The rumors started circulating at the end of last month as more than 25 million STB shares changed hands on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange from June 29 to July 8. This means that more than four million STB shares were traded each day during the period, much higher than the bank’s average daily trading volume of 1.35 million shares during June.

Chairman Dang Van Thanh said that he had heard a rumor that a local individual was collecting STB shares in large numbers, but he didn’t have enough information to confirm or deny this rumor.

“If an investor buys 5 percent of a listed company’s registered capital, stock authorities will announce this information to the public. Sacombank always welcomes all investors, foreigners and locals alike, to invest in the bank. So, if a local individual invests in STB shares, this is a good news,” Thanh told Tuoi Tre newspaper in an interview published Monday.

He firmly rejected rumors that the investor who is snapping up STB shares in huge volumes can control Sacombank and therefore, there are unlikely to be some personnel changes at the management level.

He added that his family currently holds a 30 percent stake in Sacombank.

“In addition, to obtain an important position in the bank’s management board, apart from holding a major stake, a person must satisfy some standards set for specialized qualifications. He or she also has to gain the trust of the management board’s members, the board of supervisors, as well as Sacombank’s strategic partners,” said Thanh.

Another rumor that has been doing the rounds after Thanh’s wife, daughter and daughter-in-law registered to sell more than 14.8 million STB shares last week is that they plan to sell their entire stake and that the family wants to divest from the bank.

Thanh denied this rumor, saying that all these shares would be bought by the Thanh Thanh Cong Company, whose chairman is his wife Huynh Bich Ngoc and deputy general director is his daughter-in-law Ho Thi Phuong Thao.

Thanh Thanh Cong, a firm engaged in sugar trading, tourism, real estate, and financial investments, registered to buy 15 million STB shares between June 1 and August 1 to raise its holding from 0.46 percent to 2.1 percent, according to a statement posted on the HCMC bourse at the end of May.

Thanh explained that the share sale plan of his family members is to transfer ownership from individuals to a company so that the firm will manage its stake “more professionally”.

In the first half of this year, Sacombank posted a profit of 1.52 trillion (US$74 million), or 56 percent of the whole year’s target. The bank’s total assets were valued at VND141 trillion ($6.86 billion).

source from: thanhniennews

There’s an arrest warrant out for the Quaids for allegedly stiffing the San Ysidro Ranch near Santa Barbara out of thousands of bucks. Our sources say the reason there’s a burglary warrant out for them is because cops believe when they rented the hotel room they had the intention of staying without paying — and that fits the definition of burglary.

Our law enforcement sources tell us the reason they believe the Quaids were scamming the San Ysidro Ranch from the get-go is because they have evidence they’ve done it before. Our sources say the Quaids stiffed the uber-ritzy Bel Air Hotel in L.A., among other places.

In addition to burglary, the arrest warrant also lists the felony of defrauding an innkeeper.

We have been unable to reach Quaid.

1.   The data indicates that file sharing has not discouraged creativity, as the evidence shows significant increases in cultural production.  The authors note that:

Overall production figures for the creative industries appear to be consistent with this view that file sharing has not discouraged artists and publishers.  While album sales have generally fallen since 2000, the number of albums being created has exploded.  In 2000, 35,516 albums were released.  Seven years later, 79,695 albums (including 25,159 digital albums) were published (Nielsen SoundScan, 2008).  Even if file sharing were the reason that sales have fallen, the new technology does not appear to have exacted a toll on the quantity of music produced. Obviously, it would be nice to adjust output for differences in quality, but we are not aware of any research that has tackled this question.

Similar trends can be seen in other creative industries.  For example, the worldwide number of feature films produced each year has increased from 3,807 in 2003 to 4,989 in 2007 (Screen Digest, 2004 and 2008).  Countries where film piracy is rampant have typically increased production.  This is true in South Korea (80 to 124), India (877 to 1164), and China (140 to 402).  During this period, U.S. feature film production has increased from 459 feature films in 2003 to 590 in 2007 (MPAA, 2007).

Given the increase in artistic production along with the greater public access conclude that “weaker copyright protection, it seems, has benefited society.” This is consistent with the authors’ view that weaker copyright is “uambiguously desirable if it does not lessen the incentives of artists and entertainment companies to produce new works.”

