Citing a palpable “aesthetic experience” in classic games while eschewing others, the Museum of Modern Art announced Thursday that it has assembled a new collection of video games. The museum’s initial collection includes 14 classics like Pac-Man and Tetris, but also more recent additions to the canon like Passage and Canabalt. The museum has a “wish list” of about 40 total games, which include Pong, The Legend of Zelda, and Minecraft. The games will be exhibited starting in March 2013, but the selections aren’t necessarily what you’d expect.
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Video games are art. That’s a fact (which has some notable dissenters) that’s even been determined by the Supreme Court in a a case decided in 2011. And games have been embraced by art institutions before. In an exhibition this year, the Smithsonian American Art Museum explored The Art of Video Games. But in a blog post today, Paola Antonelli, senior curator in MoMA‘s department of design, explained that the museum’s intention is not as simple as evaluating the artistic value of certain video games. They want to look at games from a design perspective: “Our criteria, therefore, emphasize not only the visual quality and aesthetic experience of each game, but also the many other aspects—from the elegance of the code to the design of the player’s behavior—that pertain to interaction design.”
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Because the museum is looking for specific design traits, Antonielli explained that MoMA has not acquired, and is not looking for, some games that might seem like “no-brainers to video game historian.”
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Here are some images of the games MoMA has acquired, via the museum:
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Tetris
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MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian court ruled on Thursday that video footage of the Pussy Riot punk group protesting against President Vladimir Putin in a church was “extremist” and should be removed from websites.
The demonstration last February offended many Russian Orthodox Christians. But Putin has been criticized by U.S. and European leaders over what they saw as disproportionate jail sentences imposed on three Pussy Riot members. Their trial was also seen by Putin’s critics as part of a clampdown on dissent.
The Moscow court said it had based its ruling on conclusions by a panel of experts who studied the video, showing band members in colorful mini-skirts and ski masks dancing in front of the altar of Moscow’s main Russian Orthodox cathedral.
Judge Marina Musimovich said the footage “has elements of extremism; in particular there are words and actions which humiliate various social groups based on their religion”. She said it also had calls for mutiny and “mass disorder”.
The verdict said that free distribution of the video could ignite racial and religious hatred.
The court’s ruling applies to other videos released by the band, including a performance in Moscow’s Red Square, where calls for mass disorder could be heard. Such calls were not made inside the church.
The websites are now likely to be included in a state register and could be blocked if the banned content is not removed.
The Russian communications regulator Roskomnadzor said that once the court decision takes effect it will monitor how it is implemented.
Three members of Pussy Riot convicted in August of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred for their “punk prayer”, which the Russian Orthodox Church has cast as part of a concerted attack on the church and the faithful.
The women said the protest, in which they burst into Christ the Saviour Cathedral and called on the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of Putin, was not motivated by hatred and was meant to mock the church leadership’s support for the longtime leader.
Band members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina are serving two-year jail sentences over the protest last February. A third member, Yekaterina Samutsevich, walked free last month when her sentence was suspended on appeal.
“To me this is a clear attribute of censorship – censorship of art and censorship of culture, of the protest culture which is very important for any country, let alone for Russia,” Samutsevich told reporters outside court.
“Now of course the fact that they will be blocking all Pussy Riot videos as I understand, all photos – this is horrible. Naturally, I will lodge an appeal and I will try to do it today,” she added.
Putin, a former KGB officer who has cultivated close ties with the Orthodox church over 13 years in power, has rebuffed Western criticism about the prison terms meted out.
(Additional reporting Valery Stepchenkov; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
WASHINGTON (AP) — In an ambitious road map for slashing the global spread of AIDS, the Obama administration says treating people sooner and more rapid expansion of other proven tools could help even the hardest-hit countries begin turning the tide of the epidemic over the next three to five years.
“An AIDS-free generation is not just a rallying cry — it is a goal that is within our reach,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who ordered the blueprint, said in the report.
“Make no mistake about it, HIV may well be with us into the future but the disease that it causes need not be,” she said at the State Department Thursday.
President Barack Obama echoed that promise.
“We stand at a tipping point in the fight against HIV/AIDS, and working together, we can realize our historic opportunity to bring that fight to an end,” Obama said in a proclamation to mark World AIDS Day on Saturday.
