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US Lists Ukraine as a “Priority Foreign Country” for Trade Sanctions

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Re: US Lists Ukraine as a “Priority Foreign Country” for Trade Sanctions

#21
post #20

so again, what's so wrong about staying at home vs. making new enemies all over the world all the time? What about Ron Paul policy? Get out of the rest of the world and focus on the economy at home. We're too broke to afford more enemies.

USA consumes too many resources from the world. Something between 24 and 30 percent, depending on the category, while making up only 5 percent of the world's population. As other countries want to raise their share, and the USA wants to keep the status quo... conflicts arise. That's why the US Government can't just "stay at home vs. making new enemies all over the world all the time?". Imagine for a moment what would…

The US is one of the most energy efficient economies in the world. The US consumes a lot of resources because it still produces so much of the world's GDP. And we're constantly inventing new resources and better ways to extract them-- we're moving towards being a net exporter in some energy categories, and we feed much of the world.

Re: US Lists Ukraine as a “Priority Foreign Country” for Trade Sanctions

#22
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a major difference. The Ukrainian government does not do anything about the piracy. In theory it might be because gov is in piracy's pocket, but most likely they just don't care. It requires inaction from them, which is usually not very hard. However, the US government does stuff based on hollywood complaints. To be honest, circumventing WTO rules aside, the USTR is simply enforcing the law that was passed b…

So what you're saying is that if a government agency decides to look the other way when a crime is being committed, they're not in the pocket of the criminals? Like if someone robs a bank, but the police decide not to do anything? So looking the other way is "neutral"?

So... If I jaywalk, and a LE officer doesn't give me a ticket, he's in "jaywalking's pocket?" That doesn't make sense.

Re: US Lists Ukraine as a “Priority Foreign Country” for Trade Sanctions

#24
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TL;DR: The US Government is in Hollywood's back pocket. The Ukraine has been identified as a major source of music and movie piracy. "The Special 301 report identifies some of the key foreign threats to America's copyright industries," said MPAA chairman and CEO Chris Dodd: http://www.screendaily.com/news/distribution/ukraine-on-pira...

also noteworthy is the US is doing this unilaterally rather than go through the WTO, which is probably against WTO rules and possibly US law as well. This is the first time US has threatened a WTO member (while they are actually a member).

The WTO issued sanctions against the US for it's handling of foreign online casinos[1]. Did they ever honour those sanctions and pay up? I'm guessing not. That's probably against US law too.

[1] http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/cases_e/ds285_e....

Re: US Lists Ukraine as a “Priority Foreign Country” for Trade Sanctions

#25
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So what you're saying is that if a government agency decides to look the other way when a crime is being committed, they're not in the pocket of the criminals? Like if someone robs a bank, but the police decide not to do anything? So looking the other way is "neutral"?

The police in USA certainly look the other way when a bank in Ukraine is robbed. I think even if I called and reported an in-progress bank robbery in Ukraine, they would tell me it's not their jurisdiction.

That's not a good analogy. The 'crime' being committed here is actually being committed in the Ukraine. It's a question of whose laws are broken, and who should care. The US doesn't punish its citizens if they break the UK's strict defamation laws.

Re: US Lists Ukraine as a “Priority Foreign Country” for Trade Sanctions

#26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So what you're saying is that if a government agency decides to look the other way when a crime is being committed, they're not in the pocket of the criminals? Like if someone robs a bank, but the police decide not to do anything? So looking the other way is "neutral"?

Is providing "pirated" movies and music even a crime in Ukraine?

Only if it is politically motivated. Usually, police takes money and get out.

Re: US Lists Ukraine as a “Priority Foreign Country” for Trade Sanctions

#27

So we have one story on HN about how shipping containers created more commerce than all the free trade treaties combined. Another story, about the use of the Special 301 provisions, is a wall of text written by a law professor, about the U.S. relationship with one country, full of nuance, complexity, and consultant weasel words. Wish I had something more to say about the import of these stories, but as a news consume…

Possibly you should work harder to understand the world rather than expect the world to conform to your ignorance.

Re: US Lists Ukraine as a “Priority Foreign Country” for Trade Sanctions

#28

The US consistently donates $100 Million + to Ukraine in foreign aid per year. The notion of "Well they're not following copyright law so we're going to sanction them" is absurd; nobody follows US copyright law. Not even the US.

You can still get a lot of bullying mileage out of a law nobody is even intended to follow.

Re: US Lists Ukraine as a “Priority Foreign Country” for Trade Sanctions

#29
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

USA consumes too many resources from the world. Something between 24 and 30 percent, depending on the category, while making up only 5 percent of the world's population. As other countries want to raise their share, and the USA wants to keep the status quo... conflicts arise. That's why the US Government can't just "stay at home vs. making new enemies all over the world all the time?". Imagine for a moment what would…

The US is one of the most energy efficient economies in the world. The US consumes a lot of resources because it still produces so much of the world's GDP. And we're constantly inventing new resources and better ways to extract them-- we're moving towards being a net exporter in some energy categories, and we feed much of the world.

> The US consumes a lot of resources because it still produces so much of the world's GDP.

80% of US GDP is "services", not a real production.

Re: US Lists Ukraine as a “Priority Foreign Country” for Trade Sanctions

#30

So we have one story on HN about how shipping containers created more commerce than all the free trade treaties combined. Another story, about the use of the Special 301 provisions, is a wall of text written by a law professor, about the U.S. relationship with one country, full of nuance, complexity, and consultant weasel words. Wish I had something more to say about the import of these stories, but as a news consume…

Possibly you should work harder to understand the world rather than expect the world to conform to your ignorance.

Lotta things to learn in the world. An author and publisher's job is first to explain relevance, then communicate.

This didn't happen. Blaming the reader for poor workmanship isn't very productive.

You know, I complained about relevance and understanding. Pointing those out would have been greatly appreciated. Like many others, I came here expecting something on HTTP response codes.

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