Midwest Republic public news

[HHAYD]

Plans for permanent federal government buildings on hold:

Currently, the MR federal government resides in many temporary buildings, occasionally borrowing local government buildings when needed. President Natas stated, "It is unacceptable to not have even a single permanent government building for the Midwest Republic." after an incident with the elevator in his temporary office. Shortly after minor repairs and renovations, President Natas attempted to call for the elevator and the elevator's door opened, but the elevator car was missing. The elevator car came crashing down while President Natas was sticking his head into the elevator shaft and managed to narrowly dodge the elevator car.

None of the legislators have proposed a bill to fund the construction of permanent government buildings as of now.
-----------------------------
War on invasive Asian carps stalled:

President Natas had vetoed the "Asian Carp Control" bill which would have given the EPRA (Environmental Protection and Regulation Agency) $50 million dollars to stop the Asian carps from invading the Great Lakes, exterminate all of the Asian carps from all of the rivers and build electric barriers to prevent new Asian carps from invading the restored rivers. His reason for vetoing the bill was; "$50 million is ridiculous amount; I will not give EPRA mountains of cash to burn through on useless projects.". The bill is waiting in the Legislative, requiring at least 75% of the legislators' approval votes to override the veto.
-----------------------------
Military expansion stalled:

President Natas recently vetoed the "Military Expansion" bill that called for the funding for the military to be increased from $1 billion to $5 billion annually to make up for the Empire of Pravus Ingruo's military withdrawing from the Midwest Republic. The Legislative as of now is debating and revising the bill.

[HHAYD]

War on invasive Asian carps starts with a limp:

The Legislative had narrowly approved the "Asian Carp Control" bill, 75 yay to 25 nay. However, the bill's funding was slashed from $50 million to $9.6 million. The EPRA complained it was insufficient amount of money and warned that the best they could do is stop the Asian carps from entering the Great Lakes temporarily. President Natas replied, "Make the best of the cards, or in this case, money, dealt to you."
-------------------------------
Military expansion killed:

The Legislative had failed to pass the bill, 74 yay to 26 nay, one approval off. The Field Marshal of the MRA (Midwest Republic Army), Howiser Nate, warned that the Midwest Republic's army will be too stretched and underfunded to even handle minor international or domestic armed conflicts. "1,000 active soldiers, 5,000 reserve soldiers, 8,000 militia members, one squadron of F-16 fighter jets, half squadron of F-22 fighter jets, less than 100 M60 Patton and M1 Abrams tanks, a dozen of aging helicopters, and less than a few thousand of other combat and non-combat vehicles is not only embarrassing, but very dangerous. A 3rd world country's military could easily overwhelm us." Patorson Nate, director of Department of Defense, warned.
-------------------------------
"No Student in Debt" and "Head Start" bill proposed in the Legislative:

If the "No Student in Debt" bill is passed and ratified, the federal government would pay for 50% of all students' college tuition fees in all public universities or colleges. It will also apply to students attending private universities or colleges, as long as such universities and colleges submit their annual budget to the federal government. It will also cover another 25% of the college tuition fee if the students score high enough on their ACT and SAT and have at least a 3.5 GPA.

The "Head Start" bill calls for the government to fund programs that provide comprehensive education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families.

Following programs the bill will include:
[quote]
-[b]Early Head Start[/b] – Promotes healthy prenatal outcomes, promotes healthy family the development of infants and toddlers beginning as young as newborn infants.
-[b]Head Start[/b] – Helps to create healthy development in low-income children ages three to five. Programs offer a wide variety of services that depend on a child's and each family's heritage and experience, to influence all aspects of a child's development and learning.
-[b]Family and Community Partnerships[/b] – Head Start offers parents opportunities and support as they identify and meet their own goals, nurture the development of their children in the context of their family and culture, and advocate for communities that are supportive of children and families of all cultures. The building of trusting, collaborative relationships between parents and staff allows them to share with and to learn from one another.[7]
-[b]Migrant and Seasonal Head Start[/b] – Provides Head Start services to children of migrant and seasonal farm workers who meet income and other eligibility guidelines. Services are for children from six-months to five-years of age. Because of the nature of the work done by the families, the hours of services are longer and the length of program is shorter (fewer months) than traditional Head Start services.
[/quote]

[HHAYD]

"No Student in Debt" and "Head Start" bills have been passed in the Legislative but are awaiting President Natas' approval/veto.

-----------------
"Standardized Diverging Diamond Interchange" bill proposed in the Legislative:

The traffic bill mandates all highway diamond interchanges suffering from heavy congestion to be rebuilt as diverging diamond interchange by 2021, 10 years from now, and rest of the diamond interchanges to be rebuilt by 2041, 40 years from now. The DDI concept reduces left-hand turning collisions, the most common type of collision at intersections and improves traffic flow. Critics complained that such concept would increase traffic accidents as it forces drivers who were used to drive on the right side to drive on the left. President Natas stated the confusion can be reduced by placing tall concrete barriers between the reversed roads' lanes and that many drivers will adapt to the change quickly. The cost of such project has not be estimated yet.

