China doubles down on internet control after tough new law

BEIJING (AP) — China’s leaders and official media are pushing for greater control of the internet and technology products as tensions surrounding a far-reaching Chinese cybersecurity law loom over a gathering this week of the world’s leading tech firms and Chinese officials.

The Communist Party’s mouthpiece People’s Daily warned in an editorial on Thursday that China must break monopolies over core technologies and standards and remain untethered to other countries’ technology supply chains.

The commentary, aimed apparently at Silicon Valley in unusually stark terms, comes one day after President Xi Jinping called for “more fair and equitable” governance of the internet at the opening of the state-run World Internet Conference. Since 2014, China has hosted executives from the likes of Microsoft, Apple, Facebook and Alibaba in eastern China to promote its vision of an internet that is more tightly controlled by national governments rather than running unchecked as a transnational network.

The conference this week has highlighted U.S. and China’s competing and increasingly entrenched views about the internet, trade and cybersecurity, and the potential for these issues to become an enduring irritant in bilateral relations.

Xi reiterated on Wednesday the Chinese position of “internet sovereignty” over its 700 million Internet users, while other top leaders declared the country’s willingness to work with the global industry for mutual benefit — if security could be assured on China’s terms.

Earlier this month, China passed a broad cybersecurity law that gives law enforcement greater powers to access private data and requires data to be stored locally on Chinese servers. Human rights groups have voiced concern about police overreach while U.S. firms have lobbied against the measure, saying it would wall off China’s internet and unfairly hamper their access to the market.

Other Chinese proposals in recent years have effectively discouraged state-backed companies and agencies from buying foreign products out of cyber-spying concerns. China has also encouraged its state-backed sector to develop — or outright acquire — technologies in strategically critical industries like semiconductors, which it believes to be an Achilles heel of the Chinese economy. Recent efforts to acquire U.S. chip companies have been rebuffed by U.S. regulators on national security grounds.

Foreign technology trade groups say the regulations have used security as a pretext for enacting protectionist trade policies to benefit China’s tech industry, and more than 40 groups signed a letter to Communist Party cyberspace officials last week urging China to respect its World Trade Organization commitments.

“We are concerned that these commitments are undermined by public statements and other forms of high-level guidance that call for indigenous and controllable substitution plans for information technology products and services,” the trade groups said, while acknowledging that China faced “legitimate security concerns.”

Beijing has said the internet has been overwhelmingly dominated by the United States and it has backed a proposal to transfer control over some of the internet’s core architecture to a U.N agency, the International Telecommunication Union.

Critics, however, objected to letting authoritarian regimes like Iran and China get equal votes on matters affecting speech. The U.S. government in September privatized control over the systems by transferring them to a nonprofit oversight organization.

The People’s Daily made clear in its editorial on Thursday that China needed to avoid dependence on foreign firms “particularly by breaking monopolies over core technologies and standards and not allowing other countries to control vital supply chains.”

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Legal Industry Diversity And Inclusion Survey Reveals Implicit/Unconscious Bias Is Main Obstacle At Law Firms



ARLINGTON, Va., Nov. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Survey results from the first Big Law Business Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report reveal that a substantial majority of law firm respondents – 69 percent – say that the most prevalent challenge in advancing diversity and inclusion at their law firms is implicit or unconscious bias.  In collaboration with Paul Hastings, the results of the survey are available at http://about.bna.com/2016-diversity-survey.

Other notable obstacles to advancing diversity and inclusion in law firms identified by the report include a lack of diversity on the executive committee (48 percent), lack of succession planning for institutional client relationships (46 percent), not getting asked to go on client pitches (45 percent), lack of diversity on compensation committees (41 percent), and clients not pushing for diversity (41 percent).

The silver lining is that a majority of both law firm attorneys (61 percent) and corporate attorneys (56 percent) deem diversity and inclusion important to their firm or legal department. According to the survey, law firms and corporations have similar diversity and inclusion goals/targets in place. However, 59 percent of corporate in-house attorneys said they do not know whether their outside counsel has a diversity and inclusion plan in effect.

