaccine is a WHOLE lot of doses, so what happens to the vaccines that aren't consumed by animals? Could these vaccines somehow get into the food and water tables? And what ingredients are in this rabies vaccine?

I guess I should do a little bit more research on this vaccine to get answers to these questions, but until then, the brochure for RABORAL V-RG® can be viewed here.

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DSHS Combats Rabies With Aerial Vaccine Drop
News Release
Jan. 2, 2012

The Texas Department of State Health Services this week begins its annual airdrop of rabies vaccine baits over portions of southern and western Texas in the continuing effort to protect people and livestock from rabies. Planes will take off from airports in Zapata and Alpine around dawn Wednesday, Jan. 4 and from Del Rio on Thursday, Jan. 12. They will drop about 1.8 million doses of rabies vaccine over the next month as part of the DSHS Oral Rabies Vaccination Program.

“This approach has been a huge success,” said veterinarian Ernest Oertli, the vaccination program’s director. “We haven’t seen a single human case of rabies in the areas covered by the program since it started in 1995, and the number of animal cases has dropped dramatically.”

Animal cases of the canine strain of rabies in southern Texas fell from 122 in 1994 to zero in 2000. There have since been single cases in 2001 and 2004. The fox strain, prevalent in western Texas, dropped from 244 animal cases in 1995, the year before the project expanded to that area, to zero in 2010 and 2011.

“We have effectively eliminated these two strains of rabies from Texas,” said Oertli. “Now our goal is prevent them from being reintroduced as animals move in and out of the state.”

The vaccine dose is enclosed in a small packet dipped in fish oil and coated with fish meal crumbles. The baits don’t pose any risk to humans, but people should avoid handling them since human contact makes it less likely a wild animal will eat the baits.

Rabies is a deadly virus spread through the saliva of infected animals, usually by a bite. Preventing rabies is critical because once a person or animal displays symptoms, the disease is almost always fatal.

DSHS urges everyone to have their pets vaccinated against rabies, as required by law. Vaccinating domestic animals is essential to stopping the spread of rabies.

-30-

(News Media Contact: Chris Van Deusen, DSHS Assistant Press Officer, 512-776-7753)

DSHS Press Office on Twitter

Last updated January 02, 2012

FLASHBACK: U.S. Government Allegedly Spies on Protesters with Insect-Sized Spy Drones (2007)

I have read about these "insect" drones in the past being used to spy on protesters, but aside from a U.S. Air Force post some time back I have not written much about them. I don't know why I decided to finally blog about it tonight, but if the government had these types of drones in 2007, I wonder what it has five (5) years later. Check out what some people in the crowd had to say about these drones.

Vanessa Alarcon saw them while working at an antiwar rally in Lafayette Square last month...

...I look up and I'm like, 'What the hell is that?' They looked kind of like dragonflies or little helicopters. But I mean, those are not insects."

Out in the crowd, Bernard Crane saw them, too.

"I'd never seen anything like it in my life," the Washington lawyer said. "They were large for dragonflies. I thought, 'Is that mechanical, or is that alive?' "

Source: Washington Post

One Hundred (100) Years of World History in Ten (10) Minutes (1911-2011)(Video Mix)

I am a big fan of history. I would highly recommend the above video to anyone with an interest in history. The video summarizes the last 100 years of world history through video clips. In case the video is not displaying above, click here for a different link.

Homeland Security Allegedly Establishes Key Word Search Watchlist on Social Networks

Whenever I read an article that seemingly confirms my suspicions in the world around me, it is not usually a surprise. In this case, a privacy watchdog group (The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)) has sued the government and in its complaint it is alleged that the DHS has a watchlist on Facebook and Twitter for people who search certain words and/or terms. Say "collapse" or "infection" and you just might end up on this watchlist. Considering the history of coverage on Remixx World! with the H1N1 infection and the alleged 2009 bank run collapse, I am quite sure the DHS has this site tracked, traced and databased!

As part of the initiative, the agency [DHS] would "establish [fictitious] usernames and passwords" to spy on users and record their activities based on a number of search terms, including "human to animal," "collapse," "outbreak," and "illegal immigrants," the complaint says.

