Liftoff!

SPACE WATCH
NASA – The Soyuz TMA-21 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, April 5, 2011, carrying Expedition 27 Soyuz Commander Alexander Samokutyaev, NASA Flight Engineer Ron Garan and Russian Flight Engineer Andrey Borisenko to the International Space Station. The Soyuz, which has been dubbed “Gagarin”, is launching one week shy of the 50th anniversary of the launch of Yuri Gagarin from the same launch pad in Baikonur on April 12, 1961 to become the first human to fly in space.

Expedition 27 crew members from top, Russian Flight Engineer Andrey Borisenko, NASA Flight Engineer Ron Garan, and Soyuz Commander Alexander Samokutyaev wave farewell from the bottom of the Soyuz rocket prior to their launch to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on Tuesday, April 5, 2011.

The Soyuz, which has been dubbed “Gagarin,” is launching one week shy of the 50th anniversary of the launch of Yuri Gagarin from the same launch pad in Baikonur on April 12, 1961, to become the first human to fly in space.

Credit: NASA/Carla Cioffi

Boiling the Ocean

By Hesh Wiener – General Electric, a company nearly twice the size of IBM, is in an Obamic situation, a position so deeply disappointing that it makes one’s heart break. Its Mark I nuclear reactors lie at the heart of a catastrophe in Japan. Its agility at tax avoidance has become a target of the New York Times, which trims its taxes the old fashioned way, by not making money. Meanwhile, GE’s chairman, Jeffrey Immelt, is trying to help run the USA. IBM is pointing out, with a straight face, that we need a smarter planet. Who would want a stupider one?

The civilized, diligent, orderly, educated, and hygienic Japanese don’t seem to trust the electric power company, its regulatory overseers, or even the supervisors of the team that is fighting the radiation hazards. It is natural enough for there to be name-calling in the wake of any industrial accident, but when key players such as, in this case, General Electric, also seem to be keen on cutting corners and influencing legislators, the criticism becomes louder and more credible. Every party involved in the Japanese situation and, right now at least, every party involved in the nuclear power industry, is getting tarred or perhaps irradiated with the same brush.

IBM really ought to get to work on this. After all, it’s still on this planet. more> http://tinyurl.com/42be8ah

related>

• Japan stops nuclear plant leak; crisis far from over, Shinichi Saoshiro and Yoko Nishikawa, Reuters

Appeals court knocks down Verizon net neutrality challenge

By Marc Ferranti and Grant Gross – A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia noted in its decision that the FCC’s net neutrality order is a rule-making document subject to judicial review once it is published in the Federal Register. The panel said that the appeal’s “prematurity is incurable.”

Verizon will refile the lawsuit once the FCC’s net neutrality order is published in the Federal Register, said Ed McFadden, a Verizon spokesman. more> http://twurl.nl/r4nhnn

related>

• FCC Wins One Net Neutrality Fight But Congress is Still Hostile, Stacey Higginbotham, GigaOM
• Here Comes The Internet Regulatory Creep, Nick R. Brown, Big Government
• Net neutrality and Trinko, Geoffrey Manne, Truth on the Market
• Big Government Vs. the Internet, Mike Brownfield, Heritage Foundation
• White House defends ‘network neutrality’ rules, threatening to veto GOP attempt to repeal them, Associated Press/Washington Post
• House GOP Gives Bid to Overturn Net Neutrality Rules Emergency Status, Katy Bachman, Adweek
• House approves measure to overturn FCC net neutrality rules, Cecilia Kang, Washington Post

Google to Get $25 Million Breakup Fee If Rival Wins Bid for Nortel Patents

By Steven Church – Google Inc. (GOOG) will be paid a $25 million breakup fee if another bidder wins a proposed auction for bankrupt Nortel Networks Corp. (NRTLQ)’s patent portfolio.

The proposed breakup fee and other concessions were necessary for Google “to continue to participate in the auction process,” Nortel said in court papers filed yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware. Google is also guaranteed repayment of as much as $4 million in expenses. The planned sale, which includes about 6,000 patents and patent applications, must be approved by the judges overseeing Nortel’s bankruptcy cases in the U.S. and Canada. more> http://twurl.nl/ks6kom

related>

• Intel gets antitrust approval for Nortel asset buy, Reuters
• Nortel patents draw bidding war: Apple vs. Google? Larry Dignan, CNET News
• Google gets antitrust OK for Nortel patents, report says, Stephen Shankland, CNET News
• Microsoft Fighting To Ensure Google Does Not Gain Patent Leverage, Deterrence, TechCrunch.com/Washington Post
• DOJ probes Apple’s interest in Nortel patents, Josh Ong, Apple Insider
• RPX Considering Bid for Nortel’s ‘Nuclear Weapon’ of Technology Patents, Hugo Miller, Steven Church and Olga Kharif, Bloomberg
• US court approves Google’s $900M bid for Nortel patents, Peter Sayer, IDG News Service/ Nework World
• Google bids $900M for Nortel’s patent portfolio, Elizabeth Howell, Ottawa Business Journal
• Will Microsoft try to outbid Google for Nortel’s patents? Mary Jo Foley, ZDNet
• Google bids $900 million for Nortel patents, AFP/Age

THOMAS Top Ten – compiled on Apr 3 2011

Library of Congress -

1. H.R. 1 [112th]
   Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011
2. H.R. 1255 [112th]
   Government Shutdown Prevention Act of 2011
3. H.R. 658 [112th]
   FAA Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2011
4. H.R. 3590 [111th]
   Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
5. H.R. 4173 [111th]
   Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act
6. H.R. 839 [112th]
   HAMP Termination Act of 2011
7. H.R. 872 [112th]
   Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2011
8. H.R. 471 [112th]
   Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act
9. H.R. 3 [112th]
   No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act
10. H.R. 861 [112th]
    NSP Termination Act