“There are a number of significant challenges to achieving diversity and inclusion in the legal field,” said Mike MacKay, President, Cross Platform Businesses, Bloomberg BNA.  “The prescriptions laid out in this report provide a way forward for firms to demonstrate progress in this critical area.”

Greg Nitzkowski, Paul Hasting’s Managing Partner and a member of its Diversity Committee, noted, “This report highlights the major ground that law firms still need to cover in order to make substantial change. It also uncovers that law firms need to do a better job of discussing this topic with clients.”

Other notable findings in the report include:

  • 45 percent of respondents cite a lack of awareness of the business case for diversity
  • 45 percent of respondents indicate a lack of diverse role models
  • 76 percent of law firm respondents say pressure from clients is the biggest catalyst for change
  • 55 percent of corporate attorneys feel diversity and inclusion is an important factor in selecting outside counsel

Looking to the future, the report recommends:

  • Developing and clearly communicating the business case for diversity and inclusion at both firms and corporations
  • Ensuring everyone within the organization understands the plan for diversity and inclusion and has a role to play
  • Looking to monetary incentives to promote diversity and inclusion, with lower incentive payouts for not meeting diversity goals

The survey was conducted in the summer of 2016 and represents the views of 261 law firm attorneys and corporate counsel.

About Bloomberg BNABloomberg BNA provides legal, tax and compliance professionals with critical information, practical guidance and workflow solutions.  We leverage leading technology and a global network of experts to deliver a unique combination of news and authoritative analysis, comprehensive research solutions, innovative practice tools, and proprietary business data and analytics.  Bloomberg BNA is wholly-owned by Bloomberg L.P., the global business, financial information and news leader.  For more information, visit www.bna.com. 

About Big Law BusinessBig Law Business provides news, analysis, and information about the legal profession, with a focus on the business of law and the largest U.S. law firms. Featuring journalists from Bloomberg BNA and Bloomberg News, as well as columnists and contributors who lead and consult the world’s largest law firms, corporations and law schools, Big Law Business is focused on the significant developments shaping the legal industry.  The site is available at www.biglawbusiness.com.

About Paul HastingsAt Paul Hastings, our purpose is clear — to help our clients and people navigate new paths to growth. With a strong presence throughout Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the U.S., Paul Hastings is recognized as one of the world’s most innovative global law firms.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/legal-industry-diversity-and-inclusion-survey-reveals-implicitunconscious-bias-is-main-obstacle-at-law-firms-300364249.html

SOURCE Bloomberg BNA

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Law and disorder: Texas Law Hawk flying high for the holidays

“Nobody wants a sweaty lawyer.”

This pearl of seemingly incontestable wisdom comes up quite a bit when hanging out with Bryan Wilson, Fort Worth’s self-proclaimed Texas Law Hawk.

Because, despite his common-sense motto, he works up a sweat — a lot of sweat.

Wilson is the criminal defense attorney whose unhinged YouTube commercials — a goofball’s fever dream of explosions, dirt bikes, jet skis, lucha libre, flags, fire, bikinis, hawks, Hungry Hungry Hippos and, oh yeah, very loud legal advice — have gone as viral as the flu in January.

And while making them may not require blood (unless one of his stunts goes awry) or tears (ditto), there will be sweat.

Like on a steamy July morning when Wilson, dressed in a courtroom-crisp dark suit, charges like he’s going into battle down the middle of the Fort Worth Stockyards’ Exchange Avenue. He’s carrying a giant Texas flag aloft while screaming at the top of his lungs. This time it’s not for one of his ads but a segment on CMT’s Southbound travel series.

Over the course of the afternoon, his trademarked bellow of “IT’S HOT OUT HERE!” becomes the soundtrack for a sultry day, momentarily diverting tourists’ attention from cowboys and cattle. Between takes, a towel turns out to be nearly as invaluable as his old Paschal High School buddies, Nic Butts (the bullying Officer Butts in Wilson’s ads) and Drew Garrison, who help him out on his shoots.

And he may even have come to terms with his propensity for perspiration.

“I don’t much care anymore,” he says. “If I’m sweating, it’s Texas, it’s hot as sin, and it’s the middle of summer. Anybody in Texas, which is my potential client base, knows how hot it is.”