Source: Courthouse News Service

Pacific Gas & Electric Company Agrees to Let Customers Keep Analog, Mechanical Utility Meters

I don't really have to much to say about this decision by PG&E to allow its customers to keep their analog meters, except to say that I agree with it. I don't like the SmartMeter™ technology, because it makes it too easy for some centralized authority to track, trace and database my detailed energy use. Nevertheless, if I want futuristic Jetsons technology in my home, then I will probably have to accept SmartMeters™ at some point. However, I am not at that point yet, so I applaud this decision by PG&E!

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PG&E Supports Giving Customers Who Opt-Out of SmartMeter™ The Choice of Using Analog, Mechanical Meters Utility Further Addresses Customer Concerns Over Wireless Technology

Release Date: December 19, 2011
Contact: PG&E External Communications (415) 973-5930

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – To provide customers who have concerns about wireless SmartMeter™ technology with alternative options for recording their energy use, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) today asked the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to give customers a choice to use traditional analog, mechanical meters. This request offers another customer option in addition to the utility's proposal last March to turn off the radios in its opt-out customers' SmartMeters™.

"Some customers remain concerned about SmartMeter™ technology and want alternatives," said Helen Burt, PG&E's Senior Vice President and Chief Customer Officer. "Through comments to us and the CPUC, they are clear that an analog meter is the option they prefer to address their unease with wireless technology."

PG&E is installing digital, wireless SmartMeters™ throughout its service area in Northern and Central California as part of a statewide program to enhance the safety, reliability, and affordability of its gas and electric services. Similar metering programs are now underway at utilities throughout the country and around the world. To date, PG&E has installed nearly nine million gas and electric SmartMeters™.

Independent studies repeatedly have affirmed the safety and accuracy of SmartMeters™. However, in response to comments from some customers, PG&E last March proposed offering them a choice to turn off the radios in their SmartMeters™. The utility also provided customers with the option to delay the installation of new SmartMeters™ until the CPUC approves a way to opt-out of the program. Now, in response to further customer feedback, PG&E today asked the CPUC to approve analog meters as an additional alternative to receiving a SmartMeter™.

Burt added, "Personal choice is important to our customers. In response to their requests, we are asking the Commission to approve an option for customers to receive analog meters."

The CPUC is expected to issue its SmartMeter™ opt-out decision soon. That decision will likely ask customers who opt-out of the program to pay an initial fee and some reasonable monthly charge to cover the costs of manual meter reading and other associated operational and billing issues.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas and electric utilities in the United States. Based in San Francisco, with 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of the nation's cleanest energy to 15 million people in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit: http://www.pge.com/about/newsroom/.

Joint Chiefs Says United States Is Ready for War with Iran

I have said once and I will say it again, "laser wars, nothing, but laser wars!" It looks like the war drums are pounding and the next hit is Iran. Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey says so:

"I am satisfied that the options that we are developing are evolving to a point that they would be executable if necessary," he said.

I'm not surprised. What is the general supposed to say? A general would lose his stars if he ever admitted that America wasn't prepared for any contingency. I bet the military has contingency plans that would make Hollywood story writers green with envy.

The good general also says that the military is ready to destroy Iran's "secret" nuclear (or nookular if you ignant) arsenal on President Obama's order.

Source: CNN

Scientists Demonstrate Decoded Neurofeedback Method of Potentially Downloading New Skills Into Human Brains Like The Matrix

We all knew that it was just a matter of time before some scientists began developing Matrix-like cerebral technology. Please don't sleep, and think that Matrix-like technology is limited to the movie screen. If a novel technology is depicted in a movie, then that technology either already exists or it will soon be developed by some agency like DARPA.

###

Press Release 11-257

Vision Scientists Demonstrate Innovative Learning Method

New research suggests it may be possible to learn high-performance tasks with little or no conscious effort

December 8, 2011
View a video showing researchers explaining Decoded Neurofeedback.

New research published today in the journal Science suggests it may be possible to use brain technology to learn to play a piano, reduce mental stress or hit a curve ball with little or no conscious effort. It's the kind of thing seen in Hollywood's "Matrix" franchise.

