Posted in Europe, Patents at 7:49 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Contact details for national delegations to whom complaints can and should be made regarding irregularities and bad behaviour at the European Patent Office (EPO)
DAYS ago we covered some of the latest abuses at the EPO, which is no stranger to scandals. The EPO is hardly accountable, it eliminated oversight, and it is wasting billions of euros of taxpayers’ money all across Europe in order to protect corporations (at taxpayers’ expense) using patents, including patents of rogue, wide scope, potentially software patents and monopolies on genetics/life too.
To reduce oversight even further the EPO has made it harder to lodge complaints from the public. “There used to be e-mail addresses for the national delegations on the AC website,” tells us a source, “but Battistelli disabled these last year due to alleged “abuse” (i.e. he basically wanted to prevent members of the public from directly contacting their delegations).”
Thanks to some digging, today we can provide a list of E-mail addresses for the heads of delegation, for those among our readers who are interested in lodging a complaint electronically. We are also trying to compile a list of the competent Ministries, but this is hard to keep up to date as it is subjected to changes whenever there is an election. We will give some addresses at the bottom. These hardly change over time.
In case our regular readers or anybody else might be interested in complaining, here is a list of E-mail addresses for EPO Administrative Council members and their deputies (from the national IPOs). We also include a list with information about the Ministries that supervise the national IPOs. This listing is not complete, but it has details of the Ministries for about 18 of the more significant EPO member states (total member states around 38 at the last count). This information is in the public domain so we are free to distribute it.
There used to be email addresses for the AC delegations provided on the official EPO website but Battistelli had these removed allegedly due to “abuse”. Let’s not Battistelli to get away with even more of his abuses. According to our sources of information, people had been using these addresses to send in submissions about the controversial if not corrupt Topić, so it could be that Battistelli wanted to put a stop to that.
LIST OF EMAIL ADDRESSES FOR ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL DELEGATES (& DEPUTIES) FROM NATIONAL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICES OF EPO CONTRACTING STATES
STATUS: 14 September 2014
Official website of the EPO’s Administrative Council:
http://www.epo.org/about-us/organisation/administrative-council/representatives.html
See also: http://www.wipo.int/directory/en/urls.jsp
ALBANIA: elvin.lako@dppm.gov.al
elvanda.mece@dppm.gov.al
mailinf@dppm.gov.al
AUSTRIA: friedrich.roedler@patentamt.at
andrea.scheichl@patentamt.at
info@patentamt.at
BELGIUM: jerome.debrulle@economie.fgov.be
geoffrey.bailleux@mineco.fgov.be
BULGARIA: vbabaleva@bpo.bg
tnaydenova@bpo.bg
bpo@bpo.bg
CROATIA: ljiljana.kuterovac@dziv.hr
CYPRUS: skokkinos@drcor.mcit.gov.cy
eeleftheriou@drcor.mcit.gov.cy
