Time Warner Shareholders Approve AT&T Deal

Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX) shareholders have voted to sell the company to AT&T (NYSE:T) for $ 85.4-billion. According to a preliminary count of the votes, stockholders representing about 79 percent of the outstanding shares of common stock approved the merger agreement. Time Warner agreed to AT&T’s offer of $ 107.50 a share on Oct. 22. At the […]
Mergers & Acquisitions – The Cerbat Gem

Time Warner Shareholders Approve AT&T Deal

Eliminate eMail Spam and Free Up Your Time with SpamPhobia

For the past several months, I’ve been helping Gail manage her email. The majority of the time I’ve spent doing so has simply been deleting spam messages. There are a ton of them, and that’s not counting the ones she deletes herself.

As comedian and TED speaker James Veitch observes, “The internet gave us access to everything. But it also gave everything access to us.”

I have to say, I wish I could deal with email scammers in the same tongue-in-cheek way that Veitch did. Unfortunately, I just don’t have the time. Instead, I have been testing out a third-party app called SpamPhobia, which blocks unwanted emails and guards against malware.

A few days after Gail signed up for SpamPhobia, I logged into her email—and there were hardly any messages! I hardly knew what to do.Click To Tweet

The same thing happened the next day. It was glorious.

Why You Would Need Something like SpamPhobia

You might wonder why anyone would need a third-party spam blocker. While major companies, such as Gmail and Outlook, have decent spam filters, the email accounts of many smaller internet providers (ISPs) offer little to no protection from spam.

And if you’ve ever had an experience like that of James Veitch, you understand why sometimes you need to take extra measures. At one point, Veitch received an email from a supermarket chain about a new store opening. He had never subscribed to that store’s list. And even though he tried to unsubscribe from that list multiple times, he continued receiving emails from that company.

In fact, clicking unsubscribe in scam emails can apparently result in you getting more spam. The reason why is that doing so tells the scammers you have a valid email address.

My favorite example of the futility in unsubscribing is when an email has the word “unsubscribe” at the bottom of it with no link. I have seen emails like that in Gail’s inbox many times.

And of course, this is all not to mention the actual threats that can come to you through email, such as the danger of clicking on a bad link and getting a virus on your computer.

Free and Pro Plans

Believe it or not, you can get the essential features, including support, of SpamPhobia when you sign up for the Free Plan. All you have to do is create an account and give the software permission to access your email.Under the Free Plan, you get basic protection, and SpamPhobia scans for spam once every hour. What’s more, when you first sign up for SpamPhobia, you get a 14-day free trial at the Pro level before your account reverts to the standard Free Plan.

Your other option is the Pro Plan, which costs only $ 4.90/month. With it, SpamPhobia will scan for unwanted emails once every minute and provide you with advanced spam protection.

Do you need spam gone continuously? SpamPhobia Pro removes it EVERY MINUTE all day long. Click To Tweet

The advanced protection means the software will manage your subscriptions to commercial lists, as well as detect viruses and other types of malware. I personally have found the Pro Plan to be very advantageous since the bulk of my unwanted emails come from commercial lists.

Getting Started with SpamPhobia

In addition to Gail’s email, I decided to test SpamPhobia on one of my Gmail addresses. Granted, Gmail does have one of the best spam filters out there. But I’ve accumulated thousands of emails at that particular address (many from commercial lists, as I mentioned).

To get started, I created a SpamPhobia password for that email address and gave the software access to my email account. I can revoke this access at any point.

Once inside, SpamPhobia took me to a dashboard and started sorting my inbox. It categorized all of my messages as spam, threats, subscriptions to lists, or emails that I wanted to keep.

Jessica added SpamPhobia to gmail and used that to quickly clean up her subscriptions.Click To Tweet

After I signed up, a SpamPhobia folder appeared in my Gmail inbox (which of course is separate from my SpamPhobia account). In Gmail, I could view emails the spam blocker had identified as either being from a list or having a virus.

SpamPhobia Dashboard

The SpamPhobia dashboard is simple and clean looking, and you can take a quick tour of it at any point. At the top, SpamPhobia shows the percentage of wanted and unwanted emails in a pie chart, in addition to listing the number of each type of email.