----------------------------
FTA (Federal Trade Agency) had launched an investigation on Data Connective Corporation on anti-trust violations, bait-and-switch, multiple breech of contracts, bribing, distribution of malware and spam, and possibly additional charges after DCC acquired over a dozen of ISP companies. Almost all of Data Connective's customers complained of overpriced slow connection, customer support missing in action, and high unreliability but lack the option of switching to another ISP due to DCC holding a total monopoly on Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois. Many customers also accused DCC of unfairly throttling their internet connection, several of them had an average of 1 or 2 kbit/s speed. In some counties, customers are offline over 50% of the time. Gordon Mann had filed a lawsuit against DCC a few days ago, accusing them of throttling his 5 Mbit/s internet connection to an average of 33.6 kbit/s frequently before having his internet, TV, and phone plan dropped without an explanation. Switching to dial-up is not an option in areas dominated by DCC due to DCC disabling dial-up capability on their networks.
[quote]
DCC's residential services and its monthly cost:

-$99.99, Broadband: 33.6 kbit/s top, 200 MB cap, limit to one computer
-$129.99, Plus Broadband: 33.6 kbit/s top, 750 MB cap, limit to one computer
-$199.99, Family Broadband: 33.6 kbit/s top, 1.5 GB cap, limit to three computers
-$399.99, High Speed Broadband: 1 Mbit/s top, 2.5 GB cap, limit to one computer
-$429.99, High Speed Family Broadband: 1 Mbit/s top, 3 GB cap, limit to three computers
-$599.99, Ultimate Broadband: 2 Mbit/s top, 4.5 GB cap, limit to one computer
-$699.99, Expanded Ultimate Broadband: 5 Mbit/s top, 10 GB cap, limit to three computers[/quote]

DCC claimed that they rarely throttle customers' internet connection due to a lack of need of it nor would they ever spread spam and malware and they did not bribe anyone. They also accused of FTA "Bullying most successful businesses for the heck of it." and claimed that maintaining millions of high bandwidth connection is expensive.

Edited December 26, 2010 by HHAYD

[Lynneth]

[quote name='HHAYD' timestamp='1293403387' post='2554700']
FTA (Federal Trade Agency) had launched an investigation on Data Connective Corporation on anti-trust violations, bait-and-switch, multiple breech of contracts, bribing, distribution of malware and spam, and possibly additional charges after DCC acquired over a dozen of ISP companies. Almost all of Data Connective's customers complained of overpriced slow connection, customer support missing in action, and high unreliability but lack the option of switching to another ISP due to DCC holding a total monopoly on Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois. Many customers also accused DCC of unfairly throttling their internet connection, several of them had an average of 1 or 2 kbit/s speed. In some counties, customers are offline over 50% of the time. Gordon Mann had filed a lawsuit against DCC a few days ago, accusing them of throttling his 5 Mbit/s internet connection to an average of 33.6 kbit/s frequently before having his internet, TV, and phone plan dropped without an explanation. Switching to dial-up is not an option in areas dominated by DCC due to DCC disabling dial-up capability on their networks.


DCC claimed that they rarely throttle customers' internet connection due to a lack of need of it nor would they ever spread spam and malware and they did not bribe anyone. They also accused of FTA "Bullying most successful businesses for the heck of it." and claimed that maintaining millions of high bandwidth connection is expensive.
[/quote]
Hearing the near-complete monopoly of DCC, [i]Xanatos Enterprises[/i], foremost of 15 internet providers in Sri Lanka has expressed an interest in "barging into the Midwest Republic's 'Net-market", said a spokesman of the company. While it is likely that considerable upgrades with high-quality optical fibers and other such technology would be necessary to bring the Republic's network up to speed, opening a branch there would enable the company to eventually offer its services in all of North America.
However, the Republic's stance on this is entirely unknown, so it might be a while until [i]XE[/i] can expand into the North American market.

Its lowest-priced service, "Basic", costs $20 per month (converted from Sri Lankan Rupees into Republic Dollars), topping at 5 Mbit/s with a 1,250 Gbyte cap per month (1.25 Terabyte), limited to one router with 4 computers connected to it.
Its most expensive service, "Premium Plus", costs $800 per month. It tops at 300 Mbit/s with a nearly unlimited cap per month (depending on internet usage and other values), limited to one router with up to 10 computers connected to it.
There are different services for schools, businesses and the like, but these are viewable on their website under [i]xanatos-enterprises.sl[/i], in the [i]services[/i] category. Currently, Xanatos Enterprises offers its services only in Sri Lanka (incl. Bengal) and parts of the Kingdom of Cochin.


OOC: Capitalism!

[HHAYD]

[quote name='Lynneth' timestamp='1293411383' post='2554778']
Hearing the near-complete monopoly of DCC, [i]Xanatos Enterprises[/i], foremost of 15 internet providers in Sri Lanka has expressed an interest in "barging into the Midwest Republic's 'Net-market", said a spokesman of the company. While it is likely that considerable upgrades with high-quality optical fibers and other such technology would be necessary to bring the Republic's network up to speed, opening a branch there would enable the company to eventually offer its services in all of North America.
However, the Republic's stance on this is entirely unknown, so it might be a while until [i]XE[/i] can expand into the North American market.

Its lowest-priced service, "Basic", costs $20 per month (converted from Sri Lankan Rupees into Republic Dollars), topping at 5 Mbit/s with a 1,250 Gbyte cap per month (1.25 Terabyte), limited to one router with 4 computers connected to it.
Its most expensive service, "Premium Plus", costs $800 per month. It tops at 300 Mbit/s with a nearly unlimited cap per month (depending on internet usage and other values), limited to one router with up to 10 computers connected to it.
There are different services for schools, businesses and the like, but these are viewable on their website under [i]xanatos-enterprises.sl[/i], in the [i]services[/i] category. Currently, Xanatos Enterprises offers its services only in Sri Lanka (incl. Bengal) and parts of the Kingdom of Cochin.


OOC: Capitalism!

[/quote]
"All businesses are welcome to setup in Midwest Republic as long as they obey MR's laws.", President Natas.