CZECH REPUBLIC: jkratochvil@upv.cz
skopecka@upv.cz
posta@upv.cz
DENMARK: jko@dkpto.dk
arj@dkpto.dk
mlr@dkpto.dk
knj@dkpto.dk
pbp@dkpto.dk
pvs@dkpto.dk
ESTONIA: Matti.Paets@epa.ee
Margus.Viher@epa.ee
FINLAND: rauni.hagman@prh.fi
jorma.hanski@prh.fi
FRANCE: ylapierre@inpi.fr
fclaireau@inpi.fr
contact@inpi.fr
GERMANY: ernst-ch@bmj.bund.de
info@dpma.de
GREECE: ssta@obi.gr
kmar@obi.gr
info@obi.gr
HUNGARY: miklos.bendzsel@hipo.gov.hu
mihaly.ficsor@hipo.gov.hu
elnokseg@hipo.gov.hu
ICELAND: borghildur@els.is
elfa@els.is
IRELAND: gerard.barrett@patentsoffice.ie
ITALY: mauro.masi@consap.it
loredana.gulino@mise.gov.it
LATVIA: guntis.ramans@lrpv.gov.lv
sandris.laganovskis@lrpv.gov.lv
valde@lrpv.lv
LIECHTENSTEIN: Sabine.Monauni@llv.li
Esther.Schindler@llv.li
ute.hammermann@avw.llv.li
info@avw.llv.li
LITHUANIA: rimvydas.naujokas@vpb.gov.lt
zilvinas.danys@vpb.gov.lt
LUXEMBOURG: lex.kaufhold@eco.etat.lu
claude.sahl@eco.etat.lu
MACEDONIA: safet.emruli@ippo.gov.mk
irenaj@ippo.gov.mk
MALTA: godwin.warr@gov.mt
michelle.bonello@gov.mt
MONACO: ekheng@gouv.mc
expansion@gouv.mc
mcpi@gouv.mc
NETHERLANDS: derk-jan.degroot@agentschapnl.nl
p.h.m.vanbeukering@minez.nl
NORWAY: pfo@patentstyret.no
jsa@patentstyret.no
POLAND: aadamczak@uprp.pl
ematysiak@uprp.pl
glachowicz@uprp.pl
PORTUGAL: leonor.trindade@inpi.pt
marco.dinis@inpi.pt
ROMANIA: ionel.muscalu@osim.ro
alexandru.strenc@osim.ro
office@osim.ro
SAN MARINO: silvia.rossi.ubm@pa.sm
b.cinquantini@ngpatent.it
SERBIA: btotic@zis.gov.rs
bbilenkati@zis.gov.rs
zis@zis.gov.rs
SLOVAKIA: lubos.knoth@indprop.gov.sk
lukrecia.marcokova@indprop.gov.sk
urad@indprop.gov.sk
SLOVENIA: Vesna.StankovicJuricic@uil-sipo.si
Ales.orazem@uil-sipo.si
h.zalaznik@uil-sipo.si
sipo@uil-sipo.si
SPAIN: patricia.garcia-escudero@oepm.es
pedro.cartagena@oepm.es
SWEDEN: susanne.sivborg@prv.se
per.holmstrand@prv.se
SWITZERLAND: roland.grossenbacher@ipi.ch
christian.bock@metas.ch
info@ipi.ch
TURKEY: habip.asan@turkpatent.gov.tr
akocer@turkpatent.gov.tr
info@turkpatent.gov.tr
U.K.: john.alty@ipo.gov.uk
sean.dennehey@ipo.gov.uk
Just for information, the last quarterly meeting of the EPO’s Administrative Council (AC) was scheduled to take place on the 15th October in Munich and the next one is scheduled to take place in December, also in Munich. This means that the more publicity that this stuff attracts in advance of that latter meeting, the more political pressure will be on the AC to react. To date it seems that they have decided to ignore the matter and make no public statement, probably in the hope that the problem would go away of its own accord. Here is the full list [PDF] of contacts again, with additional details:
COMPETENT MINISTRIES FOR NATIONAL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICES OF SELECTED EPO CONTRACTING STATES
STATUS: 14 September 2014
For other states refer to: http://www.wipo.int/directory/en/
BENELUX
[Order of details:]
State
Patent Office
Competent Ministry
Current Minister
Email contact
Belgium
L’Office belge de la Propriété intellectuelle (OPRI)
SPF Economie, P.M.E., Classes moyennes et Energie
City Atrium C
Rue du Progrès, 50
B-1210 Brussels, BELGIUM
Ms. Sabine Laruelle
http://www.laruelle.belgium.be/fr/equipe-et-contact