Global attention

Turns out, many people do want a sweaty lawyer.

Wilson’s four commercials — a holiday-themed fifth one is set to drop online Nov. 27 — have turned the 30-year-old attorney with a small office on the edge of downtown into an online sensation. His third ad, released just over a year ago and the one that really sent him into internet overdrive, has attracted nearly 1.8 million views.

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Stories about him appeared in the press from New York to New Zealand . CNN said his videos are “laugh-out-loud funny, a mix of schoolboy antics, boisterous characters and comedic sketch show.” BBC labeled him “the loudest lawyer in America,” Texas Monthly lauded him as “the internet’s new favorite lawyer,” and the Houston Chronicle cranked it up a notch, declaring him “the Evel Knievel of lawyers.”

His videos caught the attention of Madison Avenue, too. He appeared in this year’s Taco Bell Super Bowl ad, where he loudly makes a case for the Quesalupa, and in a slightly less voluble spot for Clio, a legal-software company.

The exposure has drummed up business. And the ads aren’t just about going for giggles. Wilson deals mostly with DWI, assault and drug cases (“I don’t want homicide or animal-cruelty cases”) and each commercial has a lesson about knowing your rights when dealing with the police.

The approach has struck a chord not only with random YouTube viewers but other attorneys, as Wilson was voted the lawyer of 2015 by readers of Above the Law, a news site for all things legal. He scored more votes than Mary Bonauto, who argued against state bans on same-sex marriage before the U.S. Supreme Court, and U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. (Previous winners include Chief Justice John Roberts and President Barack Obama.)

“I think what people found so appealing and refreshing about Bryan is how he doesn’t take himself too seriously,” David Lat, Above the Law’s founder and managing editor, said in a phone interview. “A lot of our readers, who are mainly lawyers and law students, reacted very well to someone showing that attorneys can laugh at themselves. … You see that he is definitely not conforming to the tired old playbook of lawyers standing in front of a wall of books.”

Nashville-based CMT senior producer Tim Hardiman knew that when his Southbound travel show came to DFW, he had to include Wilson along with some of the usual North Texas landmarks.

“My wife, who is an attorney, showed me Bryan’s ads a few weeks before they went viral. At first I thought it was a spoof, but when she told me he was a legit attorney, I was fascinated,” Hardiman said. “As a producer, I’ve always been drawn to characters. There was something about the Law Hawk that resonated with me.”

More dove than hawk?

But when the cameras aren’t rolling — and he’s not jumping a stand-up jet ski off of a boat ramp or doing wheelies on a dirt bike — visitors don’t need to cover their ears to have a conversation with Wilson.

Sure, he has “hawk” cuff links, and a “Lawhawk” license plate on his Escalade, but whether he’s on his way to a meeting with a judge at the courthouse in downtown Fort Worth or seated in his office — a short walk from the condo he shares with his corgi, Muffins — the Texas A&M and Texas Tech Law School grad comes across as anything but hawkish.

“I’m going to show you a picture,” he says one afternoon, grabbing a photo near his desk of three teenage guys seemingly full of the cool bravado that comes with adolescence. It’s a shot of Wilson, Butts and another friend, Willy Gorfein.

It’s taken inside Fort Worth Municipal Court, where the three had to appear because of a stunt involving fireworks, an orange flame-retardant jumpsuit.

He’s not sure if this was the first time that he became intrigued by the law, but it was one of the sparks. “We started going down to the courthouse when someone would get a seat belt ticket, a speeding ticket or anything,” he recalled. “That was a lot of fun and that was an early taste that I got of being in a courtroom and respectfully arguing a case or presenting your point of what happened.”

Stuntmen and frat boys

But Wilson, the youngest of four and the only son of a psychiatric nurse and an aerospace engineer, also had a more adventurous career in mind beyond law.

“I was actually going to stunt school instead of college,” he says. “I knew I eventually wanted to be a lawyer, but what I was going to do was, straight from high school, be a stuntman and, if it didn’t work, go back to school.”