------------------------------
Additional charges pile up on DCC:

DCC received additional charges, hosting illegal file sharing and prostitute service websites, assisting hackers, and blocking all competitors' and consumer watchdogs'/complaints' websites. FTA proceeded to order DCC to give full access of their ISP networks and equipments to FTA after FTA received a court search warrant in response to the additional charges. DCC refused to obey, which was met with another charge, "obstruction of justice" and DCC responded by IP blocking FTA's and the court's website. The FPA (Federal Police Agency) raided DCC's office and network buildings a few hours later and during that time, DCC's employees were destroying some files. DPD and FTA pressed "obstruction of justice" on about 60 DCC's employees. DCC proceeded to block FPA's website as well.

About 20 minutes later, DCC announced they have acquired four ISPs, allowing it to take full control of half of Indiana's internet, phone, and TV network infrastructure. DCC replaced the original ISPs' services with its own, throttled customers' internet bandwidth that still had active contracts with the original ISPs, and fired many employees. DCC is denying the accusation and claimed they were still lawfully upholding customers' contracts and the fired employees had discipline problems. However, almost all of the fired employees claimed DCC fired them simply because they disliked the merging of their ISP with a an almost-monopoly ISP. The former CEO of Internet Management Corporation stated that DCC succeeded in using the "Hostile takeover" tactic against his ISP business and possibly other ISPs that DCC acquired.

FTA is currently requesting for a court order to freeze DCC's assets.

------------------------------
"No Student in Debt" and "Head Start" bills have been ratified into laws by President Natas.

-----------------
"Standardized Diverging Diamond Interchange" bill is still currently under debate in the Legislative.

Edited December 27, 2010 by HHAYD

[Lynneth]

[quote name='HHAYD' timestamp='1293463454' post='2555284']
"All businesses are welcome to setup in Midwest Republic as long as they obey MR's laws.", President Natas.

------------------------------
Additional charges pile up on DCC:

DCC received additional charges, hosting illegal file sharing and prostitute service websites, assisting hackers, and blocking all competitors', consumer watchdogs'/complaints' websites. FTA proceeded to order DCC to give full access of their ISP networks and equipments to FTA after FTA received a court search warrant in response to the additional charges. DCC refused to obey, which was met with another charge, "obstruction of justice" and DCC responded by IP blocking FTA's and the court's website. The FPA (Federal Police Agency) raided DCC's office and network buildings a few hours later and during that time, DCC's employees were destroying some files. DPD and FTA pressed "obstruction of justice" on about 60 DCC's employees. DCC proceeded to block FPA's website as well.

About 20 minutes later, DCC announced they have acquired four ISPs, allowing it to take full control of half of Indiana's internet, phone, and TV network infrastructure. DCC replaced the original ISPs' services with its own, throttled customers' internet bandwidth that still had active contracts with the original ISPs, and fired employees that resisted the takeover within minutes after the merge announcements became public. DCC is denying the accusation and claimed they were still lawfully upholding customers' contracts and the fired employees had discipline problems. The former CEO of Internet Management Corporation stated that DCC succeeded in using the "Hostile takeover" tactic against his ISP business and possibly other ISPs that DCC acquired.

FTA is currently requesting for a court order to freeze DCC's assets.[/quote]
With the Republic's stance now known, [i]Xanatos Enterprises[/i] would immediately move to establish itself in their market, offering a number of smaller providers quite lucrative deals in order to acquire their network infrastructure.
The company - and two, three others from Sri Lanka - would attempt to expand aggressively to curb DCC's rapid expansions and offer superior service to customers, while providing better employment to their employees.
Especially [i]Xanatos Enterprises[/i] would concentrate on cities such as Chicago, Milwaukee and Indianapolis.
Preparations for a satellite network would be made as well, to provide a connection even if landlines were somehow killed.

[HHAYD]

[quote name='Lynneth' timestamp='1293481389' post='2555430']
With the Republic's stance now known, [i]Xanatos Enterprises[/i] would immediately move to establish itself in their market, offering a number of smaller providers quite lucrative deals in order to acquire their network infrastructure.
The company - and two, three others from Sri Lanka - would attempt to expand aggressively to curb DCC's rapid expansions and offer superior service to customers, while providing better employment to their employees.
Especially [i]Xanatos Enterprises[/i] would concentrate on cities such as Chicago, Milwaukee and Indianapolis.
Preparations for a satellite network would be made as well, to provide a connection even if landlines were somehow killed.
[/quote]
OOC: Is it Xanatos a corporation?

[Lynneth]

[quote name='HHAYD' timestamp='1293482169' post='2555441']
OOC: Is it Xanatos a corporation?
[/quote]
OOC: Third page, uppermost post, last corp in my news thread.
[url="http://forums.cybernations.net/index.php?showtopic=90657&st=40"]Clicky[/url] for 3rd page.
It's a corporation owned by David Xanatos.

[HHAYD]

[quote name='Lynneth' timestamp='1293482862' post='2555449']
OOC: Third page, uppermost post, last corp in my news thread.
[url="http://forums.cybernations.net/index.php?showtopic=90657&st=40"]Clicky[/url] for 3rd page.
It's a corporation owned by David Xanatos.
[/quote]
OOC: If its a corporation, that means it is controlled by shareholders. One of the common tactics of absorbing other corporations is by buying majority of the corporation's stocks, then appointing a board of directors that support the merging, and they will appoint CEOs or other highest ranking employees that also support the merging, and with massive influence from the top tier of the corporation; it will most likely merge with the corporation that gobbled up the stocks.
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IC: After hearing news of Xanatos Enterprises attempting to move into Midwest Republic, DCC's CEOs were cooking up a new plan, buy majority of Xanatos Enterprises's stocks and force Xanatos to merge with DCC. However, they discovered all of their bank accounts were frozen and that FTA dropped a reminder that the court trial will start in a week in their email accounts.