Some 34 million people worldwide are living with HIV, and despite a decline in new infections over the last decade, 2.5 million people were infected last year.
Given those staggering figures, what does an AIDS-free generation mean? That virtually no babies are born infected, young people have a much lower risk than today of becoming infected, and that people who already have HIV would receive life-saving treatment.
That last step is key: Treating people early in their infection, before they get sick, not only helps them survive but also dramatically cuts the chances that they’ll infect others. Yet only about 8 million HIV patients in developing countries are getting treatment. The United Nations aims to have 15 million treated by 2015.
Other important steps include: Treating more pregnant women, and keeping them on treatment after their babies are born; increasing male circumcision to lower men’s risk of heterosexual infection; increasing access to both male and female condoms; and more HIV testing.
The world spent $ 16.8 billion fighting AIDS in poor countries last year. The U.S. government is the leading donor, spending about $ 5.6 billion.
Thursday’s report from PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, outlines how progress could continue at current spending levels — something far from certain as Congress and Obama struggle to avert looming budget cuts at year’s end — or how faster progress is possible with stepped-up commitments from hard-hit countries themselves.
Clinton warned Thursday that the U.S. must continue doing its share: “In the fight against HIV/AIDS, failure to live up to our commitments isn’t just disappointing, it’s deadly.”
The report highlighted Zambia, which already is seeing some declines in new cases of HIV. It will have to treat only about 145,000 more patients over the next four years to meet its share of the U.N. goal, a move that could prevent more than 126,000 new infections in that same time period. But if Zambia could go further and treat nearly 198,000 more people, the benefit would be even greater — 179,000 new infections prevented, the report estimates.
In contrast, if Zambia had to stick with 2011 levels of HIV prevention, new infections could level off or even rise again over the next four years, the report found.
Advocacy groups said the blueprint offers a much-needed set of practical steps to achieve an AIDS-free generation — and makes clear that maintaining momentum is crucial despite economic difficulties here and abroad.
“The blueprint lays out the stark choices we have: To stick with the baseline and see an epidemic flatline or grow, or ramp up” to continue progress, said Chris Collins of amFAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research.
His group has estimated that more than 276,000 people would miss out on HIV treatment if U.S. dollars for the global AIDS fight are part of across-the-board spending cuts set to begin in January.
Thursday’s report also urges targeting the populations at highest risk, including gay men, injecting drug users and sex workers, especially in countries where stigma and discrimination has denied them access to HIV prevention services.
Energy Secretary Ed Davey says the Bill will transform the energy landscape
Energy minister Ed Davey has unveiled the government’s much-trailed Energy Bill, setting out the roadmap for the UK’s switch to “a low-carbon economy”.
Energy firms can increase the “green” levy from £3bn to £7.6bn a year by 2020, potentially increasing household bills by £100.
But big, energy-intensive companies could be exempt from the extra costs of the switch to renewable energy.
There are also proposals for financial incentives to reduce energy demand.
The “transformation” will cost the UK £110bn over ten years, Mr Davey said.
He told MPs: “Britain’s energy sector is embarking on a period of exceptional renewal and expansion.
“The scale of the investment required is huge, representing close to half the UK’s total infrastructure investment pipeline.”
The government’s plan formed the “biggest transformation of Britain’s electricity market since privatisation,” he said.
Measures proposed in the Bill and consultations include:
Household energy bills to rise £100 on average by 2020
“Green” levy charged by energy firms to rise from £3bn to £7.6bn
Switch to clean energy to cost £110bn over ten years
Bill aims to encourage investment in low-carbon power production
Energy-intensive companies may be exempt from additional charges
Possible financial incentives to reduce energy consumption
Mr Davey said government policy was “designed specifically to reduce consumer bills”, arguing that without a move to renewable energy, bills would be higher because of a reliance on expensive and volatile gas prices.
Continue reading the main story
The government has unveiled plans to exempt some of Britain’s biggest industries from charges for clean electricity.
The Energy Bill confirms that households will be expected to pay about £100 a year on average to get more power from nuclear and renewables.
But it looks as though energy intensive firms won’t have to pay the extra charges. It’s feared that if their energy bills rise too high, they’ll move manufacturing jobs abroad.
The move may prove controversial with consumer groups.