http://www.sabinelaruelle.be/homepage
info@laruelle.fgov.be
Netherlands
NL Octrooicentrum
Ministerie van Economische Zaken
Bezuidenhoutseweg 73
postbus 20401
NL- 2500 EK, Den Haag
NEDERLANDS
Mr. Henk Kamp
http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/regering/bewindspersonen/henk-kamp
Assistant:
b.becker@minez.nl
Spokespersons:
b.visser@minez.nl
P.vanStrien@minez.nl
t.d.vanes@minez.nl
Luxembourg
Office de la propriété intellectuelle
Ministère de l’Economie et du Commerce extérieur
19-21, boulevard Royal
L-2914 Luxembourg
LUXEMBOURG
Mr. Etienne Schneider
http://www.eco.public.lu/ministere/ministre/index.html
etienne.schneider@eco.etat.lu
minister@eco.etat.lu
Secretary:
catherine.lammar@eco.etat.lu
UK
Intellectual Property Office
Department for
Business Innovation & Skills
1 Victoria Street
London SW1H 0ET
UNITED KINGDOM
Dr. Vince Cable
https://www.gov.uk/government/people/vince-cable
enquiries@bis.gsi.gov.uk
cablev@parliament.uk
Ireland
Irish Patents Office
Department of
Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation,
23 Kildare Street, Dublin 2
IRELAND
Mr. Richard Bruton
http://www.djei.ie/corporate/ministersoffice/richardbruton.htm
minister@djei.ie
France
Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle (INPI)
Ministère de l’Économie,
des Finances et
du Commerce extérieur
139, rue de Bercy
F-75572 Paris Cedex 12
FRANCE
Mr. Emmanuel Macron
http://www.economie.gouv.fr/le-ministere/emmanuel-macron
Italy
Ufficio Italiano Brevetti e Marchi
(UIBM)
Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico
Uffici del Ministro
Via Veneto 33
IT-00187 Roma
ITALIA
Ms. Federica Guidi
http://www.sviluppoeconomico.gov.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&idmenu=3315
segreteria.ministro@mise.gov.it
Spain
Oficina Española de Patentes y Marcas
(OEPM)
Ministerio de Industria,
Energía y Turismo
Pº de la Castellana 160.
ES-28046 Madrid
ESPAÑA
Dr. José Manuel Soria López
http://www.minetur.gob.es/es-ES/Ministro/Biografia/Paginas/CV_Ministro.aspx
secretaria.ministro@mityc.es
Germany
Deutsches Marken- und Patentamt (DPMA)
Bundesministerium der Justiz (BMJ)
Mohrenstraße 37
D-10117 Berlin
DEUTSCHLAND
Mr. Heiko Maas
http://www.bmjv.de/DE/Ministerium/Hausleitung/Minister/_node.html
mail@heiko-maas.de
poststelle@bmj.bund.de
Switzerland
Eidgenössisches Institut für Geistiges Eigentum
Eidgenössischen Justiz- und Polizeidepartement (EJPD)
Bundeshaus West
CH-3003 Bern
SCHWEIZ
Ms. Simonetta Sommaruga
http://www.ejpd.admin.ch/ejpd/de/home/ueber-uns/dv.html
simonetta.sommaruga@gs-ejpd.admin.ch
simonetta.sommaruga@parl.ch
Liechtenstein
Eidgenössisches Institut für Geistiges Eigentum
Ministerium für Inneres,
Justiz und Wirtschaft
Postfach 684
9490 Vaduz
LIECHTENSTEIN
Dr. Thomas Zwiefelhofer
http://www.regierung.li/ministerien/wirtschaft/mitarbeitende-kontakt/
thomas@zwiefelhofer.net
Assistant:
Simon.Biedermann@regierung.li
Austria
Österreichisches Patentamt
Bundesministerium für Verkehr, Innovation und Technologie (BMVIT)
Radetzkystraße 2
A-1030 Wien
ÖSTERREICH
Mr. Alois Stöger
http://www.bmvit.gv.at/
alois.stoeger@spoe.at
Hungary
Hungarian Intellectual Property Office
Ministry of Public Administration
and Justice
Kossuth Lajos tér 2-4.