Meanwhile, a few of the ISPs fell for Xanatos's deals though the rest refused, including Midwest Republic's second largest ISP, Digital Pipeline. They planned on slashing service charges and upgrading their equipments before Xanatos sets up in the Midwest Republic. The good old days of not facing competition from formidable competitors and slightly overcharging was over.

----------------
A week later:

FTA had frozen all of DCC's assets to stop DCC from acquiring additional ISPs and as a response to DCC's unwillingness to obey court orders. The FTA-DCC court trial will start at 1:00 PM today.

Edited December 27, 2010 by HHAYD

[Michael McBride]

Recognizing the dire straits the Midwest Republic is in due to its failure to expland its military funding, the Empire offers 10,000 troops and their equipment to the Republic to help with defense until our former protectorate is fully on its feet. Please contact the Department of State if you wish to discuss this proposal.

[Lynneth]

[quote name='HHAYD' timestamp='1293485596' post='2555489']
OOC: If its a corporation, that means it is controlled by shareholders. One of the common tactics of absorbing other corporations is by buying majority of the corporation's stocks, then appointing a board of directors that support the merging, and they will appoint CEOs or other highest ranking employees that also support the merging, and with massive influence from the top tier of the corporation; it will most likely merge with the corporation that gobbled up the stocks.
-------------
IC: After hearing news of Xanatos Enterprises attempting to move into Midwest Republic, DCC's CEOs were cooking up a new plan, buy majority of Xanatos Enterprises's stocks and force Xanatos to merge with DCC. However, they discovered all of their bank accounts were frozen and that FTA dropped a reminder that the court trial will start in a week in their email accounts.

Meanwhile, a few of the ISPs fell for Xanatos's deals though the rest refused, including Midwest Republic's second largest ISP, Digital Pipeline. They planned on slashing service charges and upgrading their equipments before Xanatos sets up in the Midwest Republic. The good old days of not facing competition from formidable competitors and slightly overcharging was over.

----------------
A week later:

FTA had frozen all of DCC's assets to stop DCC from acquiring additional ISPs and as a response to DCC's unwillingness to obey court orders. The FTA-DCC court trial will start at 1:00 PM today.
[/quote]
OOC: Only works if the majority shareholder - the aforementioned David Xanatos, and the unmentioned Sostra Holdings - is willing to part with more than 51% of their shares, which they aren't. That said, XE is vastly more sizable than DCC, being based in a nation with more than 350 million people and appropriate profits.
Things aren't half as easy as you might think.

IC:
With DCC practically eliminated, the corporation under [url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Possible/Xanatos.jpg"]David Xanatos[/url] would attempt to expand further, but only utilizing legal methods to do so.
For this reason, a team of lawyers versed in Midwest Republican law had been hired to make everything go as smoothly as possible.
XE was quite used to having competition, with a total of 15 major (and many more minor) internet providers offering services all over Sri Lanka. This would surely give them some advantage, especally because XE was one of the three highest-rated providers in its country of origin, serving almost 35 million households (with an approximate total of 72 million households at 4.86 people per household on average) and numerous businesses.
In addition, wherever the company's branch in the Midwest Republic has gained a foothold, contractors would be brought in to upgrade all landlines under their control, so XE would be able to provide the service it offered: High-speed internet for low, low prices.

Continuous "price-wars" like this were quite common in Sri Lanka, though there was a law against any single provider gaining control of more than 50% of the entire nation's network.
As XE specialised in all kinds of media, TV- and radiostations were planned to be built as well, though the exact programme was up in the air for the time being.

[HHAYD]

[quote name='Lynneth' timestamp='1293488026' post='2555529']
OOC: Only works if the majority shareholder - the aforementioned David Xanatos, and the unmentioned Sostra Holdings - is willing to part with more than 51% of their shares, which they aren't. That said, XE is vastly more sizable than DCC, being based in a nation with more than 350 million people and appropriate profits.
Things aren't half as easy as you might think.

IC:
With DCC practically eliminated, the corporation under [url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Possible/Xanatos.jpg"]David Xanatos[/url] would attempt to expand further, but only utilizing legal methods to do so.
For this reason, a team of lawyers versed in Midwest Republican law had been hired to make everything go as smoothly as possible.
XE was quite used to having competition, with a total of 15 major (and many more minor) internet providers offering services all over Sri Lanka. This would surely give them some advantage, especally because XE was one of the three highest-rated providers in its country of origin, serving almost 35 million households (with an approximate total of 72 million households at 4.86 people per household on average) and numerous businesses.
In addition, wherever the company's branch in the Midwest Republic has gained a foothold, contractors would be brought in to upgrade all landlines under their control, so XE would be able to provide the service it offered: High-speed internet for low, low prices.

Continuous "price-wars" like this were quite common in Sri Lanka, though there was a law against any single provider gaining control of more than 50% of the entire nation's network.
As XE specialised in all kinds of media, TV- and radiostations were planned to be built as well, though the exact programme was up in the air for the time being.
[/quote]
Xanatos would have to request the FTA for licenses to operate TV and radio stations to ensure they don't accidentally interfere other stations' broadcasts. They would quickly learn why FTA was nicknamed, "Tough yet too slow" by many TV and radio stations.

-----------------------------
DCC found guilty!

