ChiefOfficers.Net

In the past year, two of Australia's most high profile departments have undergone so-called "rebranding exercises." ASIC and the ACCC have changed their logos. Was it worth it?

Across the Common Law world, in recent years, there has been a failure in both legislation and more generally to distinguish between "unlawful" and "illegal." In deciding the case known as Miller II, the UK Supreme Court (the successor to the House of Lords' judicial function) has made it very clear: the two terms are different and are not interchangeable.

It's a pillar of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) 2017 and it's about to appear in the Federal Register. And it makes the USA very unusual in recognising the realities of depreciation in a disposable world. And then they go and stuff it up.

Yesterday, we reported that the Board of Malay language newspaper, Utasan Malaysia, had announced its closure with effect from today. This morning, it is reported that they have changed their mind while politicians continue to try to score points off each other over the issue.

The style has long been that of an outdated tabloid that can't decide if it's a scandal rag or a teenage magazine. It wasn't either: Utasan Malaysia was an integral part of the publication of news in Malay and has been for more than half a century. But, as with so many publications, it has simply run out of money and cannot continue.

It's remarkably easy to spoof telephone numbers i.e. to make any number one chooses to show up in the caller ID of the recipient's phone. So if a criminal is going to do that, why not choose someone special?

Big Warehouse Spare Parts is an amazing, if sometimes expensive, service for the supply of parts for all kinds of things, including hard to find items. But its business practices have landed it in hot water with Australia's Consumer and Competition Commission.

In Australia and elsewhere, the multitude of actions relating to bribery and corruption at Leighton Holdings (see here ) continues in both the criminal and civil courts.

The USA's Internal Revenue Service has, albeit belatedly, joined its Treasury sibling, FinCEN, in concluding that there really is no material difference between using virtual currencies and USD or other currencies. In a notice issued this week, it's made clear: if you price and are paid for your goods or services in bitcoin or any other virtual currency, you are liable for trading profits in exactly the same way as if you priced them, and were paid, in fiat currencies.

When our sister publication Little Blue Green Planet wrote about the ACCC's case about flushable wipes, it dealt with the legal issues from behind a curtain of humour (see here). But the ACCC has decided to appeal. Is it mad or vindictive?

What did the wet wipe say to the toilet paper? "I flush, therefore I'm flushable." Kimberley-Clark - this one's for you.

Who'd have thunk it? When Hamilton, suffering from a cold so severe he questioned if he would be able to drive, stuck his car on pole yesterday, and Ferrari missed Q3 with one car and missed qualifying altogether with the other, surely it was all over. Then when the rain came down, the cooler air favoured the Mercedes which had been struggling to match the pace of the Ferraris all weekend. Red Bull's Verstappen picked up P2 and Bottas in P3 and it looked as if the race had been decided. How wrong could we be: the race was "decided" over and over again as the Hockenheim track said "if this is my swansong, it's going to be a good one."

Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, part of The Treasury, has issued a reminder (reproduced below) to all businesses with an annual turnover of more than GBP85,000 that new reporting rules require steps to be taken on or before 29 July this year.

The European Union is risking a battle with US President Trump. Countries, individually and federally, have been looking at the effect on domestic industries and national revenues of US companies, their tax structures and their business practices. In short, they are saying exactly what the US says: if you want to do business here, you do it on our terms. The USA doesn't like this challenge to the commercial colonialism which it has practised, largely without official resistance, since the 1940s.

The growth of courier services, dedicated to food delivery, has in some markets become dominated by companies that began with on-line car and driver hire services, often mis-named "ride hailing." Their power in the market has enabled them to define the terms that they demand in contracts with food providers (often called, but often not, "restaurants"). At the pointy-end of such services is, in a significant number of markets, Uber, a company which has, since inception, displayed a disregard for local laws in countries which it has entered. It has also been widely criticised for the terms it imposes on the drivers and motorcycle riders it engages. As this case shows, it has also displayed a willingness to impose unfair contract terms on those it does business with.

The old ways are the best, not the least of which is because there are always new users whose filters aren't ready for spam that hasn't been seen for a while.

This one's so old-fashioned, it's funny. Oh, and Google's failed to identify a landing page for spam and potentially illegal product sales. Artificial intelligence? Hah.