Experiments conducted at Boston University (BU) and ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories in Kyoto, Japan, recently demonstrated that through a person's visual cortex, researchers could use decoded functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to induce brain activity patterns to match a previously known target state and thereby improve performance on visual tasks.

Think of a person watching a computer screen and having his or her brain patterns modified to match those of a high-performing athlete or modified to recuperate from an accident or disease. Though preliminary, researchers say such possibilities may exist in the future.

"Adult early visual areas are sufficiently plastic to cause visual perceptual learning," said lead author and BU neuroscientist Takeo Watanabe of the part of the brain analyzed in the study.

Neuroscientists have found that pictures gradually build up inside a person's brain, appearing first as lines, edges, shapes, colors and motion in early visual areas. The brain then fills in greater detail to make a red ball appear as a red ball, for example.

Researchers studied the early visual areas for their ability to cause improvements in visual performance and learning.

"Some previous research confirmed a correlation between improving visual performance and changes in early visual areas, while other researchers found correlations in higher visual and decision areas," said Watanabe, director of BU's Visual Science Laboratory. "However, none of these studies directly addressed the question of whether early visual areas are sufficiently plastic to cause visual perceptual learning." Until now.

Boston University post-doctoral fellow Kazuhisa Shibata designed and implemented a method using decoded fMRI neurofeedback to induce a particular activation pattern in targeted early visual areas that corresponded to a pattern evoked by a specific visual feature in a brain region of interest. The researchers then tested whether repetitions of the activation pattern caused visual performance improvement on that visual feature.

The result, say researchers, is a novel learning approach sufficient to cause long-lasting improvement in tasks that require visual performance.

What's more, the approached worked even when test subjects were not aware of what they were learning.

"The most surprising thing in this study is that mere inductions of neural activation patterns corresponding to a specific visual feature led to visual performance improvement on the visual feature, without presenting the feature or subjects' awareness of what was to be learned," said Watanabe, who developed the idea for the research project along with Mitsuo Kawato, director of ATR lab and Yuka Sasaki, an assistant in neuroscience at Massachusetts General Hospital.

"We found that subjects were not aware of what was to be learned while behavioral data obtained before and after the neurofeedback training showed that subjects' visual performance improved specifically for the target orientation, which was used in the neurofeedback training," he said.

The finding brings up an inevitable question. Is hypnosis or a type of automated learning a potential outcome of the research?

"In theory, hypnosis or a type of automated learning is a potential outcome," said Kawato. "However, in this study we confirmed the validity of our method only in visual perceptual learning. So we have to test if the method works in other types of learning in the future. At the same time, we have to be careful so that this method is not used in an unethical way."

At present, the decoded neurofeedback method might be used for various types of learning, including memory, motor and rehabilitation.

The National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan supported the research.

-NSF-

Media Contacts
Bobbie Mixon, NSF (703) 292-8485 bmixon@nsf.gov

Program Contacts
Lynne Bernstein, NSF (703) 292-8643 lbernste@nsf.gov

Principal Investigators
Takeo Watanabe, Boston University (617) 353-1103 takeo@bu.edu
Mitsuo Kawato, ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories kawato@atr.jp

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2011, its budget is about $6.9 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 universities and institutions. Each year, NSF receives over 45,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes over 11,500 new funding awards. NSF also awards over $400 million in professional and service contracts yearly.

Get/Receive News Updates by Email

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Congress Agrees to Nullify Traditional Incandescent Light Bulb Ban

*Please see below for the image key

I have never bought one of those newfangled, compact fluorescent bulbs, and I never planned to do so even with a pending a Congressional ban. I would have had to find a legal alternative for my energy needs, because I was not going to use a fragile, glass bulb that contains mercury. Fortunately, it appears that Congress is going to void the previous law that was set to ban traditional light bulbs.

Congressional Republicans dropped almost all of the policy restrictions they tried to attach to the bill, but won inclusion of the light bulb provision, which prevents the Obama administration from carrying through a 2007 law that would have set energy efficiency standards that effectively made the traditional light bulb obsolete.