DCC was found guilty of anti-trust violations, bait-and-switch, multiple breech of contracts, bribing, distribution of malware and spam, false advertising, hosting illegal file sharing, child pornography, and prostitute service websites, assisting hackers, and blocking all competitors', consumer watchdogs'/complaints' websites without reasonable reason, and obstruction of justice.

DCC is required to refund 150% of all of their customers who had filed at least one complaint against DCC. They are also to pay $50 million in fines and to be broken up into the original ISPs within a month. DCC's employees that were responsible for the unlawful conducts are to face individual court trials.
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"Fair Communication Access" proposed in the Legislative:

The bill prohibits ISPs from blocking competitors from providing service to customers such as denying access to last mile communication equipments. The bill's main purpose is to ensure fair competition between ISPs.

-------------------------
FTA' communication division to be separated from FTA:

President Natas had approved the formation of the Federal Communication Agency (FCA) after FTA requested for the breakup. FTA stated that their former communication division was increasingly becoming unrelated to the rest of the FTA and to ensure simplicity in management.

-------------------------
Digital Pipeline purchases ISP networks from DCC:

DP, an ISP, had purchased over 20 DCC's ISP networks, allowing it to retake Chicago, Detroit, Columbus, Indianapolis, and other major cities in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio. Digital Pipeline also stated they have adjusted their services.

--------------------------
Digital Pipeline announcement on service adjustments:
[quote]
Standard services (residential), monthly

Dialup: Free
Tier 1: 2 MBps, $9.99
Tier 2: 5 MBps, $23.99
Tier 3: 9 MBps, $49.99
Tier 4: 15 MBps, $72.99
Tier 5: 20 MBps, $97.99
Tier 6: 54 MBps, $266.99
Fast: 100 MBps, $469.99
Tier 7: 250 MBps, $1219.99
Tier 8: 500 MBps, $2449.99
Tier 9: 750 MBps, $3699.99
Gigabyte: 1 GBps, $4999.99
Tier 10: 2 GBps, :::
Tier 11: 4 GBps, :::
Tier 12: 8 GBps, :::
Tier 13: 16 GBps, :::
Tier 14: 32 GBps, :::
Tier 15: 64 GBps, :::
Tier 16: 128 GBps, :::
Tier 17: 256 GBps, :::
Tier 18: 512 GBps, :::
Terabyte: 1024 GBps, :::


[quote]Throttling bandwidth has been canceled and replaced with "Token Bucket".

There are three bandwidth rates, "peak rate limit" (2x of stated bandwidth), a lower "sustained rate limit" (stated bandwidth), and a "credit limit" (up to 10x of stated bandwidth). If a customer continuously saturates his or her connection, the customer will only get the sustained rate. While the customer is idle or uses less than the sustained rate, the customer will accumulate a credit, in bytes. If the customer tries saturate his or her connection after idling, the customer will get the peak rate until his or her credit runs out, at which point the customer will again be running at the sustained rate limit. If a customer alternately idle and saturate, the long-term average data rate will never exceed the sustained rate limit, and the short-term data rate will never exceed the peak rate limit.[/quote]

Pricing of services may vary in locations.
[/quote]
OOC: :::=Too lazy to calculate

Edited December 29, 2010 by HHAYD

[Lynneth]

[quote name='HHAYD' timestamp='1293579633' post='2556625']
Xanatos would have to request the FTA for licenses to operate TV and radio stations to ensure they don't accidentally interfere other stations' broadcasts. They would quickly learn why FTA was nicknamed, "Tough yet too slow" by many TV and radio stations.
[/quote]
XE would request such licenses from the FTA, waiting patiently, but attempting to use every possible (legal) way to speed the process up a little. They planned for 3 channels (News, general, education) on TV and a general-themed radio channel with news at set times during the day.

[quote name='HHAYD' timestamp='1293579633' post='2556625']
Digital Pipeline purchases ISP networks from DCC:

DP, an ISP, had purchased over 20 DCC's ISP networks, allowing it to retake Chicago, Detroit, Columbus, Indianapolis, and other major cities in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio. Digital Pipeline also stated they have adjusted their services.
[/quote]
Where DP was purchasing a number of DCC's former networks, XE was attempting to do the same, but at the same time expanding with its own money whenever possible.


[quote name='HHAYD' timestamp='1293579633' post='2556625']
Digital Pipeline announcement on service adjustments:
[code]Standard services (residential), monthly

Dialup: Free
Tier 1: 2 Mbps, $9.99
Tier 2: 5 Mbps, $23.99
Tier 3: 9 Mbps, $49.99
Tier 4: 15 Mbps, $72.99
Tier 5: 20 Mbps, $97.99
Tier 6: 54 Mbps, $266.99
Fast: 100 Mbps, $469.99
Tier 7: 250 Mbps, $1219.99
Tier 8: 500 Mbps, $2449.99
Tier 9: 750 Mbps, $3699.99
Gigabyte: 1 Gbps, $4999.99
Tier 10: 2 Gbps, :::
Tier 11: 4 Gbps, :::
Tier 12: 8 Gbps, :::
Tier 13: 16 Gbps, :::
Tier 14: 32 Gbps, :::
Tier 15: 64 Gbps, :::
Tier 16: 128 Gbps, :::
Tier 17: 256 Gbps, :::
Tier 18: 512 Gbps, :::
Terabyte: 1024 Gbps, :::[/code]
OOC: :::=Too lazy to calculate[/quote]
XE would of course advertise that its services were cheaper tthan DP's, which asked for $24 for a 5Mbit/s connection, while [i]Xanatos Enterprises[/i] charged only $20 for the same speed.
In the higher regions, this was even more visible, with XE charging $800 for a 300 Mbit/s connection, while Digital Pipeline was charging more than $1,200 for a 250 Mbit/s connection.
The advertisements also would show DP misleading its customers, claiming a "Gigabyte" connection at 1 Gbit/s, even though that was only an eighth of a Gigabyte, 125 MByte per second.