The Bill confirms that households would provide £7.6bn of subsidy to nuclear and renewables by 2020 to keep the lights on and to meet targets on reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.
The government says the investment will shield the UK from volatile gas prices and force down costs in the long run.
But ministers have also announced that some of biggest industrial polluters in the UK – like steel and cement – may not be asked to pay extra. These global firms threaten to take their jobs elsewhere if power bills rise.
The government has recognised that if you are trying to cut global emissions of carbon, it’s futile driving away firms to pollute somewhere else. But many households may wonder why they’re being forced to pay extra whilst big firms are not.
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The Energy Bill aims to move the UK’s energy production from a dependence on fossil fuels to a more diverse mix of energy sources, such as wind, nuclear and biomass.
This is to fill the energy gap from closing a number of coal and nuclear power stations over the next two decades, and to meet the government’s carbon dioxide emissions targets.
By allowing energy companies to charge more, the government hopes they will have the confidence to invest the huge sums of money that are needed to build renewable energy infrastructure such as windfarms.
But the opposition said that investment in renewable energy had fallen under the coalition.
“The reason that’s happened is because of the uncertainty the government has created – that’s why firms have put investment on hold, or scrapped it altogether,” said shadow energy and climate change secretary Caroline Flint.
She added that the absence of a carbon cap for the energy sector for 2030 further undermined investment in renewables.
Exemptions
But in a consultation paper published alongside the Bill, Mr Davey said energy-intensive industries, such as steel and cement producers, would be exempt from additional costs arising from measures to encourage investment in new low-carbon production.
“Decarbonisation should not mean deindustrialisation”, Mr Davey said.
“The transition to the low carbon economy will depend on products made by energy intensive industries – a wind turbine for example needing steel, cement and high-tech textiles.
“This exemption will ensure the UK retains the industrial capacity to support a low carbon economy.”
Without the exemption, the government fears big companies would cut jobs and relocate abroad.
Reducing demand
The government proposals to reduce electricity demand include financial incentives for consumers and businesses alike.
Shadow energy secretary Caroline Flint says the bill will see consumers will facing higher prices
For example, firms could be paid for each kilowatt-hour they save as a result of taking energy-reduction measures, such as low-energy lighting.
Householders and businesses could be given discounts and incentives to replace old equipment with more energy-efficient versions.
The government believes a 10% reduction in electricity demand could save £4bn by 2030.
But research by management consultancy McKinsey suggests there is the potential to reduce demand by as much as 26%, equivalent to 92 terawatt-hours, or the electricity generated by nine power stations in one year.
Audrey Gallacher, director of energy at Consumer Focus, said: “The government’s commitment to reduce energy demand through incentives for consumers and businesses is welcome.
“But it will come at a cost – which again will be passed onto customers.”
HAVANA (AP) — A prominent New York rabbi and physician visited an American subcontractor serving a long jail term in Cuba and said the man is in good health, despite his family’s concerns about a growth on his right shoulder.
Rabbi Elie Abadie, who is also a gastroenterologist, told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview following Tuesday’s 2 1/2-hour visit at a military hospital in Havana that he personally examined Alan Gross and received a lengthy briefing from a team of Cuban physicians who have attended him.
He said the 1 1/2-inch growth on Gross’s shoulder appeared to be a non-cancerous hematoma that should clear up by itself.
“Alan Gross does not have any cancerous growth at this time, at least based on the studies I was shown and based on the examination, and I think he understands that also,” Abadie said.
Abadie said the hematoma, basically internal bleeding linked to the rupture of muscle fiber, was likely caused by exercise Gross does in jail. He said the growth ought to eventually disappear on its own.
Gross’s plight has put already chilly relations between Cuba and the United States in a deep freeze. The Maryland native was arrested in December 2009 while on a USAID-funded democracy building program and later sentenced to 15 years in jail for crimes against the state.
He claims he was only trying to help the island’s small Jewish community gain Internet access.
Gross’s health has been an ongoing issue during his incarceration. The 63-year-old, who was obese when arrested, has lost more than 100 pounds while in jail.
Abadie, a rabbi at New York’s Edmund J. Safra Synagogue, said Gross’s weight is appropriate for a man his age and height.
Photos that Abadie and a colleague provided to AP of Tuesday’s meeting with Gross showed him looking thin, but generally appearing to be in good spirits.