Wilson, who had played football, says he focused on gymnastics (“I was the oldest and tallest human in that place by a long shot”), particularly tumbling, trampolines, floor exercises and bar work.

But all of his daredevilish plans changed his senior year.

“I shattered bones in both my ankles. I couldn’t even walk up stairs,” he says. “That’s a big résumé gap for a stunt man. I could do awesome wheelies or ride a unicycle, but I couldn’t land on my feet. [I said] I guess I’ll apply to school as fast as I can.”

He applied to TCU and A&M and his father convinced him to go with the latter because it was “way, way cheaper.”

At A&M, he joined a fraternity and, seeing as he’s hardly shy and has, to quote one of his videos, a total “due process, do wheelies” attitude, it would seem like the perfect environment for him — except that it wasn’t.

“I don’t regret many things in my life because it’s led me to where I am, but I wouldn’t do it again,” he said. “They hazed the living dog [expletive] out of me. … I felt like I couldn’t tell anyone about it for a long time.”

He also suffered a skull fracture while playing rugby. His grades suffered. “I had a lot of fun in high school,” he says. “I didn’t have nearly as much in college.”

He graduated with a finance degree in December 2009 and worked at the legendary and sprawling Fort Worth Tex-Mex restaurant Joe T. Garcia’s as a server for a semester. “It was a blast,” he says. “It’s fast-paced and an incredible amount of exercise. You have to sprint or you’re going to be in the weeds. … [And I was] making really good money there.”

But he had made up his mind that he was going to law school.

“I had no idea what it was going to be like,” he says of his time in law school at Texas Tech. “But I just loved every single class.”

The Hawk’s first squawk

And it was at Texas Tech where his alter ego, the Texas Law Hawk, with his razor-sharp “talons of justice,” was born.

It rose out of a weary study session with some friends in the library. They decided they each needed power animals. He was crowned the Texas Law Hawk.

After he graduated in 2013, it came in handy when he opened his office the following year.

Wilson and Butts, who in high school had enjoyed making short films together, decided to make a mock commercial for the Texas Law Hawk and post it to Wilson’s Facebook page. It would combine two of his favorite things — law and stunts — and wasn’t really meant for wide public consumption.

But the video was shared by many and eventually attracted the notice of the State Bar of Texas Advertising Review committee, which regulates how law firms advertise themselves.

“Then came all the hatred,” Wilson says of some other lawyers. “[They said,] ‘This guy’s such a chump,’ ‘What a jackass.’ … At first, people were accusing my advertisements of being unethical. I said, ‘Whoa! That’s something I try hard not to be.’ ”

He talked with Darby Dickerson, one of his Texas Tech law professors, about the approach he should take in his videos. She thought a scene in that first video where he kicks a computer out of a policeman’s hands was over the line, while the panel dinged him for not saying his real name every time he identified himself as “the Texas Law Hawk.”

He pulled that first video.

“Bryan is smart, bold and entrepreneurial,” Dickerson said in an email. “I was surprised when I saw the ad. It was … audacious. He showed me a draft, and we discussed some parts that concerned me. But I was impressed that he had researched the ethics rules and also had a very firm sense of who he was trying to reach and why.”

“They do push the envelope a little bit, in my opinion,” says Pat Rafferty, marketing and advertising director at Androvett Legal Media and a public, nonattorney member of the Advertising Review committee, of Wilson’s commercials. “And let me also state that the committee does not regulate taste. … That said, I’ve seen a lot of what he has produced and I think he’s trying to have fun with it.”

Wilson says his intended audience gets his humor, even if other lawyers don’t.

He points to Waco attorneys Will Hutson and Chris Harris — who’ve gone viral with a video of them singing a tune called Don’t Eat Your Weed — as brothers in legal arms.

If you’re caught with marijuana, don’t swallow or try to destroy it, the song says, because that could earn an additional charge of tampering with evidence.

“That’s such an awesome lesson and people need to know that,” says Wilson, “which is what I’m trying to do with each of mine, is teach a legal lesson.”

Beneath all the bluster, Wilson’s videos attempt to answer such questions as: Do you have to take the breathalyzer, blood test or perform field sobriety tests if you’re pulled over? Or, can an officer enter your premises without a warrant?