I have not been able to find the actual bill text, but I hear the provision is tucked within 1,200 pages of Congressional language.

Source: Washington Times

*Image Key: Diagram showing the major parts of a modern incandescent light bulb.

1. Glass bulb
2. Inert gas
3. Tungsten filament
4. Contact wire (goes to foot)
5. Contact wire (goes to base)
6. Support wires
7. Glass mount/support
8. Base contact wire
9. Screw threads
10. Insulation
11. Electrical foot contact

FLASHBACK: Twenty Percent (20%) of Human Genes Have Been Patented (Intellectual Property Landscape of the Human Genome)(2005)

Do people own their bodies? Legally, does a person own the intellectual property in the genetic composition of his/her body? According to this 2005 study I stumbled across from a few years ago, it is arguable whether a person truly owns the intellectual property in his/her bodies and genetic composition.

Our results reveal that nearly 20% of human genes are explicitly claimed as U.S. IP. This represents 4382 of the 23,688 of genes in the NCBI's gene database at the time of writing (see figure, right). These genes are claimed in 4270 patents within 3050 patent families.

A person should think about that the next time before he/she gives blood or other DNA to a medical facility. That facility could easily use (or license) that genetic material as the basis for some type of bioscience process and then claim the intellectual property in the ownership of the results in the process.


Source: Science Magazine

Image Source: Antony-22 (per: Creative Commons Attribution - Share Alike 3.0 Unported license)

High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (Images of Planet Mars)

"Get your ass to Mars!"

This is what Hauser said to Douglas Quaid in the famous 1990 movie Total Recall. It is now the year 2011 (soon to be 2012) and you would think that travel to Mars would be readily available to the public by now. However, as far as I know, a person can't book a trip no matter how much money he/she has.

While the public can't visit Mars physically, one can do so virtually through the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment at the University of Arizona. The above image is just one of many that can be viewed at the HRISE site.

Enjoy!

Was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Killed Because of His Proposed "#OccupyDC"-Style Poor People's Campaign of 1968?

On or about 1967, Marian Wright Edelman proposed to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. the idea of a 500,000 poor-person march to Washington DC and long-term encampment. Dr. King embraced the idea of a "non-violent army of the poor" and began to plan it for 1968. The goal was to force government action on the problems of poverty. King's proposed idea sounds very similar to the Occupy Wall Street encampments currently in many cities around the world.

The above video (Evidence of Revision Part 6 around the 45:00 mark) presents that case that Dr. King was a victim of State-sponsored murder due to the campaign. This is a fascinating documentary on the motives behind Dr. King's assassination. It presents the case that Army Intelligence saw Dr. King as a threat to U.S. national security, because the Army felt he was about to start a revolution with the poor-people's campaign. Dr. King said the following to the powers-that-be about the proposed campaign.

Very frankly, this is a set for an alternative to riots. If the Nation doesn't respond to us as we labor there 2 or 3 months, however long it takes, God only knows what we will face in terms of chaos. This is a kind of a last desperate demand for the Nation to respond to non-violence.

If you cannot view the above video, then you can check this YouTube link.

GOP Debate Presented by CNN, AEI & Heritage Foundation (Full Video - November 22, 2011)

I have not seen all of this Republican candidates' video from Washington, DC, so I cannot provide any analysis of its content yet. However, you can watch the full video by clicking the above image or clicking here if you cannot see it. This is indeed the best reality show on television.

Lancaster, California Approves Aerial Surveillance System to Provide Sheriff’s Station with Crime-Fighting Tool

File photo

My initial thought on this Lancaster program is privacy. It seems like this is nothing, but big brother in the sky. According to the undated Acquisition and Management Agreement between the City of Lancaster and Aero View, LLC, once this program goes operational, this aerial program will track, trace and database for an average of ten (10) hours per day, 365 days per year! The press release below addresses the privacy concerns. I still don't know if that is sufficient for me, but the powers-that-be are certainly aware of the privacy issues with this program.