In the meantime, XE would try and make its name by being honest, having a good customer service and offering the most reliable internet connection in the country, with up to two redundant lines in case the main line was damaged in any way.
In addition, to minimise the risk, many lines would be placed underground and even secured against earthquakes and the like, only deliberate sabotage or major accidents capable of severing them.

Over time, [i]Xanatos Enterprises[/i] would also upgrade its services to include up to 8 Gbit/s (or 8192 Mbit/s, equal to 1,024 MByte per second) at a rate of $8,192 (or $1 per Mbit), all other prices slowly dropping to similar, but slightly less favorable ratios (such as the most basic connection being $12.50 for 5 Mbit/s).
Advertisements for the highest rates would show that the 8Gbit/s connection was only about half as slow as the data transfer rate of even the best HDDs of the day, being SATA3.0 in Sri Lanka at 18 Gbit/s or approximately 2.2 GByte/s transfer from the buffer to the computer, faster transfer rates only available with solid state drives which weren't anywhere as popular. (OOC: Current fastest, ~300-350 MByte/s buffer-PC, see [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_disk_drive#Data_transfer_rate"]this link[/url] /OOC)
The argument was along the lines of why anyone would require an internet connection faster than the speed of their PC, and that even a 500 Mbit/s connection was good enough to download a 6 Gigabyte-file in approximately 80 seconds, if the website even supported such speeds, which wasn't often the case.

[HHAYD]

[quote name='Lynneth' timestamp='1293586807' post='2556767']
XE would request such licenses from the FTA, waiting patiently, but attempting to use every possible (legal) way to speed the process up a little. They planned for 3 channels (News, general, education) on TV and a general-themed radio channel with news at set times during the day.


Where DP was purchasing a number of DCC's former networks, XE was attempting to do the same, but at the same time expanding with its own money whenever possible.



XE would of course advertise that its services were cheaper tthan DP's, which asked for $24 for a 5Mbit/s connection, while [i]Xanatos Enterprises[/i] charged only $20 for the same speed.
In the higher regions, this was even more visible, with XE charging $800 for a 300 Mbit/s connection, while Digital Pipeline was charging more than $1,200 for a 250 Mbit/s connection.
The advertisements also would show DP misleading its customers, claiming a "Gigabyte" connection at 1 Gbit/s, even though that was only an eighth of a Gigabyte, 125 MByte per second.

In the meantime, XE would try and make its name by being honest, having a good customer service and offering the most reliable internet connection in the country, with up to two redundant lines in case the main line was damaged in any way.
In addition, to minimise the risk, many lines would be placed underground and even secured against earthquakes and the like, only deliberate sabotage or major accidents capable of severing them.

Over time, [i]Xanatos Enterprises[/i] would also upgrade its services to include up to 8 Gbit/s (or 8192 Mbit/s, equal to 1,024 MByte per second) at a rate of $8,192 (or $1 per Mbit), all other prices slowly dropping to similar, but slightly less favorable ratios (such as the most basic connection being $12.50 for 5 Mbit/s).
Advertisements for the highest rates would show that the 8Gbit/s connection was only about half as slow as the data transfer rate of even the best HDDs of the day, being SATA3.0 in Sri Lanka at 18 Gbit/s or approximately 2.2 GByte/s transfer from the buffer to the computer, faster transfer rates only available with solid state drives which weren't anywhere as popular. (OOC: Current fastest, ~300-350 MByte/s buffer-PC, see [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_disk_drive#Data_transfer_rate"]this link[/url] /OOC)
The argument was along the lines of why anyone would require an internet connection faster than the speed of their PC, and that even a 500 Mbit/s connection was good enough to download a 6 Gigabyte-file in approximately 80 seconds, if the website even supported such speeds, which wasn't often the case.
[/quote]
OOC: Should we RP this in another thread? This thread is primary for news and government's actions.

[Lynneth]

[quote name='HHAYD' timestamp='1293591673' post='2556824']
OOC: Should we RP this in another thread? This thread is primary for news and government's actions.
[/quote]
OOC: Eh, sure. Go make one.

[HHAYD]

Dermize vs. Lakes Banking Corporation:

Dermize filed a lawsuit against LBC for overpay bonus evasion. LBC forced many of its employees to work overtime with their pay "temporarily" reduced by 50% from start of Christmas Eve until January 1st, from the day after Christmas until January 1st. On December 31st to January 1st, the employees were ordered to work until 1:00 AM without partying.

LBC defended its decision, stating that they were tired of severe discipline problems and inefficiencies among its employees and wanted to punish the employees. One notorious incident occurred when on April Fools Day, the IT department set a video of the Rickroll as opaque on all of the company's computers' screen while employees could still do their work (though most likely distracted) and the maintenance department boarded up many managers' and supervisors' offices' door, taping and painting them to blend in with the rest of the wall to make it seem as if the offices were removed. The dual pranks were carried out in every LBC office buildings. A massive nerf gun fight broke out on the day before Christmas Eve in LBC's HQ, much of the building's office space was covered with nerf plastic cylinders. One of LBC's CEOs, Gerad Gem, said "There is at least one major wasteful and annoying prank being pulled every month, and don't get me started on how many small pranks are pulled monthly. Firing majority of the employees is not an option sadly."

-----------------
"Standardized Diverging Diamond Interchange" bill has been passed by the Legislative, but was vetoed by President Natas less than an hour later. One of the legislators that requested to be unnamed, said, "Is this my damn late Christmas gift? A damn veto, on the day of the New Years?"