2.    The paper takes on several longstanding myths about the economic effects of file sharing, noting that many downloaded songs do not represent a lost sale, some mashups may increase the market for the original work, and the entertainment industry can still steer consumer attention to particular artists (which results in more sales and downloads).

3.    The authors’ point out that file sharing may not result in reduced incentives to create if the willingness to pay for “complements” increases.  They point to rising income from performances or author speaking tours as obvious examples of income that may be enhanced through file sharing. In particular, they focus on a study that concluded that demands for concerts increased due to file sharing and that concert prices have steadily risen during the file sharing era.  Moreover, the authors’ canvass the literature on the effects of file sharing on music sales, confirming that the “results are decidedly mixed.”

The authors were one of the first to challenge the early claims about the effects of file sharing.  Years later, many other economists have followed suit (including the study funded by Industry Canada).  This latest paper does a nice job of expanding the discussion, by using the data to examine incentives for creativity and the effects on aggregate creator and industry income.

Source:michaelgeist.ca

Ngày 7/5, VKSND Hà Nội cáo buộc, ngày 4/9/2008, tại khu vực Văn Miếu, Huyền lỡ tay đánh rơi mất chiếc thẻ nhớ điện thoại nên ngồi khóc.

Đúng lúc này, Tống Đức Thắng, Nguyễn Hoàng Giang, Khúc Anh Thành, Nguyễn Văn Kiên đi ngang qua. Cả đám xúm lại hỏi han, làm quen rồi rủ Huyền đi ăn tối.

Đêm hôm đó, chúng đưa Huyền về nhà của Thắng tại con ngõ nhỏ ở phố Phan Phù Tiên, quận Đống Đa. Khi cô gái vừa bước chân vào căn phòng ở tầng 2, Thắng liền tắt đèn, chốt cửa và lao tới ôm Huyền đòi “yêu”.

Thiếu nữ 15 tuổi chống cự quyết liệt. Thắng dọa nếu không “chịu” thì cậu ta sẽ gọi đám bạn xuống để cùng “xử lý tập thể”. Huyền hoảng sợ, đành chiều theo ý của Thắng.

Sau khi cưỡng bức Huyền, Thắng đi lên tầng 3 nói với Giang: “Nó không yêu em, anh xuống “ăn” nó đi”. Giang chạy xuống phòng, giở trò đồi bại với cô bé dưới nền nhà. Khi nạn nhân chống cự, Giang thẳng tay tát mạnh vào mặt.

Tiếp đó, đến lượt Thành. Nhưng thấy thiếu nữ kêu đau và ngồi khóc, cậu ta đã không “xông” vào mà ngồi nói chuyện. Khoảng 6h sáng, Thắng lại mò xuống tiếp tục khống chế để “yêu” Huyền. Lát sau, chúng “thả” cô gái ra về để đến trường kịp dự lễ khai giảng năm học mới.

Hôm sau, “chiến tích” ở nhà Thắng được cả kể lại với Kiên do sau khi đi chơi, cậu này đã về nhà.

Tại phiên xử hôm nay, các bị cáo đều khai hầu hết đã bỏ học khi chưa hết cấp 2, thường tụ tập lêu lổng. Đại diện gia đình của Huyền cho biết, sau khi sự việc xảy ra, tinh thần của cô bé bị ảnh hưởng rất nhiều. Việc học đã phải tạm dừng lại. Một năm học đã trôi qua, gia đình đang chuẩn bị để Huyền tiếp tục tới trường trong thời gian tới.

TAND Hà Nội cho biết, tại thời điểm xảy ra sự việc, Huyền chưa đủ 16 tuổi nên hành vi của Thắng và Giang đã phạm vào tội hiếp dâm trẻ em. Lúc đó, Thắng cũng mới 15 tuổi 7 tháng. Áp dụng mức án với người chưa thành niên, tòa tuyên phạt Thắng 8 năm tù. Còn Giang do đã hơn 18 tuổi nên bị phạt 20 năm.

Riêng Thành và Kiên mỗi người 12 tháng tù. Hành vi của hai người này được xác định là không tố giác tội phạm

*Tên nạn nhân đã thay đổi