In one photo, Gross holds up a handwritten note that says “Hi Mom.”
“He definitely feels strong. He is in good spirits. He feels fit, to quote him, physically. But of course, like any other person who is incarcerated or in prison, he wants to be free. He wants to be able to go back home,” Abadie said.
Gross’s family has repeatedly appealed for his release on humanitarian grounds, noting his health problems and the fact that his adult daughter and elderly mother have both been battling cancer.
Jared Genser, counsel to Alan Gross, said late Tuesday that Rabbi Abadie is not Gross’s physician and he would like an oncologist of his choosing to evaluate him.
“While we are grateful Rabbi Abadie was able to see Alan, we have asked an oncologist to review the test results to determine if they are sufficient to rule out cancer. More importantly, if Alan is so healthy, we cannot understand why the Cuban government has repeatedly denied him an independent medical examination by a doctor of his choosing as is required by international law,” said Genser.
Gross and his wife recently filed a $ 60 million lawsuit against his former Maryland employer and the U.S. government, saying they didn’t adequately train him or disclose risks he was undertaking by doing development work on the Communist-run island.
They filed another lawsuit against an insurance company they say has reneged on commitments to pay compensation in case of his wrongful detention.
Separately, a lawyer for Gross has written the United Nations’ anti-torture expert, saying Cuban officials’ treatment of his client “will surely amount to torture” if he continues to be denied medical care.
Rumors have been swirling in U.S. media that Cuba might soon release Gross as a gesture of good will or in the hopes of winning concessions from the administration of President Barack Obama, but Abadie said that those reports appeared to be false.
“As far as I know there is no truth to it,” he said.
Abadie said he met with senior Cuban officials who expressed their desire to resolve the case “as quickly as possible,” but would not say specifically who he spoke with or what they offered.
“They claim that they are more than willing to sit at the table,” he said.
Cuban officials have strongly implied they hope to trade Gross for five Cuban agents sentenced to long jail terms in the United States, one of whom is already free on bail.
Abadie said Gross made clear that he does not want his case linked to that of the agents, known in Cuba as “The Five Heroes,” because he does not believe he is guilty of espionage.
But Abadie said Gross is hoping for a “constructive and productive” dialogue between U.S. and Cuban officials to resolve his case.
___
Follow Paul Haven on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/paulhaven.
BERLIN (Reuters) – Senior German politicians have denounced as propaganda a campaign by Google to mobilize public opinion against proposed legislation to let publishers charge search engines for displaying newspaper articles.
Internet lobbyists say they are worried the German law will set a precedent for other countries such as France and Italy that have shown an interest in having Google pay publishers for the right to show their news snippets in its search results.
Lawmakers in Berlin will debate the bill in the Bundestag (lower house) on Thursday. Google says the law would make it harder for users to retrieve information via the Internet.
Google launched its campaign against the bill on Tuesday with advertisements in German newspapers and a web information site called “Defend your web”.
“Such a law would hit every Internet user in Germany,” Stefan Tweraser, country manager for Google Germany, said in a statement. “An ancillary copyright means less information for consumers and higher costs for companies.”
The campaign has caused outrage among some members of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right coalition.
“The campaign initiated by Google is cheap propaganda,” said conservative lawmakers Guenter Krings and Ansgar Heveling.
“Under the guise of a supposed project for the freedom of the Internet, an attempt is being made to coopt its users for its own lobbying,” the two said in a statement.
Supporters of the law argue that newspaper publishers should be able to benefit from advertising revenues earned by search engines using their content.
Under the plans, publishers would get a bigger say over how their articles are used on the Internet and could charge search engines for showing articles or extracts.
German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, a member of the Free Democrats (FDP) who share power in Merkel’s government, said she was astonished that Google was trying to monopolize opinion-making. She is responsible for the law.
“PANIC MONGERING”
Germany’s newspaper industry, suffering from economic slowdown and keen to get its hands on any revenues it can, backs the plans and railed against Google’s campaign.
“The panic mongering from Google has no justification,” Germany’s BDZV newspaper association said in a statement.
“The argument from search engine companies that Internet searching and retrieval will be made more difficult is not serious. Private use, reading, following links and quoting will be possible, just as before.”
Internet lobbyists in Brussels fear the European Commission is sympathetic to publisher demands for a piece of Google’s profits online. Recent statements, they say, are proof.