301. Law Enforcement Surveillance Program. Commencing on the Operation Date Aero View shall provide an average of 10 hours of aerial surveillance daily every day of the year at times to the determined by LASD or approximately 303 hours per month. Aero View, the City and LASD shall enter into one or more memorandum of understanding setting forth the operation details and protocols to be followed in connection with the implementation of the Law Enforcement Surveillance Program. Such memorandum shall provide at a minimum that (i) the surveillance equipment installed on the Aircraft will deliver quality imaging via an encrypted communications link to equipment at the LASD Lancaster Station; (ii) the imagery, the media receiving the imagery and the storage and playback equipment will be physically retained and controlled by LASD only; (iii) the City and Aero View will not have access to the imagery provided by the System except as determined by the LASD in furtherance of the law enforcement purposes or quality control; and (iv) all surveillance operations will be controlled by LASD personnel by commanding the surveillance mode and/or objects to be targeted.

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City of Lancaster To Team Up with Local Aerospace Firm to Provide the Lancaster Sheriff’s Station with Crime-Fighting Tool Above All Others

Posted Date: 11/4/2011 11:00 AM

The City of Lancaster and Lancaster-based Aero View LLC today formally announced that the Lancaster City Council will consider adding an aerial law enforcement surveillance system to the City’s arsenal of crime-fighting tools. Employee- and veteran-owned Aero View LLC has created a Law Enforcement Aerial Platform System (LEAPS) which will help law enforcement agencies become more effective at keeping neighborhoods safe. The matter will go before the City Council at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, and is considered one of the most significant proposals affecting Lancaster’s ongoing war on crime.

“Public safety has always been priority number one for this Council,” said Mayor R. Rex Parris. “We have worked closely with the Sheriff’s Department over the past four years to ensure we do everything to stomp out crime. Now, the Sheriff’s Department will have an aerial advantage to add to their arsenal.”

Recently, the City of Lancaster announced a 16% drop in its 2011 crime rate to date, in comparison to the same period last year. By the end of 2011, the City is on target to achieve a 40% reduction in crime since 2007. City and Sheriff’s Department officials are looking forward to utilizing the new aerial system to take their crime-fighting efforts to a higher level.

Mayor Parris has been steadfast in pursuing affordable aerial surveillance technology for law enforcement in Lancaster. He has an unwavering belief that this will not only continue to reduce crime in Lancaster, but also provide law enforcement agencies nationwide with a model and tool which will benefit their public safety efforts; not just through more effective operations after a crime has occurred, but as a deterrent to committing crimes in the first place.

Lancaster Sheriff’s Station Captain Bob Jonsen says the capabilities of LEAPS will enable law enforcement teams to be even more effective in fighting crime in Lancaster.

“From a public safety perspective, LEAPS can follow a criminal target via visual movement at altitudes ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 feet above ground level, while using both visible and infrared images for tracking,” said Jonsen. “It is an effective and economical resource offering superior surveillance, patrol and investigative capabilities.”

LEAPS is also unique in that it is the first aircraft system of its kind offered at such an economical value, while ensuring citizen privacy. The system follows existing law enforcement and citizen privacy protocol, as already established by the Sheriff’s Department. Additionally, the Sheriff’s Department will have complete control over the data, surveillance and operation of the Law Enforcement Aerial Platform System, and only assigned LASD personnel will be privy to the information and video transmitted from the aircraft. The imagery recorded by the system will be encrypted and fed directly to the Sheriff’s station, not being viewed or retained at any point by the aircraft, the pilot, or the City. This ensures that citizen privacy rights are protected and upheld to the same letter of the law which currently exists.

Another benefit of LEAPS is that it allows the Sheriff’s Department to quickly access up to two years of video data. If a crime goes unreported, then is later discovered, case-relevant activity footage may have been transmitted by LEAPS, thus providing evidentiary data for the Sheriff’s Department.

The Law Enforcement Aerial Platform System, was created by Aero View LLC, and engineered and developed by Spiral Technology, Inc., another veteran-owned small business aerospace firm operating in the City of Lancaster for more than 15 years. By coupling a widely built U.S. aircraft, the Cessna 172, with relatively affordable optical equipment, Aero View is able to employ the software and engineering know-how of Spiral’s engineers to produce this uniquely effective and affordable system.

