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☆ Trump's deals to sell Bibles, sneakers and perfume are unprecedented for a presidential candidate, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"I can't think of any other modern example of a presidential candidate hawking an array of goods for their private benefit," Fischer said. The website for the Bibles says it has no link to Trump's campaign. It instead uses Trump's name, likeness and image under paid license from a company called CIC Ventures LLC. Lessig noted that Trump's business moves do not appear to be violating campaign ethics or financial rules. A Trump campaign spokesman did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

Persons: Donald Trump, hawking, Joe Biden, Trump, Lawrence Lessig, Brendan Fischer, Fischer, Lee Greenwood's, Greenwood, Republican nominee's, Lessig Organizations: Trump, Trump —, White, Harvard Law School, CNBC, Republican, New York Times, Ventures, CIC Ventures Locations: Florida, West Palm Beach , Florida, Philadelphia

Supporters of the state laws say they foster free speech, giving the public access to all points of view. One contrarian brief, from liberal professors, urged the justices to uphold the key provision of the Texas law despite the harm they said it would cause. “Social media platforms exercise editorial judgment that is inherently expressive,” Judge Kevin C. Newsom wrote for the panel. To the surprise of many, some prominent liberal professors filed a brief urging the justices to uphold a key provision of the Texas law. In the second case, Miami Herald v. Tornillo, the Supreme Court in 1974 struck down a Florida law that would have allowed politicians a “right to reply” to newspaper articles critical of them.

Persons: Samuel A, Alito Jr, ”, Scott Wilkens, Ron DeSantis, John Tully, Donald J, Trump, Greg Abbott of, —, Ken Paxton, “, Andrew S, Oldham, Kevin C, Newsom, Lawrence Lessig, Tim Wu of, Teachout, Mandel Ngan, Richard L, “ Florida’s, Moody, Paxton, Robins, William H, Rehnquist, Pat L, Tornillo, Warren E, Burger Organizations: Facebook, YouTube, Columbia University, Big Tech, The New York Times, Gov, Republican, Computer & Communications Industry, New York Times, Fox News, U.S ., Appeals, Fifth Circuit, ISIS, Harvard, Tim Wu of Columbia, Zephyr, Fordham, Twitter, Manchester Union, Citizens United, Agence France, University of California, Miami Herald, Florida, Representatives, Constitution Locations: Florida, Texas, Greg Abbott of Texas, Ukraine, Los Angeles, Campbell , Calif

☆ How to Steal the Presidential Election - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Lawrence Lessig | Matthew A. Seligman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

We determined that the most commonly discussed strategies — such as a state legislature picking a new slate of electors to the Electoral College — wouldn’t work because of impediments built into the Constitution. We also concluded that the most blatantly extreme strategies, such as a state canceling its election and selecting its electors directly, are politically unlikely. The scenario we see as the most alarming was made possible by the Supreme Court itself. In a 2021 decision, the court held, in our reading, that state legislatures have the power to direct electors on how to cast their electoral votes. The question now is whether there is any way to close that loophole before a stolen election slides through.

Persons: — Organizations: Capitol, Electoral, Supreme

WASHINGTON, April 24(Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge by computer scientist Stephen Thaler to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's refusal to issue patents for inventions his artificial intelligence system created. According to Thaler, his DABUS system, short for Device for the Autonomous Bootstrapping of Unified Sentience, created unique prototypes for a beverage holder and emergency light beacon entirely on its own. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and a federal judge in Virginia rejected his patent applications for the inventions on the grounds that DABUS is not a person. Thaler has also applied for DABUS patents in other countries including the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia and Saudi Arabia with limited success. The UK's Supreme Court heard Thaler's appeal of his loss there in March.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party, which long championed campaign finance reform, got so good at the game that it used more dark money than Republicans during the 2020 presidential campaign. He was also charged with campaign finance violations, allegedly using "straw donors" to circumvent contribution limits by giving money to allies who would then donate to politicians in their own names. There have been no campaign finance bills introduced in the new Congress, no new policies from regulators and barely even any discussion about reform. But I’m not so surprised," said Sheila Krumholz, the executive director of OpenSecrets, which tracks political donations, of Bankman-Fried’s use of the campaign finance system. "This is yet another example of how lax campaign finance rules allow someone with money to throw their weight around and build influence and maybe it is not gaining traction because it’s just one of many stories like this."

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