HU-1055 Budapest
HUNGARY
Dr. Tibor Navracsics
http://www.kormany.hu/en/ministry-of-public-administration-and-justice/the-minister
info@kim.gov.hu
intcomm@me.gov.hu
Denmark
Danish Patent and Trademark Office (DKPTO)
Ministry for Business and Growth
Slotsholmsgade 10-12
DK-1216 København K
DENMARK
Mr. Henrik Sass Larsen
http://www.evm.dk/english/the-minister
evm@evm.dk
Press Secretary
smn@evm.dk
Sweden
Swedish Patent and Registration Office
Ministry of Justice
Rosenbad 4
SE-103 33 Stockholm
SWEDEN
Ms. Beatrice Ask
http://www.government.se/sb/d/7567
beatrice.ask@gov.se
Justitiedepartementet.registrator@regeringskansliet.se
Finland
National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland (NBPR)
Ministry of Employment
and the Economy
P.O. Box 32
FI-00023 GOVERNMENT
FINLAND
Mr. Jan Vapaavuori
Minister of Economic Affairs
http://www.tem.fi/index.phtml?l=en&s=2297
jan.vapaavuori@tem.fi
Secretary:
jonna.sjogren@tem.fi
Norway
The Norwegian Industrial Property Office (NIPO)
Ministry of Trade and Industry
P.O.Box 8114 Dep.,
N-0030 Oslo
NORWAY
Monica Mæland, Minister of Trade and Industry
http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/nfd/about-the-ministry/minister-of-trade-and-industry-monica-ma.html?id=742948
postmottak@nfd.dep.no
Iceland
Icelandic Patent Office
Ministry of Industries and Innovation
Skulagotu 4
150 Reykjavík
Iceland
Ragnheiður Elín Árnadóttir
Minister of Industry and Commerce
http://eng.atvinnuvegaraduneyti.is/ministers/nr/6748
rea@althingi.is
postur@anr.is
To our dear European readers: If you have not been following our 2-month, 9-part series to date, now is a good time to familiarise yourself with it and issue an E-mail/letter to your local representatives. They ought to be informed of what goes on inside the secretive EPO. They can react to it and rectify matters. █
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Posted in Courtroom, GNU/Linux, Google, Microsoft at 5:48 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Image from Wikimedia
Summary: Microsoft collusion with patent extortion (as in the early days of the Microsoft-Novell deal) continues to this date, reveals Samsung
MICROSOFT must be in a state of panic. It does irrational things, like a stranded criminal. Microsoft's lie about 'loving' Linux was facing sheer resistance from FOSS luminaries because the lie is just outrageous beyond words]. It is the very inversion of the truth and it is as ridiculous as saying that BP loves Shell and Shell loves BP, to give just one hypothetical example. It makes no sense at all, so why does Microsoft bother trying?
This new article titled “Samsung says Microsoft deal invites ‘charges of collusion’: filing” has been rather fascinating. Microsoft is apparently ‘loving’ Linux so much that it colludes against it. Well, will Nadella go to prison? Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer perhaps? What silly questions! Rich people don’t get sent to prison for rich people’s (white-collar) crimes. Microsoft pretends to “love” Linux while quite clearly attacking it, still. Android uses the Linux kernel, just as a reminder.
“This is beyond extortion. It’s an antitrust violation and even collusion/corruption.”To quote the article: “Samsung said its collaboration with Microsoft on Windows phones raised antitrust problems once Microsoft completed its acquisition of Nokia’s handset business, according to a court filing.”
So here we have a criminal company using collusion and abuses under the guise and cover of NDAs. As SJVN put it in his blog: “Samsung fires another shot at Microsoft in Android patent battle”
SJVN’s argument is that “[t]his move came as no surprise to lawyers who’ve been following the case. One intellectual property (IP) attorney whose firm is covering the case closely said that Samsung is simply adding another argument to their contention that their existing Microsoft Android patent deal is invalid on business contract grounds.
“According to Reuters, Samsung said it agreed to pay Microsoft Android patent license royalties in 2011, but the deal also stated that Samsung would develop Windows phones and share confidential business information with Microsoft. If Samsung were to sell a certain number of Windows phones, then Microsoft would reduce the Android royalty payments.”
This is beyond extortion. It’s an antitrust violation and even collusion/corruption. Will criminal charges be brought against anyone? Will anyone in government bother trying to press charges? Not likely.
As Mr. Pogson put it the other day, Windows is in very serious trouble and therefore Microsoft is too. GNU/Linux, on the other hand, keeps growing, especially in smaller devices such as phones and tablet, notably owing to Android. To quote Pogson’s conclusion:
So, XP is dead, “7” is dying, “8” is a zombie, and “10” is vapourware with nowhere to call home. M$ continues layoffs. POOF! It all falls down. In the meantime Google and the OEMs will crank out many millions of ChromeBooks. Canonical, Linpus, RedHat, Suse… and the OEMs will crank out many millions of GNU/Linux PCs. Several OEMs will crank out many millions of GNU/Linux thin clients. Android/Linux will reverberate with another billion or so units of small cheap computers(tablets, smartphones). This looks like good news to me.