Use SpamPhobia to filter out emails containing viruses before you can accidentally click on them. Surprising how many there are!Click To Tweet

As you can see below from the screenshot of Gail’s dashboard, SpamPhobia has identified 147 emails as spam and 34 as outright threats. 325 of them are lists she is on, whether willingly or unwillingly. So SpamPhobia has been protecting her from a high number of viruses since she started using it a couple weeks ago.

Below is a picture of my Gmail dashboard. While SpamPhobia didn’t catch any malware in my inbox, it did find over 6000 list emails, the overwhelming majority of which I know I’m not interested in reading.

Blocking and Allowing

In the middle of the dashboard are a Blocked List and an Allowed List. During the inbox cleaning process, SpamPhobia automatically put email addresses in my Blocked List or left them alone. I could move email addresses over to my Allowed List (and back again) by clicking the thumbs up or down under the respective “Action” sections of each list.

Eliminate eMail Spam and Free Up Your Time with SpamPhobia

Is Now the Time to Take Your U.S. Judgment to China?

 

Just read a post over at the China Law Prof Blog on what Professor Clarke rightly calls “an interesting case in which a Chinese court (the Nanjing Intermediate-Level People’s Court) enforced a Singapore court judgment.”

Professor Clarke then goes on to explain how Chinese courts “may enforce foreign judgments that are not fundamentally offensive in some way under two circumstances: (1) there is a treaty with the foreign country calling for mutual enforcement of judgments; or (2) on the basis of reciprocity, which has been interpreted to mean that the foreign country has a practice of enforcing Chinese judgments, or at least has done so before.” This has been the law in China for quite some time.

Clarke then states that there is no Singapore-China treaty calling for mutual recognition and enforcement of judgments, which is my understanding as well. But — and this is the kicker — the Nanjing court nonetheless decided to recognize and enforce the Singapore judgment because in 2014 a Singapore court had enforced a Chinese judgment. And get this: the judgment the Chinese court enforced was a default judgment against a Chinese corporate defendant. I say “get this” because courts everywhere are far more reluctant to enforce default judgments (typically given out because the defendant failed to appear or defend) than to enforce a judgment on the merits of the case.

Professor Clarke does not know if this is the first foreign judgment Chinese courts have enforced on the basis of reciprocity and I too do not know whether that is the case. Professor Clarke does add though that he thinks “it’s fair to say that such cases are pretty thin on the ground.” To which I will add, yes that is for sure.

Now here’s the million (actually probably billions) dollar question this case raises: does this mean China will start enforcing U.S. judgments? I mean U.S. courts have enforced Chinese judgments (my law firm haas secured such an enforcement order) so does this mean Chinese courts might do so if the case is right? Professor Clarke has this to say on this question:

But if I were trying to enforce a US judgment in a Chinese court, I’d certainly bring it up. To the best of my knowledge, Chinese courts have not yet enforced a contested US money judgment. (I’m attaching those qualifications because they may, for example, have recognized a US divorce decree for some purpose.)

Just a few months ago, in Enforcing US Judgments in China. Not Yet, I said “no way”:

At least once a month, one of our China lawyers will get a call or an email from a U.S. lawyer seeking our help in taking a U.S. judgment (usually a default judgment) to China to enforce. The thinking of the U.S. lawyer is that all we need do is go to a China court and ask it to convert the U.S. judgment into a Chinese judgment and then send out the Chinese equivalent of a sheriff to the Chinese company and start seizing its assets until it pays.

As we have consistently written, nope, nope, nope.

I then went on to talk about how my firm’s China lawyers are often called upon to conduct research on this very issue (oftentimes for lawyers or companies wanting to prove to their insurance company or to a court that it would be futile for them to pursue enforcement of their United States judgment in China) and I pulled a large section from the latest of our memoranda on that topic, and I do so again below.

Article 282 of the PRC Civil Procedure Law, requires all of the following conditions be met for enforcement of a foreign judgment to be recognized in China:

The foreign judgment has taken legal effect in the jurisdiction in which it was rendered.

The country where the deciding court is located has a treaty with China or is a signatory to an international treaty to which China is also a signatory or there is reciprocity between the countries.
The foreign judgment does not violate any basic principles of Chinese law, national sovereignty, security, or social public interest.

Though China is a signatory to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, it is not a signatory to any international treaty on the recognition and enforcement of foreign court judgments. There is no bilateral treaty between China and the U.S. on recognition and enforcement of foreign court judgments. There also is no bilateral treaty between the two countries on civil or commercial judicial assistance.

