The State versus the Internet: Kentucky Starts a Trade War

By Mark Nestmann (January 8, 2009)

There's a war simmering right now, that you may not have heard about. The object of the war is control of the Internet.

In some ways, this war is similar to the deceitful "harmful tax competition" campaign that industrialized nations have been conducting against offshore jurisdictions for more than a decade. It involves the same protagonists: industrialized nations versus developing countries. And one of the opening salvos of this war is occurring, of all places, in a Kentucky courtroom.

Kentucky is trying to force 141 Internet gaming sites, none of them based in the United States (much less Kentucky) to block access to Kentucky users, or to relinquish control of their domain names. The state alleges, among other things, that online gaming drains money from horse racing, a key source of tax dollars. Following a hearing last September, a state judge ordered the domain names to be transferred to the state. That decision is now under appeal.

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Market Titan Going Against the Grain

By Eric Roseman (January 8, 2009)

One of the only two Wall Street investment strategists to predict today's bear market is now echoing our view on the markets and housing...specifically the relationship between the two...

"Battaglia remains cautious and believes the consumer will remain challenged in 2009," says investment director Eric Roseman, "He's also unconvinced the housing market and the economy will form a bottom this year, a view widely embraced by investment strategists predicting the economy will rebound the second half of 2009."

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You're already a Currency Investor...

By Kat Von Rohr (January 8, 2009)

"You can't avoid it," says World Currency Watch managing editor, Kat von Rohr. "You can't take a break from investing in it. You can't sell everything and run like hell if the markets turn against you."

"No matter what, you'll still end up with some kind of cash in your pocket (unless you plan to live a life of poverty). So you'll technically have some kind of investment in this market - even if you never place a single Forex trade in your life. "
"In fact, you probably have even more currency investments than you think: Your house, any capital in your business, bank accounts, all your investment portfolios, your IRA, your trust funds for your kids - all technically currency investments because you can sell them for cash."

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