“Consumers are not the only ones facing difficulties,” Michel Barnier, the EU’s internal market commissioner, said in a speech on November 7. “Think of newspaper publishers who see the content they produce being used by others to attract consumers on the net and generate advertising revenues.”
French newspapers and magazines want Google to pay them for linking to their articles on Google. The French government has named a mediator to negotiate with the press and Google to try to get a deal by the end of the year.
If no deal emerges, President Francois Hollande’s government will ask parliament to draft a law modifying copyright laws to protect the press from appropriation of its content online, according to a letter signed by two ministers on November 28.
(Additional reporting by Harro ten Wolde in Frankfurt, Claire Davenbport in Brussels and Leila Abboud in Paris; Writing by Madeline Chambers, Editing by Gareth Jones and)
WELLINGTON (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of people packed New Zealand’s capital city, clambering on roofs and hanging onto lamp posts on Wednesday to get a glimpse of the stars at the red carpet world premiere of the film “The Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey”.
Wellington, where director Peter Jackson and much of the post production is based, renamed itself “the Middle of Middle Earth“, and fans with prominent Hobbit ears, medieval style costumes, and wizard hats had camped out the night before to claim prized spaces along the 500 meter (550 yards) red carpet.
Jackson, a one time newspaper printer and the maker of the Oscar winning “Lord of the Rings” trilogy more than a decade ago, was cheered along the walk, stopping to talk to fans, sign autographs and pose for photos.
The Hobbit trilogy is set 60 years before the Rings movies, but Jackson said it has benefited from being made after the conclusion of the J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy saga.
“I’m glad that we established the style and the look of Middle Earth by adapting Lord of the Rings before we did the Hobbit,” Jackson told Reuters from the red carpet.
Jackson, a hometown hero in Wellington, said the production had been on a “difficult journey”, alluding to Warner Brothers’ financial problems, and a later labor dispute with unions.
“Fate meant for us to be here,” he told an ecstatic crowd, which hailed him as a film genius, but also a down to earth local boy.
“I came here to see the stars but also Peter (Jackson)…I loved the Lord of the Rings and that made me want to be here, without him none of it would be here,” said teenage student Samantha Cooper.
OLD FRIENDS
The cast was no less enthusiastic about the Hobbit, especially those who had starred in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
British actor Andy Serkis, who plays the creature Gollum with a distinctive throaty whisper, said picking up the character after a near-ten year break was like putting on a familiar skin.
“I was reminded on a daily basis with Gollum (that) he’s truly never left me,” he said.
Most of the film’s stars attended the premiere, including British actor Martin Freeman, who plays the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins, Andy Serkis, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett, and Elijah Wood. Ian McKellen, who plays the wizard Gandalf, was absent.
Freeman, known for his roles in the comedy The Office and Sherlock Holmes, said he looked for a different, lighter, slightly pompous Baggins from the older, wiser character played by Ian Holm in the Rings movies.
“Between us – Peter (Jackson) and me — we hashed out another version of Bilbo. There’ll be others, but our version is this one and I hope people like it,” he said.
The production was at the center of several controversies, including a dispute with unions in 2010 over labor contracts that nearly sent the filming overseas and resulted in the government stepping in to change employment laws.
The only sour note at the premiere came when animal rights activists held up posters saying “Middle Earth unexpected cruelty” and “3 horses died for this film”, after claims last week that more than 20 animals died during the making of the film.
Event organizers tried to block out the protesters’ posters with large Hobbit film billboards. Jackson has said some animals died on a farm where they were housed, but none had been hurt during filming.
The movies have been filmed in 3D and at 48 frames per second (fps), compared with the standard 24 fps, which Jackson has likened to the quality leap to compact discs from vinyl records.
The second film “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” will be released in December next year, with the third “The Hobbit: There and Back Again” due in mid-July 2014.
The Internet seems like an endless expanse, but it actually functions like a very crowded real estate market. Website domain names are like property addresses. Nicer neighborhoods command higher prices. Speculators, sometimes unsavory ones, abound. That’s why the auction of 1,400 new suffixes in mid-2013, beyond ubiquitous designations such as .com, is such a big deal. It’s the first major expansion of domain names since 2004, attracting interest from Google (GOOG) and Amazon.com (AMZN), as well as Donuts, a little-known Bellevue (Wash.) company that wants to grab as many new addresses as possible and license them for a hefty profit.
