Archive for January, 2008
Next Entries »Entertainment Industry: It’s Illegal to Back Up Your CDs
Wednesday, January 9th, 2008Old fogies like me aren’t participating in it, but there’s a digital music revolution going on. And the entertainment industry doesn’t like it. Since 2003, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has brought more than 20,000 lawsuits against anyone it believes is illegally downloading—or sharing—music or video over the Internet. Similar lawsuits are ongoing [...]
U.S. Banks Impose Withdrawal Limits
Tuesday, January 8th, 2008Several weeks ago a reader forwarded me a message, supposedly from banking giant Citigroup, entitled "Change to Inter-Institution Transfers User Agreement." I thought that the message, which drastically reduces the amount of money Citigroup account-holders can electronically transfer to another institution, might be a hoax. But I’ve now confirmed that it’s legit. Purportedly as a [...]
USA Monitors Financial Transactions in the Channel Islands
Monday, January 7th, 2008I’ve long been skeptical about using the Channel Islands—Guernsey and Jersey, both islands off the British coast—as secure offshore financial centers. My skepticism originated in the so-called "Cantrade Affair." In the late 1980s, a group of investors—including a dear, now departed friend—placed several million dollars with Jersey-based Cantrade, a subsidiary of the AAA-rated UBS Bank [...]
Revised U.S.-Canada Treaty Eliminates Tax Booby Traps—and Opportunities
Friday, January 4th, 2008Thanks to those intrepid treaty negotiators at the U.S. Treasury Department, there’s now a bright, shiny, new "Protocol" in effect between the United States and Canada. The good news about this Protocol—an amendment to the U.S.-Canada tax treaty—is it eliminates some sneaky tax traps that made it tricky for Americans to invest in Canada using [...]
Reading the News Can Infect Your PC
Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008If you’re an Internet news junkie, beware. Hackers have long used infected Web pages and e-mail attachments to spread "Trojan Horses"—programs that allow an outsider to take over your PC. Once your PC is compromised, a hacker has full control over it. The hacker can read and write files, steal passwords, and address lists, even [...]
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