“I start with the legal lesson and make it funny and under two minutes and within budget,” Wilson explains. “We try to make sure it’s something that people pass around, make sure it’s good and [will] get people to call me.”

Wilson is just the latest in a long line of attorneys making attention-grabbing commercials since the prohibition against lawyers advertising was struck down in 1977. Texans are familiar with Houston’s Jim Adler (“The Texas Hammer”), while Savannah, Ga.’s Jamie Casino has made waves with a couple of extremely cinematic, two-minute-plus spots — one with a sledgehammer on fire! — that ran during the Super Bowl on Savannah TV. (Adler was contacted for this story about his opinion on upstart Wilson but declined to comment.)

“I know how ridiculous I’m being,” Wilson says. “Motorcycle people are going to like the wheelies, people who like crazy, patriotic stuff are going to like it, cops like it, people who don’t like cops like it, people who like stunts, people who like silly jokes. … I like making [these videos]. They’re a lot of fun and I get to hang out with my buddies.”

A Hawk holiday

That’s exactly what Wilson was doing on a recent October morning when he teamed up with Butts, longtime friend/Austin filmmaker Jake R. Sam and a few other recruits to make his latest video, a slice of Christmas-themed silliness called Law Hawk on Ice, at North Richland Hills’ chilly NYTEX Sports Centre ice rink.

This time Officer Butts is pulling over Santa (J.D. Jimmerson IV, another friend) and his elf sidekick (actor Kenny Bingham) while they’re trying to deliver packages.

Perhaps most importantly, Wilson’s not sweating this time.

“This is the right temperature,” he says and then references his Dallas Cowboys-themed apparel. “I’m even wearing a sweater.”

But he is busy, helping with everything from blowing air into the plastic reindeer to pulling the makeshift sled across the ice.

He’s both looking forward to and dreading the clip’s big stunt involving a Christmas tree, being filmed later that night at his place. “I might break something on this one,” he jokes.

Back in the summer, he had talked about how nervous he had been just before shooting the fourth video’s jet-ski-off-a-ramp scene.

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“I’m never scared of whatever thing I come up with. I don’t think about that until I’m right about to do it,” he says. “I could snap a neck, break a leg.”

And could all of this just be a rather circuitous route to Hollywood, a place he might have landed if not for those shattered ankles all those years ago?

In July, Wilson had batted away the suggestion.

“I think part of my appeal is that I do criminal defense. I don’t think I’m that cool outside of criminal defense,” he says. “Plus, I like what I do, so I’m going to stick with it.”

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National Law Journal Names Dan Mitchell Cybersecurity Trailblazer

PORTLAND and AUGUSTA, Maine and MANCHESTER, N.H. – Dan Mitchell, shareholder and co-chair of the Data Security Team at Bernstein Shur, has been named to the National Law Journal’s second annual list of Cyber Security Trailblazers for his groundbreaking work in cybersecurity law.

The National Law Journal’s Cyber Security Trailblazers recognizes attorneys from across the country who have moved the needle with innovative legal strategies through contributions to the practice of data security and privacy law. Their work has shaped the laws that guard society against digital criminals while keeping pace with this ever-evolving threat.

“This distinction demonstrates the very deliberate efforts we’ve undertaken to become a national leader in information security and technology law,” said Bernstein Shur CEO Pat Scully. “These challenges are here to stay, and under Dan’s leadership, Bernstein Shur is ready to help clients both anticipate and navigate the aftermath of a data security incident.”

Mitchell began practicing cybersecurity law before data breaches and information hacks were commonplace. He represented Patco Construction in its appeal before the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Patco Construction Co., Inc. v. People’s United Bank, 684 F.3d 197 (1st Cir. 2012), a bellwether decision on how courts evaluate the commercial reasonableness of internet banking security procedures. He has been featured in numerous publications as a data security law expert, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Krebs on Security and Wired.