Yes, well, Microsoft too realises that Linux is winning, so it is left with either the option to demonise it or to monetise it, e.g. through hosting or patent extortion. In a sense, Microsoft needs Linux more than Linux needs Microsoft. Linux needs none of Microsoft. All that Microsoft does is commit crimes against Linux, so Linux proponents can only hope for total elimination of Microsoft.
There are layoffs at Microsoft, as Pogson pointed out, and this includes salespeople. To quote Value Walk: “According to knowledgeable sources who spoke to Business Insider on Friday, October 31st, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is laying off its entire global advertising sales team. The reduction in force comes as the ad sales positions have become largely redundant as individual divisions are handling their own ad sales today.”
Here again we see that these layoffs were not about Nokia. Microsoft tried hard to paint that sort of picture to save face.
When it comes to Microsoft, the more layoffs, the merrier. This company destoryed many jobs using its crimes and these sorts of crimes clearly continue to this date. In a sense, GNU and Linux won’t be safe until Microsoft is totally gone. █
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Posted in Deception, Free/Libre Software, Microsoft at 5:23 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Microsoft’s outrageous claim that it really “loves” that which it is constantly attacking gets rejected by Free/Open Source software (FOSS) luminaries; the Microsoft-friendly media continues the charm offensive nonetheless
THE CONTAGIOUS NEWS HEADLINES may still repeat and endlessly tell us all about Microsoft's lies -- something along the lines of Microsoft 'loving' Linux when it is perfectly clear that Microsoft as a whole is not 'loving' Linux but hating is with a great passion.
Here in Techrights we are not gullible enough to repeat these lies, unlike Microsoft propaganda sites, e.g. this nonsense from Microsoft MVP Rob Trent, pretending that Microsoft supports Linux. Simon Phipps, the OSI’s President, is not gullible enough either. After debating with him in Twitter he came up with this article titled “Microsoft ‘loves’ Linux? Then stop attacking open source”. It states:
According to Satya Nadella, Microsoft loves Linux. He said as much, complete with pictures — and his team backs him up. In itself, it’s a remarkable statement.
Nadella’s predecessor, Steve Ballmer, described open source in the darkest terms, characterizing it (with the GNU GPL) as a commercial cancer and never retracting the slur. In many ways, that dark prophecy has come true for Microsoft, which has seen its rent-seeking business model steadily eroded by open source. Though it still has a cash cow to milk, Microsoft’s monopolies no longer frighten anyone.
[...]
Microsoft carries a much greater burden of mistrust, arising from two decades of attacks on open source in general and Linux in particular, which makes its challenge even more formidable. Seasonally appropriate, the Halloween Documents show Microsoft’s former internal thinking. It planned both business strategies and tactical dirty tricks to destroy the reputation of open source. While their public statements made no secret of the contempt with which it held open source, the Halloween Documents disclosed a depth of treachery that few suspected prior to their publication.
Today Microsoft has a major business unit asking its new CEO to declare love for Linux. That public stance is extremely welcome. But how can we know the current internal thinking? I asked Microsoft for an interview to discuss its love for Linux, as well as the potential of joining OIN. The response: “Unfortunately, we are unable to accommodate your request at this time.”
Phipps uses a similar analogy to the one I used last month (and the one he used in Twitter). He says: “The evidence suggests Microsoft “loves” Linux the same way abusive partners “love” their spouses — a deep need in one area of the relationship that changes nothing elsewhere.”
“OK,” says our reader iophk about the above, “but ESR’s home of the Halloween Documents is better than Wikipedia any day.”
Sam Dean, who typically helps the Nadella-washing and openwashing of Microsoft, correctly asks
http://ostatic.com/blog/does-microsofts-new-love-for-open-source-extend-beyond-the-cloud-team” title=”Does Microsoft’s New Love for Open Source Extend Beyond the Cloud Team?”>”Does Microsoft’s New Love for Open Source Extend Beyond the Cloud Team?” (love of extortion, profit and control over GNU/Linux)
He refers to Phipps article and says: “Simon Phipps, who is one of the world’s leading experts on all things open source, has examined Microsoft’s purported change of heart in a new column for InfoWorld. And, on a timely note, Phipps even reminds us of “The Halloween Documents”–a series of confidential Microsoft memoranda on potential strategies relating to open source and Linux that got leaked in 1998.