Even judgments from countries that have an enforcement treaty with China, are oftentimes not enforced in China. For example, China and Australia entered into an agreement on reciprocal encouragement and protection of investments in 1988 that mandates both countries promulgate laws recognizing and enforcing each other’s judgments. But in response to a 2007 request by the Guangdong Province High People’s Court for instructions regarding an application by an Australian plaintiff for recognition and enforcement of an Australian court judgment, the Supreme People’s Court of China (the “SPC”) rejected enforcement since there was no international treaty to which China was a signatory nor any treaty between China and Australia on mutual recognition and enforcement of court judgments, nor any reciprocity between the two countries, the application should be rejected.

Since China is not a signatory to any international treaty on recognition and enforcement of foreign court judgments nor is there any treaty between China and the U.S. regarding judgment enforcement, the only possible way to get a U.S. judgment enforced in China would be if there were reciprocity between the two countries, but there isn’t.

In considering the question of reciprocity, a Chinese court will consider whether there is any precedent indicating reciprocity. In other words, the court will seek to determine whether there are any prior cases where a U.S. court recognized or enforced a Chinese court’s decision. If there are no examples of a U.S. court having enforced a Chinese judgment, the Chinese court will almost certainly rule against enforcing the U.S. judgment because the reciprocity

Is Now the Time to Take Your U.S. Judgment to China?

The Pathetic and Paltry Time Magazine Assignment Rate & Rights Grabs

What’s good for the goose is clearly not good for the gander. «Purchase» is not «license.» According to Time’s own website (here) » We license Time Inc.’s peerless content, brands and products to partners in new businesses and emerging markets.»

adjective1. having no equal; matchless; unrivaled. Synonyms:unmatched, unequaled; unique, unsurpassed. * source: Peerless, at Dictionary.com

Yet, that «peerless content» which Time wants contributors to produce is not something that they are purchasing like a computer or plane ticket. The software they pay a fee to license from Microsoft and Adobe, while seemingly purchased, is not, it’s licensed. They may have «purchased» a physical CD of the software, but they do not have ownership of the software to use across multiple platforms unless they obtain a broader license to the work, and pay an appropriate additional fee.

As reported in PDN Pulse (here), Karen Myers, who is Time’s UK’s Director of Corporate Communications, said “…Contributors need to bear in mind that commercial realities dictate that we will be using the content that we purchase in many different ways…» yet Time’s website Terms & Conditions (here) make it abundantly clear (regarding the intellectual property on their website) they «own, solely and exclusively, all rights, title and interest in and to the Web Site, all the content (including, for example, audio, photographs, illustrations, graphics, other visuals, video, copy, text, software, titles, Shockwave files, etc.).«

Time UK has been, and it will remain, licensing content from contributors. They will not be «purchasing» ownership of it any more than I can take that Norman Rockwell I want to buy and (once I do) make posters and lithographs off of it. Yet that is what Time UK (and as has been suggested by others, this is a trial balloon for US contracts) wants to do.

This smacks of what occurred in the late 1990’s, when Time unceremoniously foisted upon contractors, contributors, and freelancers, a new egregious contract. Many of the seasoned team of photographers, stood their ground and refused to sign, only to be replaced by those who looked up to them as standard bearers — «peerless» photographers, to coin Time’s characterization. The «new team» stepped in to fill the void, crumbling what ground those photographers were standing on. You can, no doubt, see those who were undercut by the newcomers sitting back and saying «what goes around comes around…» and not missing a wink of sleep as the downward spiral continues.

(Continued after the Jump)

How Far Down Is That Spiral Going?

In 1980, the Time Magazine contract indicated a rate of $ 350, and in about 1990 it was $ 450. In 2000 and on through to about 2011, it’s $ 500. It’s about $ 550 in 2014.

In 1980, $ 350 was worth, well, let’s set that as the baseline, and say $ 350 is worth $ 350.

Would the 1980 photographers taken an assignment for the «Peerless» Time Magazine for $ 191? No, they would not.

Here’s how Time Inc’s (NYSE: TIME) assignment rates have worked, throughout the years.

First is the middle line, which tracks the rate as paid. The top line is the rate had it kept up with inflation alone. The bottom line is the buying power of that rate, over time.