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Since the development of Bernstein Shur’s Data Security Team in 2012, Mitchell has played a central role in raising the team’s national visibility, with fellow members of the team tapped to speak at the American Bankers Association Risk Management Conference, Maine Bankers Expo and more. Mitchell has been recognized by Chambers USA for commercial litigation and is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell. In 2014, he was named to Bank Info Security’s list of Top Ten Influencers.

About Bernstein Shur

Founded in 1915, Bernstein Shur is a New England-based law firm advising clients across the U.S. and around the world. Our 110+ award-winning attorneys and professionals provide practical and innovative counsel, and practice in more than 20 key areas across a variety of industries.

Bernstein Shur is known for simplifying complex issues and winning through steadfast persistence. The firm is Maine’s exclusive member of Lex Mundi, the world’s leading association of independent law firms. Find out more at www.bernsteinshur.com.

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ImageWare Systems, Inc. (IWSY: OTCQB) | Fujitsu partners with fintech firms to launch new customer onboarding solution for financial institutions

Global partnerships with ImageWare Systems, InAuth, Intelligent Environments, Mitek & Trunomi

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM–(Marketwired – Nov 16, 2016) – Fujitsu (TYO: 6702) today announces the launch of Smart Origination, customer onboarding technology developed in unique partnership with ImageWare Systems (OTCQB: IWSY), InAuth, Intelligent Environments, Mitek (NASDAQ: MITK) and Trunomi.

The joint proposition enables financial institutions to collect, process and verify documents and the identity of new applicants in less than five minutes. It operates across multiple channels to give a seamless customer experience, ultimately increasing conversion and reducing the cost of acquisition of new customers.

Smart Origination reduces identity fraud by up to 99 percent and decreases application abandonment by 40 percent, enabling financial institutions to reduce the financial expense associated with fraudulent customers and more easily attract new customers.

The global collaboration between Fujitsu, ImageWare Systems, InAuth, Intelligent Environments, Mitek Systems and Trunomi builds on existing relationships between the technology providers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUmX9hnREiw&feature=youtu.be

Smart Origination specifically combines each firm’s specialist technology:

  • Fujitsu: K5 next generation cloud platform and trusted SI partner
  • ImageWare: Multi-modal biometrics technology covering voice, facial and iris recognition, and Fujitsu PalmSecure
  • InAuth: Advanced mobile and browser device identification, authentication, risk detection, analysis and risk scoring
  • Intelligent Environments: Powerful digital platform that accommodates any form factor including IoT
  • Mitek: Global electronic ID Verification
  • Trunomi: Customer consent management and data permissions in compliance with EU General Data Protection Regulation.

In the first collaboration of its kind, Smart Origination enables financial institutions to consolidate their digital channels approach and take advantage of a more streamlined and secured origination process, all in strict compliance with the incoming EU General Data Protection Regulation.

Gary Fegan, Head of Digital Financial Services Solutions at Fujitsu, said: The aim was to take a best of breed approach for digital origination and account servicing but also deliver this as a truly integrated and business aligned solution. I believe Smart Origination allows financial institutions to leapfrog 5 years of internal development and concentrate on real customer-focused innovation whilst meeting their regulatory requirements.”

David Webber, managing director at Intelligent Environments, said: “We live in a truly digital age, yet consumers are still becoming bogged down in old fashioned paperwork when applying for a new bank account or insurance policy. The identity verification stage of these applications alone can often take over an hour, which simply isn’t acceptable for today’s busy consumer.

“Smart Origination, created as a result of an exciting partnership with a selection of leading fintech innovators, means that financial services firms are now able to offer their customers a seamless and streamlined ID verification and application process at the click of a button.”

About ImageWare Systems, Inc.

ImageWare Systems is a leading developer of mobile and cloud-based identity management solutions, providing biometric secure credential and law enforcement technologies. Scalable for worldwide deployment, ImageWare’s patented biometric product line includes a highly scalable, multi-modal biometric engine capable of working with a wide array of sensors, modalities, and algorithms. ImageWare’s identity management products are used for secure credentials, national IDs, passports, driver’s licenses, and smart cards as well as both application and physical access control systems. ImageWare products support a wide range of biometric modalities including face, voice, fingerprint, eye, DNA, and more. 