The domain game can be surprisingly lucrative. Back in 2010 an offshore holding company called Clover Holdings, based on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent, paid $ 13 million for the rights to sex.com, according to Kieren McCarthy, author of a book about the sale. The introduction of suffixes such as .app, .law, and .financial likely will also attract all manner of companies. Amazon bid for the suffix .book, while Google applied for .ads, .buy, and .google, among others.
These requests go to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann), a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that has coordinated the Internet addressing system since the U.S. government privatized that responsibility more than a decade ago. Icann, which is funded by the registration of domain sites, is preparing to release the 1,400 new suffixes. The group charges $ 185,000 to evaluate each application. (Nice work if you can get it.) After Icann finishes that screening process, spokesman Brad White says, if two or more qualified applicants can’t agree to run .school or .horse jointly, they go to the highest bidder.
Speculators often try to buy the rights to website names valuable to other parties and then extract premiums to license them. The real worry is cybersquatting, the purchase of domains either to block a competitor from using them or to create look-alike websites designed to fool consumers and undercut a rival’s business. While cybersquatting is illegal under U.S. trademark law, courts often defer to Icann-recognized international tribunals because many cases involve foreign parties.
In the latest Internet domain expansion, Donuts has emerged as the most prolific bidder. The company spent more than $ 56 million on applications for 307 new suffixes before the deadline passed in May, compared with 99 for Google and 76 for Amazon. Jonathan Nevett, the company’s executive vice president for corporate affairs and one of its four founders, says it wants to build its own central clearinghouse for new website names that it can license to businesses and other consumers. “This has been the most constrained space you can think of,” says Nevett, a former adviser to Icann, who says he’s been working on the current bid since 2005. More than $ 100 million in venture capital is backing Donuts, whose applications include about 140 unchallenged bids, including for .mortgage and .dentist.
Jeffrey Stoler, a licensing lawyer with McCarter & English, has warned Icann that some of Donuts’ customers may wind up cybersquatting because of its links to Santa Monica (Calif.)-based Demand Media (DMD), whose clients have included squatters in the past. Stoler writes that Donuts Chief Executive Officer Paul Stahura was once president and chief strategy officer of Demand Media, which, including subsidiaries, has received more than two dozen negative rulings from arbitrators, in cases often involving cybersquatting or “bad-faith” actions. Icann spokesman White says that kind of censure can lead Icann to bar a company from operating domains.
Donuts has an arrangement to sell Demand 107 of its top domain names, according to a June press release from Demand. “Donuts and its key executives are, by Icann’s established eligibility guidelines, unsuited and ineligible to participate” in the bidding process, Stoler wrote in a July letter to Icann. Stoler declined to comment on whether he represents any competing domain bidders. “We have no concerns about Donuts’ eligibility as an applicant,” Stahura wrote in e-mailed comments. “The letter is trying somehow to make a link that doesn’t exist.”
Demand Executive Vice President Dave Panos disputed Stoler’s complaint in a September letter to Icann, calling it “rife with false statements and misinformation.” Panos’s company is distinct from Donuts, and the two companies have no equity relationship, says Brian Jacobs, founder of Donuts investor Emergence Capital Partners. In addition to the 107 domains it hopes to purchase from Donuts, Demand is applying for dozens of Icann’s names on its own behalf.
White declined to comment on the Donuts case because Icann does not comment on individual applicants, but says the group will rigorously screen each of the 1,930 bidders.
The bottom line: Internet registry Donuts’ attempt to buy 307 forthcoming domains is fueling concerns that it will license websites to cybersquatters.
CULIACAN, Mexico (AP) — A 20-year-old state beauty queen died in a gun battle between soldiers and the alleged gang of drug traffickers she was traveling with in a scene befitting the hit movie “Miss Bala,” or “Miss Bullet,” about Mexico’s not uncommon ties between narcos and beautiful pageant contestants.
The body of Maria Susana Flores Gamez was found Saturday lying near an assault rifle on a rural road in a mountainous area of the drug-plagued state of Sinaloa, the chief state prosecutor said Monday. It was unclear if she had used the weapon.