Edited January 1, 2011 by HHAYD

[HHAYD]

Dermize vs. Lakes Banking Corporation continues:

The 1st Michigan Federal Court ruled against Dermize, stating that LBC had the right to reduce salaries and force workers to work overtime as long as such business did not break the employment contracts it had with its workers since there were no federal or state laws regulating salaries and wages and vacations. Currently Dermize is filing an appeal at the 1st Michigan Federal Appeal Court.
------------------------------------------------
Christa vs Mercy Health System, Leaf Corporation and Douglas Hugo lawsuit:

Christa Hamer, a cancer survivor, accused Mercy Health System, a non-profit business, for selling her blood cells to a biotech business called, Leaf Corporation after they forced her to sign confusing consent forms. She claimed that they threatened her to cancel their cancer treatment service while continuing to charge her as allowed in a previous consent form she signed.

She also accused her former lawyer of malpractice. Her lawyer, Douglas Hugo, interpreted the consent forms and ignored controversial yet confusing sections in the consent forms since Christa was diagnosed with acute T-cell lymphoblastic leukemia, a rare cancer of an immune system's T-cells.

MHS defended its decision, stating that Christa had signed a consent form that allowed MHS to sell her blood cells without any notification or sharing of profits. Douglas Hugo and Leaf Corporation refused to comment on the case. The trial will be held in the 2nd Illinois Federal Court on January 6th, 2011.

Edited January 6, 2011 by HHAYD

[HHAYD]

Proposal to slash military funding by 96%:

Legislator Vera Crine proposed to reduce military funding from $1 billion to $40 million, stating that the wasted funding could be used on something more useful. The Field Marshal of the MRA, Howiser Nate, objected to the proposal, warning that Midwest Republic's military is already extremely weak and cutting its funding would be an invitation to disaster. Patorson Nate, director of Department of Defense stated that the Midwest Republic's military force would be forced to layoff many military personal and mothball large amount of vehicles and equipments. He also said that, "Police forces could outperform our military if such funding slash proposal is passed. That is something I am not looking forward to."

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Christa vs Mercy Health System, Leaf Corporation and Douglas Hugo lawsuit, Christa loses:

The 2nd Illinois Federal Court had ruled that as soon as a tissue leaves a body, the tissue is considered waste material and the person no longer has ownership over the tissue and since Mrs. Hamas authorized the use of her tissue; she no longer has control over the tissue. It had also ruled that Mrs. Hamas had willingly came back to the hospital, knowing that the hospital will use the tissue and that Leaf Corporation has ownership of Mrs. Hamas's cells.

-----------------------------------------------------
Natie Haken vs President Natas lawsuit:

Natie Haken had filed a lawsuit against President Natas, accusing him of willingly spreading his defective genes by donating sperms to a sperm bank about four decades ago that lead to lung cancer and her addiction on various drugs. She demanded $4 million to cover the damages.

President Natas had refused to comment.

Edited January 8, 2011 by HHAYD

[HHAYD]

Proposal to slash military funding was passed by the Legislative, killed by President Natas, and then override by the Legislative:

The bill had been passed by the Legislative by 67 yes to 33 nay. President Natas vetoed the bill, stating, "The military shouldn't receive large amount of funding, but cutting the budget that much? Unacceptable."

However, the Legislative modified the bill to cut the military's funding by 99% down to $10 million yearly and passed it, 75 yes to 25 nay. The bill's effect will take place next year. Patorson Nate, director of Department of Defense, had resigned from his position and wrote on the resignation paper; "The Legislative is too blind to see the grave danger that they had imposed on this country. I will not serve a bunch of clowns."
-----------------------------------------------------
Leaf Corporation on a patent application spree:

LC had filed 16,502 patent applications about 30 minutes ago, all of them requesting a patent on a human gene except for one. If all of the patents were granted by the MRPTA (Midwest Republic Patent and Trademark Agency), then half of the human genome and Mrs. Hamas's cells would have been patented. The patent application process would also be patented.

Edited January 10, 2011 by HHAYD

[HHAYD]

Crackdown on the Communist Organization:

Federal Police Agency and Chicago City Police Department had arrested dozens of the Communist Organization's members today at 4:56 PM at a warehouse for conspiring to overthrow the Midwest Republic's government violently, conspiring to purchase/building illegal weapons, and purchasing/building illegal weapons. FPA and CCPD was alerted after a whistle-blower revealed CO's attempted to illegal purchase/build radio jammers, Molotov grenades, AK-47s, RPG launchers, landmines, napalm, miniguns, machine guns, high caliber sniper rifles, an armed M-4 Sherman tank and AA missile launchers. CO had also planned on crippling the country's communication systems by hacking.

During the arrest, one FPA officer was killed and two others were injured by a CO member equipped with a 20mm sniper rifle. However, the CO member was also killed from retaliation fire and so far has not been identified.

A small riot advocating communism was suppressed in downtown Detroit a few minutes ago. Three of the rioters were armed with RPGs and were firing them at police cars and the rest of the rioters were attempting to storm a police department, prompting FPA and Detroit Police Department to send in riot control officers and SWAT teams.

Many government officials had criticized the Communist Organization and the rioters. President Natas said, "Midwest Republic allows freedom of speech and assembly, but never violent protests or rebellions."

Edited January 11, 2011 by HHAYD

[HHAYD]

Nationwide strikes cripple Midwest Republic's manufacturing and mining sector:

Today at 9:00 AM, nearly 100,000 factory workers and miners went on strike, demanding higher pay, better worker safety, a 8 hour per day schedule, overtime pay, and vacations. They had also called for a national boycott against all manufactures and mining companies.