ImageWare is headquartered in San Diego, CA, with offices in Portland, OR, Ottawa, Ontario, and Mexico. For more information about ImageWare Systems, Inc., please visit www.iwsinc.com.

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MP urges larger fines for firms which breach formula milk rules

Tougher fines should be imposed on companies which breach formula milk rules, ministers have been told amid concerns that existing laws are not being fully enforced.

SNP MP Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) also wants parents to have greater access to impartial information, with tighter controls on advertising in medical journals and promotion of formula for infants and young children.

She told the Commons that follow-on toddler milks are “not necessary at all” as a healthy balanced diet would give young children all the nutrients they require, with concerns raised over the high sugar content and cost of the products.

Ms Thewliss said there have been no prosecutions under the current regulations – which, among other things, seek to control promotions in shops and ingredients – since 2003 despite “numerous flagrant breaches”.

MPs heard a fine of up to £5,000 can be levelled against those who contravene or fail to comply with the regulations.

Read more: SNP urge Labour to suspend candidate in Charles Kennedy row

Moving her Feeding Products for Babies and Children (Advertising and Promotion) Bill, Ms Thewliss told the Commons: “Given the size and scale of the companies and industry, that level of fine would barely register at all.

“Contrast this with Romania, which has recently signalled its intent to bring in a new law banning the promotion of infant formula products for children up to the age of two.

“Breaching these rules would constitute a criminal offence, with fines of up to 100,000 Romanian leu – the equivalent of around £19,000.

“This is a step in the right direction and would put down a marker to formula companies that failure to comply is not going to be a mere slap on the wrists.”

Read more: Mhairi Black MP urges public to have their say on benefit rules

Opening her remarks, Ms Thewliss also said: “We all expect that the food we consume is safe. We’d like to hope the standard of that food is monitored, that the advertising which tries to encourage us to buy it is accurate, and should that not be the case that the companies involved will be published for misleading us.

“We expect health professionals to be knowledgeable and for them to be able to give impartial advice on foods from a position of expertise.

“And we expect parents to have access to information so they can make informed choices about how they feed the most vulnerable and precious people in our society – babies and young children.

“Unfortunately that’s not the case.

“The present means of regulating products intended for babies and children – the Infant Formula and Follow-On Formula Regulations – has loopholes and is not enforced in any meaningful way.”

Sarah Wollaston, the Conservative chairwoman of the Health Select Committee, is among the MPs backing the Bill.

Ms Thewliss asked for it to be given a second reading on February 24, although it is highly unlikely to become law without Government support.

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Congress urged to bar US acquisitions by China state firms

WASHINGTON (AP) — As Chinese investment in the United States keeps setting records, congressional advisers suggest changing U.S. law so Chinese state-owned companies can be barred from buying or gaining control of American businesses.

The concern is that such enterprises could use technology, intelligence and market power “in the service of the Chinese state,” the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said Wednesday in its annual report. The commission noted, for example, a growth in Chinese attempts to buy U.S. assets in the semi-conductor industry.

The recommendation, stemming from the security implications about foreign investment by the world’s No. 2 economy, was one of several proposals in the report, which examines a range of issues in the relationship between the powers.

Chinese investment in the U.S. reached a record $15 billion in 2015 and could climb to $30 billion in 2016. About one-quarter of that investment is from state-owned companies.

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“We don’t want the U.S. government owning large chunks of the U.S. economy, so why do we want the Chinese Communist Party owning large chunks of the U.S. economy?” said Dennis Shea, the Republican-appointed chairman of the bipartisan commission.

“These state-owned enterprises are arms of the Chinese state and Communist Party. Often they do not act purely on commercial or market basis, they have strategic considerations,” he said.

The commission members are selected by leaders of both parties in the House and Senate. They include former U.S. lawmakers, and former U.S. government, military and intelligence officials. The commission is mandated by to provide recommendations to Congress for legislative and administrative action.

The report urges Congress to amend the statute authorizing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, known as CFIUS, to prohibit Chinese state-owned enterprises “from acquiring or otherwise gaining effective control of U.S. companies.”

That committee reviews foreign acquisitions for threats to U.S. national security.