“When we met with the City and Sheriff’s Department, we wanted to come away with a thorough understanding of the needs in this community, and find a way to meet them within pre-defined budget constraints,” said Aero View LLC President Steve Mc Carter. “We have successfully accomplished this with LEAPS.”

The Law Enforcement Aerial Platform System is a low maintenance, fuel-efficient, low noise product which will be fueled, maintained, and hangared at Fox Field in Lancaster. The value of the system components, including the plane and optical equipment, is estimated at $1.3 Million, and will become City assets.

No operational funding will be required in Fiscal Year 2011-2012, as the first 12 months of service and operations of LEAPS are at no cost to the City as part of the Acquisition and Management Agreement between the City of Lancaster and Aero View LLC, which will be considered by the City Council.

Mayor Parris and the City have pursued development of this system since 2008. After two previous attempts to launch a successful program with other partners, the proposed partnership between Lancaster and Aero View LLC is leagues above other pursuits and stands to realize as significant an impact on economic development as it will have on public safety.

“With Aero View LLC and Spiral Technology, Inc. being headquartered here in Lancaster, the Antelope Valley will reap the benefits of both significant economic activity and jobs,” stated Mayor Parris. “This is exactly the type of boost we need to our local economy.”

The City of Lancaster’s contractual arrangement with Aero View LLC commits future business development, design, acquisition, manufacture, assembly, sales and service operations to occur in Lancaster for a period of 10 years from the date of execution of the Agreement. With such an innovative, cost-effective system being offered to cities and counties always searching for new affordable ways to combat and prevent crime, the demand for LEAPS is projected to be high.

“For a while now, we have been pursuing development and deployment of an effective, robust and affordable aerial surveillance system for use by our Lancaster Sheriff’s Station,” said Mayor Parris. “Now, thanks to Aero View, our Sheriff’s Department will have access to a system which enables them to be more proactive and responsive to law enforcement needs throughout our entire City.”

Upon approval from the Lancaster City Council, implementation of the City of Lancaster/Aero View LLC agreement will begin, and the first LEAPS model will be developed and deployed in Lancaster in early Spring of 2012.

Cyberdyne's Robot Suit HAL That Augments Human Capability & Strength

What in the name of John Connor is going on over in Japan? Robot suits? Made by a company called Cyberdyne. This is beyond creepy, yo!

Department of Agriculture Imposes Fifteen Cent Fee Per Christmas Tree on Producers and Importers (And Then Suspends It)

For all those who celebrate Christmas in the United States of America and buy Christmas trees, this entry in the Federal Registry entitled Christmas Tree Promotion, Research, and Information Order (7 CFR Part 1214) just might interest you. There will be a fifteen cent (15¢) fee for each tree on all producers and importers. For the producers and importers who are likely working on a tight margin, they will pass this along to their respective customers!

This rule establishes an industry-funded promotion, research, and information program for fresh cut Christmas trees. The Christmas Tree Promotion, Research, and Information Order (Order) is authorized under the Commodity Promotion, Research, and Information Act of 1996 (1996 Act). The Order will establish a national Christmas Tree Promotion Board (Board) comprised of 11 producers and one importer. Under the Order, producers and importers of fresh cut Christmas trees will pay an initial assessment of fifteen cents per Christmas tree. Producers and importers that produce or import less than 500 Christmas trees annually will be exempt from the assessment. A referendum will be conducted, among producers and importers, three years after the collection of assessments begin to determine if Christmas tree producers and importers favor the continuation of this program.

Click here for the applicable Federal Register version for your needs (HTML, text, PDF).

This is just more government regulation for no real reason. Does the country really need to be putting tax dollars money to a Christmas Tree Promotion Board? If the industry wants to impose fees among its members, then do it, but do it privately and leave the government out of it.

But wait!!! News sources indicate that the Department of Agriculture is going to temporarily suspend this program. I guess the backlash from the public is not making it feasible at this time.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is going to delay implementation and revisit a proposed new 15 cent fee on fresh-cut Christmas trees, sources tell ABC News.