Quirk Equir, the leader of the United Worker Union, had commented, [i]"The manufactures had repeatedly refused to pay compensations to injured workers, claiming that the workers knew the risks well. The companies that had paid their workers less than five dollars on average and refused to pay the full payroll to them are Ductiale Metal, ExIm Corporation, Mealow Industry, Common Electric, Common Motors, and the worst offender of all, Leaf Corporation. The government had looked the other way despite numerous complaints and petitions, leaving us no choice other than bring it to the public's attention.

Workers in mining companies had it even worse. Mining accidents and deaths had reached records high in some mines, others slashed their workers' wages. ExIm Corporation had also implicated a new policy that stated that even if an accident occurred, mining operations are to continue operating at the highest capacity possible."[/i]

Many manufacturers and mines responded by simply firing the strikers and hiring strike breakers with ease. Leaf Corporation was the first company to file a lawsuit against all of their workers, claiming that they had violated their labor contracts. Tommy Equir, president of Leaf Corporation justified his action, [i]"If the employees are unsatisfied with their jobs, they can always work in another company. They had also signed labor contracts that clearly spelled out wage or salaries, working hours, what to expect, and terms of conditions. By violating their contracts they made themselves open to potential lawsuits, and we do not take kindly to major labor disruptions."[/i]

At Leaf Corporation's drug production center in Chicago, the labor strike became violent after one of LC's guards tasered a striker. LC stated that the strikers had threatened their security guards' lives and therefore the tasering was necessary. Nevertheless, the riot police was called in to disperse the ensuing riot.

It's worth noting that the amount of complaints filed by workers had increased proportionally to the unemployment rate among citizens that only had high school education or dropped out. Mining jobs had plunged by a staggering 56% and the manufacturing jobs had also plunged by a large 30% within a year due to a vast majority of businesses increasing automation significantly.

Edited January 17, 2011 by HHAYD

[HHAYD]

Assistance Bill passed:

The Legislative has voted to approve a $20 billion humanitarian aid to assist its devastated neighbors by 80 yes to 20 nay. President Natas has ratified the bill and it shall take effect today. Any devastated countries that applies for aid is entitled to Midwest Republic's assistance until funding runs dry.
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Trade Federation joining under debate:

President Natas has proposed Midwest Republic's joining the Trade Federation. Currently it is under hot debate and it is not know for sure if the Midwest Republic will join the Trade Federation.

Edited January 21, 2011 by HHAYD

[HHAYD]

Christa Hamas appeals and is denied.

Mr. Garman, the lawyer representing Mrs. Hamas, had filed for an appeal and was denied yesterday in the 2nd Illinois Federal Appeals Court. His client was not available due to the police chasing her for her tissue, as claimed by Mr. Garman. The appeals court ruled; "[i]Mercy Health System has the right to classify Mrs. Hamas's tissue was waste material, entitling them to do whatever they wish with it. MHS has limited government powers and Leaf Corporation can evoke eminent domain if it purchased the property from the government, including ones with limited government powers. The Midwest Republic laws that were responsible have not violated the Midwest Republic's Constitution.[/i]"

It is not known if Mr. Garman plans on appealing to the Illinois Federal Court.

http://forums.cybernations.net/index.php?showtopic=96745&view=findpost&p=2590479

[HHAYD]

President Natas has called for a meeting between many key business leaders to discuss Midwest Republic's current high unemployment rate issue. The meeting will take place today, however, the location is not known.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alex and Grace Hamas arrested:

Chicago Police Department has arrested Alex and Grace Hamas after Christa had fled and was nowhere to be found. Leaf Corporation has recently patented thousands of human genes, some of them belonging to Christa. LC previously announced that their cell line was destroyed by a disease and was seeking to replace it. Since Grace was the only closest person who might also share the genes that LC wanted, LC evoked eminent domain. The 2nd Illinois Federal Appeals Court had ruled that non-government organizations can evoke eminent domain if they purchased the property from a government organization or private organization funded by the government. Alex was charged with assisting a wanted person, endangering public life, reckless driving, and disobeying police orders. Grace was charged with disobeying a court order.

The court ruling and the arrests had sparked massive protests and boycotts throughout Midwest Republic.

[HHAYD]

Leaf Corporation patents entire human genome:

LC had patented all 23 human chromosomes and several dozens of various non-human genes. A few days later, Leaf Corporation filed a lawsuit against a major vaccine manufacturer, Teremox, accusing them of infringing over two dozens of gene patents with their vaccine products. Teremox had ceased production of its swine and seasonal flu, polio and MMR vaccines and filed a recall on the vaccines after the 1st Ohio District State Court ordered an injunction. Additional vaccine companies are expected to be hit by Leaf Corporation's lawsuits.

-----------------------------------------
Federal Illinois Court, Christa Hamas vs. Leaf Corporation Trial:

Mr. Garman, the lawyer representing Mrs. Hamas, had decided to continue to fight against Leaf Corporation. The Federal Illinois Court's grand jury had decided there were sufficient evidences to allow the court to accept the case. The trial shall start in two weeks. Mr. Garman had stated his three points; "One, cells belong to people, even if the cells had left the body. Leaf Corporation can not claim someone's cells are theirs. Two, genes should not be patented as they had already been existing in nature, [i]especially[/i] if its knowingly belonging to someone. Three, only the government should have the power to evoke eminent domain, not private businesses, not individuals, not organizations funded by the government, but the and only the government."

Edited February 13, 2011 by HHAYD