A February report by the Rhodium Group, a research organization that tracks Chinese investment in the U.S., said that for the past three years, China was the country with the most transactions scrutinized by the committee. Rhodium said that was not due to increased scrutiny of China, but rather reflected an increase in the volume of foreign investment from China and a shift in its interest toward technology acquisitions.

“The vast majority of Chinese overtures continue to pass CFIUS reviews without any problems,” researchers said. According to Rhodium, annual investment flows from China to the U.S. have exceeded American investment flows into China since 2015.

China has long complained that Washington’s security review process for investments in the U.S. unfairly targets Chinese investors. The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Carolyn Bartholomew, the Democratic-appointed vice chairman of the review commission, said that while China restricts foreign investment with laws banning foreign participation in large swaths of its economy, Chinese companies face no such obstacles in the U.S.

“People need to take a harder look at what companies are investing in the United States, why they are investing in the United States,” she said. “We just think that people are not paying enough attention to this.”

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Congress urged to bar U.S. buys by China state firms







Washington • Chinese investment in the United States keeps setting records, and now congressional advisers suggest barring Chinese state-owned companies from buying or gaining control of American businesses.

The concern is such enterprises could use technology, intelligence and market power “in the service of the Chinese state” — as those advisers put it. They note, for example, a growth in Chinese attempts to buy U.S. assets in the semi-conductor industry.

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission is out with its latest annual report. The key recommendation is for Congress to change U.S. law so Chinese state-owned enterprises can be prevented “from acquiring or otherwise gaining effective control of U.S. companies.”







Chinese investment in the U.S. could reach $30 billion in 2016. About one-quarter of that investment is from state-owned companies.








































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Congress Urged to Bar U.S. Acquisitions by China State Firms

Chinese investment in the U.S. reached a record $15 billion in 2015 and could climb to $30 billion in 2016.

WASHINGTON (AP) — As Chinese investment in the United States keeps setting records, congressional advisers suggest changing U.S. law so Chinese state-owned companies can be barred from buying or gaining control of American businesses.

The concern is that such enterprises could use technology, intelligence and market power “in the service of the Chinese state,” the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said Wednesday in its annual report. The commission noted, for example, a growth in Chinese attempts to buy U.S. assets in the semi-conductor industry.

The recommendation stemming from the security implications about foreign investment by the world’s No. 2 economy was one of several proposals in the report, which examines a range of issues in the relationship between the powers.

Chinese investment in the U.S. reached a record $15 billion in 2015 and could climb to $30 billion in 2016. About one-quarter of that investment is from state-owned companies.

“We don’t want the U.S. government owning large chunks of the U.S. economy, so why do we want the Chinese Communist Party owning large chunks of the U.S. economy?” said Dennis Shea, the Republican-appointed chairman of the bipartisan commission.

“These state-owned enterprises are arms of the Chinese state and Communist Party. Often they do not act purely on commercial or market basis, they have strategic considerations,” he said.

The report urges Congress to amend the statute authorizing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, known as CFIUS, to prohibit Chinese state-owned enterprises “from acquiring or otherwise gaining effective control of U.S. companies.”

That committee reviews foreign acquisitions for threats to U.S. national security.

A February report by the Rhodium Group, a research organization that tracks Chinese investment in the U.S., said that for the past three years, China was the country with the most transactions scrutinized by the committee. Rhodium said that was not due to increased scrutiny of China, but rather reflected an increase in the volume of foreign investment from China and a shift in its interest toward technology acquisitions.

“The vast majority of Chinese overtures continue to pass CFIUS reviews without any problems,” researchers said. According to Rhodium, annual investment flows from China to the U.S. have exceeded American investment flows into China since 2015.

China has long complained that Washington’s security review process for investments in the U.S. unfairly targets Chinese investors.

Carolyn Bartholomew, the Democratic-appointed vice chairman of the review commission, said that while China restricts foreign investment with laws banning foreign participation in large swaths of its economy, Chinese companies face no such obstacles in the U.S.

“People need to take a harder look at what companies are investing in the United States, why they are investing in the United States,” she said. “We just think that people are not paying enough attention to this.”

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