How did we arrive at these numbers? The US Department of Labor has a calculator (here) that allows you to compare buying power, over time. It’s a fact that essentially everything increases in cost over time. That loaf of bread in 1980 was about $ 0.50 and now it’s $ 1.50. Gas? Of course — more expensive too. As such, your ability to buy something has been reduced, over time, unless you get a «cost of living adjustment» in your income stream.

If Time were paying an assignment rate of $ 1,000.00 it would have just kept up with inflation relative to their previous $ 350 assignment rate from 1980.

Has their per-page ad rate gone up? Yes.

Have their employees received cost-of-living salary increases? Yes.

Where is the equity in paying those that produce that peerless content that brings in readers? Absent.

Know that if you’re a photographer now that accepted the $ 500 back 10-15 years or so ago (when it should have been about $ 750), you were undermining the photographers who tried to take a stand for better pay then. Now, when you try to take a stand, make no mistake about it, there will be photographers who will fill the void, and you can join the ranks of past Time Magazine contributors saying «what goes around, comes around — trust me, I have experienced the financial pain that proves it.»

You either stand together, or fail separately. Your choice.

—————-Related: The REAL ‘New Frugality’-Time Style, 7/25/09

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The Pathetic and Paltry Time Magazine Assignment Rate & Rights Grabs

Equality for None, Time Inc Lowers the Hammer on Creatives

On November 6, Photo Business News reported and provided commentary on the new Time Inc (NYSE: TWX) contract which they unceremoniously presented to their contributors (Times’ Failed Attempt At Fairness and Equity, 11/6/15). On November 10, Time Inc contacted Photo Business News and provided the following statement in response to the article:

«We have equalized our photography rights and rates across our 23+ brands. This is an industry standard. Our new contract is fair and equitable. A huge number of photographers have already signed the new agreement.»

Let’s break down the statement:

«equalized our photography rights and rates across our 23+ brands»

• so work done for the smallest circulation publication of the 23+ brands gets paid at the rate of the flagship publication.  Time no longer thinks that circulation should be a factor in usage, apparently. This does not square with the fact that their advertising rates are absolutely affected by circulation.
• The demand for copyright to your work (in their requirement of a work-made-for-hire clause) on all video content is a massive rights grab that is completely unnecessary, and certainly not a factor in what they are paying.

«This is an industry standard. «

• Simply saying it’s a standard does not make it so. Time actually has a leadership role to play here in providing a living pay scale, and this is not it. 

«Our new contract is fair and equitable. «

• Again, saying it’s fair and equitable does not make it so. The rights demands are unreasonable, and as outlined in the previous article, the actual passage of time shows that equity is definitely not a part of the equation in determining fair rates and terms. 

«A huge number of photographers have already signed the new agreement.»

• Saying a variation of «everyone else is doing it so you should too» doesn’t make it right, reasonable, or fair. In fact, I’ve heard from more than one photographer who has signed it and when asked further, said «I didn’t even read it, I do like one shoot a year for them…» — not smart business, in that case. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, the common refrain when I tried the «everyone else is doing it» excuse with my mother, was always responded to with «well, if everyone else was jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge, would you?» 
• Not everyone is going to sign it. We are aware of a number of photographers who have stated they will not.
• When you are a contract photographer and committed 100 days a year under that contract, you have a significant amount of sway over someone because they are essentially beholden to Time Inc for 50% of their income, and with 60 days, not likely to be replaced in that period of time. You can be sure though, that more of them will be disgruntled and otherwise feeling taken advantage of. This will reveal itself in their commitment, no doubt.  Many photographers use 100 days of work per year as basis for calculating all their costs, so for many, this represents their entire client base, which is reasonable when you factor in that there is prep time and travel time as well. 
• Thus, this is akin to going to an employee and substantially and materially changing the terms of their employment. Except here, Time Inc can (and has) terminated all contracts effective 12/31/15 and is requiring this contract be the new terms under which they will work.

Sign this contract at your own peril. It will not work out well for you in the long run. You will be, effectively, jumping off a bridge without a safety net, and, rest-assured, the next contract they demand you sign will be even worse. History has not shown contracts to get better over time. This TIME is no different.

(Comments, if any, after the Jump)

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Equality for None, Time Inc Lowers the Hammer on Creatives

Week 2: “How Do I Start A Business When I Don’t Have Any Time?”

It’s week 2 of my adventure in 2015 to start a business. I started out last week not knowing what kind of business I wanted to start. This week, I’m taking an introspective look at another common issue people have when they want to start a business–and one that plagues me as well! It’s all about the feeling of not having enough time to start a business.