“It’s worth remembering The Halloween Documents and the far reaching impact that the leaking of them had. As just one example of their influence, one of the memos was reportedly sent to the attention of senior vice-president Paul Maritz, and the memo characterized Linux as a giant threat to Microsoft’s operating system dominance. Maritz, of course, went on to run VMware for several years, so Microsoft’s historical opposition to open source likely didn’t stay confined to its own walls.”
Finally he ends this post about Microsoft with a sceptical, cautious view: “But the cloud computing division doesn’t define Microsoft. The company needs to change its stance on open source from the top down, and while Satya Nadella appears to have respect for open source, his vision statement never mentions open source or Linux, which Phipps says is “slightly strange considering their centrality to his future, but a good sign in as much as nothing bad is said.”
“In a response to my recent post asking whether Microsoft’s stance has truly changed, one reader sent the following succinct response: “Yeah, no. This is the ‘embrace’ stage of Microsoft’s classic strategy.” That, too, could be true.”
Susan Linton, who works with Sam Dean, asked, “didn’t we hear all this changing of heart stuff before?”
Microsoft clearly does not love GNU/Linux. Anyone who believes it for a second says a lot about oneself. Here, for example, is a new example from a current Microsoft employee, Mr. Perlow. Ridiculously enough, he works for the CBS-owned ZDNet at the same time that he works for Microsoft] (not the only such example that makes ZDNet an utter joke which also takes money from the backdoors provider Cisco to post a pure ad as an ‘article’). As one can see in Perlow’s latest article, there is bashing of WordPress & Drupal, using ‘security’, even though Perlow’s employer, Microsoft, releases widely-used software with perpetual back doors. That’s just one new example of hypocritical FOSS bashing from Microsoft staff, so who can possibly pretend that Microsoft has changed?
To say that Microsoft likes FOSS one would usually have to simply lie. Here is an ugly example of a lie from fedscoop.com. It is appalling openwashing by a site that claims to be ‘news’, trying to pretend that Microsoft proprietary spyware is “open source”. Complete nonsense in this article (part of a Microsoft propaganda campaign) says: “Microsoft is quickly emerging as a major leader for open source.”
Really?! What is this, a joke? The headline says “Microsoft helping government embrace open source programming”. So yes, it’s a joke. fedscoop.com is scooping up Microsoft’s propaganda and some fools may actually swallow it. This is completely disconnected from the truth; it’s when white means black and vice verse. Any complete nonsense that says Microsoft is “a major leader for open source” must be part of a propaganda campaign. Or maybe written by Microsoft partners/proxies.
The Microsoft-funded The Register has another disturbing news piece that goes along the lines of “Open XML”, trying to pretend Office is “open” and that proprietary Office formats are “open”. Richard Chirgwin from The Register is now openwashing Office 365 (surveillance plus proprietary software) using the classic APIs spin that we wrote about in 2009 and again in 2010. O’Reilly used this openwashing strategy, assisting Microsoft’s propaganda after getting paid by Microsoft.
Here is a new example which follows the openwashing strategy of Facebook. A Microsoft-friendly site ended up openwashing a surveillance platform of Microsoft, resorting to gross misuse of the brand “Open Source” as it relates to putting together hardware.
“In the City of Love, Microsoft Courts Open Source,” says one final example, but perhaps by “courts” it means “embraces” to extend and then extinguish. The article contains the famous new lie: “Last week, at a Microsoft event promoting its cloud business and future, Ballmer’s successor, Satya Nadella, came out and said it: “Microsoft loves Linux.” He followed this up with an interview in Wired magazine, where he said now is the time to put old battles behind.”
Yes, that is the same Microsoft which uses racketing, extortion and blackmail against GNU/Linux and FOSS. It is bribing its way into pretence of friendship, e.g. by paying conference organisers and media/sites. While the lies continue to saturate the media those who are not influenced by money or partnerships can fortunately still discern truth from fiction. Some actors out there are in the business of reality distortion. █
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