“She was with the gang of criminals, but we cannot say whether she participated in the shootout,” state prosecutor Marco Antonio Higuera said. “That’s what we’re going to have to investigate.”
The slender, 5-foot-7-inch brunette was voted the 2012 Woman of Sinaloa in a beauty pageant in February. In June, the model competed with other seven contestants for the more prestigious state beauty contest, Our Beauty Sinaloa, but didn’t win. The Our Beauty state winners compete for the Miss Mexico title, whose holder represents the country in the international Miss Universe.
Higuera said Flores Gamez was traveling in one of the vehicles that engaged soldiers in an hours-long chase and running gun battle on Saturday near her native city of Guamuchil in the state of Sinaloa, home to Mexico’s most powerful drug cartel. Higuera said two other members of the drug gang were killed and four were detained.
The shootout began when the gunmen opened fire on a Mexican army patrol. Soldiers gave chase and cornered the gang at a safe house in the town of Mocorito. The other men escaped, and the gunbattle continued along a nearby roadway, where the gang’s vehicles were eventually stopped. Six vehicles, drugs and weapons were seized following the confrontation.
It was at least the third instance in which a beauty queen or pageant contestants have been linked to Mexico’s violent drug gangs, a theme so common it was the subject of a critically acclaimed 2011 movie.
In “Miss Bala,” Mexico’s official submission to the Best Foreign Language Film category of this year’s Academy Awards, a young woman competing for Miss Baja California becomes an unwilling participant in a drug-running ring, finally getting arrested for deeds she was forced into performing.
In real life, former Miss Sinaloa Laura Zuniga was stripped of her 2008 crown in the Hispanoamerican Queen pageant after she was detained on suspicion of drug and weapons violations. She was later released without charges.
Zuniga was detained in western Mexico in late 2010 along with seven men, some of them suspected drug traffickers. Authorities found a large stash of weapons, ammunition and $ 53,300 with them inside a vehicle.
In 2011, a Colombian former model and pageant contestant was detained along with Jose Jorge Balderas, an accused drug trafficker and suspect in the 2010 bar shooting of Salvador Cabanas, a former star for Paraguay‘s national football team and Mexico’s Club America. She was also later released.
Higuera said Flores Gamez’s body has been turned over to relatives for burial.
“This is a sad situation,” Higuera told a local radio station. She had been enrolled in media courses at a local university, and had been modeling and in pageants since at least 2009.
Javier Valdez, the author of a 2009 book about narco ties to beauty pageants entitled “Miss Narco,” said “this is a recurrent story.”
“There is a relationship, sometimes pleasant and sometimes tragic, between organized crime and the beauty queens, the pageants, the beauty industry itself,” Valdez said.
“It is a question of privilege, power, money, but also a question of need,” said Valdez. “For a lot of these young women, it is easy to get involved with organized crime, in a country that doesn’t offer many opportunities for young people.”
Sometimes drug traffickers seek out beauty queens, but sometimes the models themselves look for narco boyfriends, Valdez said.
“I once wrote about a girl I knew of who was desperate to get a narco boyfriend,” he said. “She practically took out a classified ad saying ‘Looking for a Narco’.”
The stories seldom end well. In the best of cases, a beautiful woman with a tear-stained face is marched before the press in handcuffs. In the worst of cases, they simply disappear.
“They are disposable objects, the lowest link in the chain of criminal organizations, the young men recruited as gunmen and the pretty young women who are tossed away in two or three years, or are turned into police or killed,” Valdez said.
___
Associated Press Writer E. Eduardo Castillo contributed to this report
NEW YORK (AP) — Disney says its animated children‘s series “Sofia the First” will premiere Jan. 11 on the Disney Channel and Disney Junior networks.
Created for kids ages 2 to 7, “Sofia the First” is about a young girl who becomes a princess and learns that honesty, loyalty and compassion are what makes a person royal.
Sofia is voiced by “Modern Family” actress Ariel Winter, and her mother is played by “Grey’s Anatomy” star Sara Ramirez.
Last week’s premiere of the “Sofia the First” animated movie drew a total audience of more than 5 million viewers. It was the year’s top-rated cable TV telecast among kids ages 2 to 5.
In the series’ debut episode, Sofia strives to become the first princess to earn a spot on her school’s flying derby team.