Technically, I work part-time right now; I’m wrapping up a 3-month consulting gig with Help.com, building their launch plan, website copy, an ebook, and more. (My work will be live on Help.com soon!)

But, when you factor in my coworking space, this blog, finishing taxes and other miscellany of my business that failed/got acquired last year, and helping my boyfriend (who is also an entrepreneur) with his business, the hours I spend working pretty quickly ramp up to full-time.

So I’ve been exploring: How do you build a business when there are so many other things that compete for your time?

Most “Productivity Systems” Don’t Work. Here’s What Does.

And, after months of considering this and testing various “productivity systems”, I’ve come to a pretty simple conclusion. You do one thing every day that moves your business forward–and you don’t let anything stand in the way of getting that one thing done.

This doesn’t mean you don’t take any days off. Feel free to take a day off here or there. In fact, it looks an awful lot like the thing you do to get in shape, or to accomplish any other goal you have set for yourself. Want to get healthier? Walk 10 minutes a day. That’s it. (I often do this if I have to be on a conference call–I think best when I’m pacing, anyway, so it’s a good way to get my exercise.)

The same goes for your business. Want to start a business? Do one thing every day toward making that a reality. Have no idea what you want to start? Your one thing today may be going out to lunch with a local business owner and asking him or her what problems he or she faces–in business or in personal life!

Getting Coaching and Help: Surprisingly Valuable?

Or it could be taking a free, intro “deep coaching” call with a business coach. In this vein, I recently decided to do something that I felt was a bit risky: I asked my friend Rich Litvin to connect me with some of the best coaches he knows so I could do an introductory coaching call with all of them. It felt risky because I know how much coaches charge, and I’m unsure whether I want to commit to spending a lot of money on a coach. But then I thought, how could I ask people to spend money on me as a coach, as I did last year, if I don’t feel comfortable spending a similar amount?

So, between Rich’s intros and reaching out to friends of mine who are professional coaches, I put six in-depth intro calls on my calendar in just two weeks. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I have a call with a new coach.

The second coach I met with, John P. Morgan, when I told him about this, had one thing to say: “Wow! This is going to be a life-changing two weeks for you!” And now, about halfway through it, I’d have to agree.

I love that Rich introduced me to people who span the gamut of coaching, from people who’ve run successful businesses to executive coaches to artists like Allison Crow Flanigin, who is a painter and encouraged me to get in touch with my creative side and to bring more “me” into the world. I sort of feel silly saying this after I’ve already hung my shingle out as a coach and had paying clients, but I really get the value of coaching as a business leader now.

I’m glad I overcame my fear around this. At some point, I’ll hire a coach. Why? Because I’ll find the person or people who can propel me forward such that the coaching fee looks like peanuts compared to the value they provide. And if that sentence makes no sense to you, I strongly encourage you to do the same thing I did and schedule intro “deep sessions” with coaches until you find one or more of them who really opens you up and gets you going–and you realize that your creative efforts will be multiplied by hiring them. Honestly, all of the coaches I’ve worked with so far fit in that category. And if the money is a stretch, bring that into your coaching call. Work on creating enough value in the world that the money won’t be a stretch.

I probably sound like I’m writing a sales pitch for my own coaching here, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. I coached full-time for a few months in 2014, and although I’d be happy to take a really special, rock star client here or there, it’s not my path to coach full-time. It’s my path to use what I learn from being a coach and apply that to a larger, wider audience: you!

Are You Really “Too Busy”?

One point of clarity that has come up for me through these coaching calls is that I’d like to create a product in 2015. What I want to create isn’t totally clear yet, but I want to work on something around teaching ADHD, super creative people how to get stuff done and launch something out in the world. Obviously that’s something I’m still working on doing myself this year!

Side note: It will be a great sales pitch–I chuckle every time I think about this. “Well, Erica,” some smartass will invariably say, “How do I know your course on Getting Sh*t Done for Highly Creative People will actually work for me?” And I will get the trump card of replying, “Because it exists! Yes, because I used the principles in the course to make the course itself!” Yes, the ultimate smartass comeback. This is what I think about at 1AM when I’m awake in my bed and my brain won’t shut off…comebacks to objections that don’t yet exist about a product that doesn’t yet exist. BlogThis!