Stakk Money Ent.: Accuses

Thursday, January 1, 2015

50 Cent Accuses 'Empire' Creators of Copying His 'Power' Marketing Tactics

4th Annual "Home For The Holidays" Benefit Concert

Noam Galai, Getty Images

If you listen to 50 Cent‘s rhymes, he’s made it clear that he doesn’t tolerate snitches, but there’s also another thing the rapper-turned-mogul can’t stand: a copycat.

Fif, who is the executive producer behind the Starz original scripted drama ‘Power,’ took to Instagram to blast the creators of the Fox TV series ‘Empire’ for stealing his marketing tactics.

“POWER Season 2 is unbelievably good trust me,” 50 wrote in an Instragram post accompanied by video of a ‘Power’ spot. “I have the best writers and show runner. I like Terrence Howard and Taraji Henson. I don’t like that They would copy the Marketing.”

Both shows feature leading black male characters who struggle with balancing the street life and building their legacies the legit way via the entertainment industry. While Lucious Lyon, played by Howard, is handed a terminal death sentence and must decide which son to leave his record label to in ‘Empire,’ ‘Power’ focuses on the double life of a drug dealer-turned-nightclub owner who wants out of the drug game.

50 Cent could be on to something given the drug, music, money and sex aspects of both series, but he ultimately left it up to fans to judge.

Just minutes before calling out Howard and Henson, Fif posted a split image of Howard and Omari Hartwick of ‘Power,’ asking his female followers which show they preferred.

‘Power’ will return to Starz for season two in 2015, meanwhile ‘Empire’ will premiere on Fox on Jan. 7, 2015. Will you be #TeamPower or #TeamEmpire or tune into both? Watch the trailers for each below.

Watch the Trailer for ‘Empire’

Watch the Trailer for ‘Power’ Season 1

See 10 Rappers & Singers Promoting Unexpected Products

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Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Labor Rights Group Accuses iPhone Maker of Abuses

The rights group, China Labor Watch, based in New York, said it had found violations of the law and of Apple’s pledges about working conditions at factories operated by the Taiwanese company, Pegatron.

Conditions in Chinese factories that produce iPhones and other popular Apple products have been under scrutiny after complaints about labor and environmental violations by another Taiwanese supplier, Foxconn.

Apple said in a statement that it was “committed to providing safe and fair working conditions” and would investigate the claims about Pegatron.

In a separate statement, Pegatron’s chief executive, Jason Cheng, also promised to investigate. China Labor Watch said its investigation covered two factories in Shanghai and one in nearby Suzhou that employ a total of 70,000 people. It found violations including discrimination against ethnic minorities and women, excessive work hours, poor living conditions, health and safety problems and pollution.

Pegatron assembles products including the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 for Apple, according to the report.

Apple said it had confirmed one accusation by China Labor Watch — that the identity cards of some workers were being held by management — and had told Pegatron to stop.

Apple has published a code of conduct for its suppliers and joined the Fair Labor Association, a worker rights monitoring group.

The association inspected Foxconn factories early last year and said in August that improvements it had recommended were being carried out ahead of schedule.

Conditions in factories in China are a sensitive issue for foreign companies that outsource the production of shoes, consumer electronics and other goods to contractors.

In its report Monday, China Labor Watch said the majority of Pegatron production employees worked 66 to 69 hours a week, far above China’s legal limit of 49 hours. It said pregnant women were sometimes required to work 11-hour days, more than the eight-hour legal limit, and employees were under pressure to falsify time cards to conceal the violations.

The group accused Pegatron of “discriminatory hiring practices” including refusing to hire those older than 35 or members of the Hui, Tibetan or Uighur ethnic minorities.

The group said production line workers sometimes dumped water laced with hazardous chemicals from cutting tools into sewers.

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, said it would send auditors to three Pegatron facilities this week to investigate the report’s claims.

The company said it had conducted 15 comprehensive audits of Pegatron facilities since 2007, including surprise audits in the past 18 months. It said the audits had covered more than 130,000 employees.

“Apple is committed to providing safe and fair working conditions throughout our supply chain,” the company statement said. “If our audits find that workers have been underpaid or denied compensation for any time they’ve worked, we will require that Pegatron reimburse them in full.”

The company said its own audit had found that Pegatron employees making Apple products worked 46 hours per week on average.

Pegatron, founded in 2008, also manufactures desktop and notebook personal computers, LCD televisions, broadband and wireless systems and other products.

“We take these allegations very seriously,” Mr. Cheng, the Pegatron chief, said in a statement. “We will investigate them fully and take immediate actions to correct any violations to Chinese labor laws and our own code of conduct.”

Thursday, May 9, 2013

U.S. Accuses China’s Military in Cyberattacks

While some recent estimates have more than 90 percent of cyberespionage in the United States originating in China, the accusations relayed in the Pentagon’s annual report to Congress on Chinese military capabilities were remarkable in their directness. Until now the administration avoided directly accusing both the Chinese government and the People’s Liberation Army of using cyberweapons against the United States in a deliberate, government-developed strategy to steal intellectual property and gain strategic advantage.

“In 2012, numerous computer systems around the world, including those owned by the U.S. government, continued to be targeted for intrusions, some of which appear to be attributable directly to the Chinese government and military,” the nearly 100-page report said.

The report, released Monday, described China’s primary goal as stealing industrial technology, but said many intrusions also seemed aimed at obtaining insights into American policy makers’ thinking. It warned that the same information-gathering could easily be used for “building a picture of U.S. network defense networks, logistics, and related military capabilities that could be exploited during a crisis.”

It was unclear why the administration chose the Pentagon report to make assertions that it has long declined to make at the White House. A White House official declined to say at what level the report was cleared. A senior defense official said “this was a thoroughly coordinated report,” but did not elaborate.

On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hua Chunying, criticized the report.

‘‘China has repeatedly said that we resolutely oppose all forms of hacker attacks,’’ she said. ‘‘We’re willing to carry out an even-tempered and constructive dialogue with the U.S. on the issue of Internet security. But we are firmly opposed to any groundless accusations and speculations, since they will only damage the cooperation efforts and atmosphere between the two sides to strengthen dialogue and cooperation.’’

Missing from the Pentagon report was any acknowledgment of the similar abilities being developed in the United States, where billions of dollars are spent each year on cyberdefense and constructing increasingly sophisticated cyberweapons. Recently the director of the National Security Agency, Gen. Keith Alexander, who is also commander of the military’s fast-growing Cyber Command, told Congress that he was creating more than a dozen offensive cyberunits, designed to mount attacks, when necessary, at foreign computer networks.

When the United States mounted its cyberattacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities early in President Obama’s first term, Mr. Obama expressed concern to aides that China and other states might use the American operations to justify their own intrusions.

But the Pentagon report describes something far more sophisticated: a China that has now leapt into the first ranks of offensive cybertechnologies. It is investing in electronic warfare capabilities in an effort to blind American satellites and other space assets, and hopes to use electronic and traditional weapons systems to gradually push the United States military presence into the mid-Pacific nearly 2,000 miles from China’s coast.

The report argues that China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, commissioned last September, is the first of several carriers the country plans to deploy over the next 15 years. It said the carrier would not reach “operational effectiveness” for three or four years, but is already set to operate in the East and South China Seas, the site of China’s territorial disputes with several neighbors, including Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. The report notes a new carrier base under construction in Yuchi.

The report also detailed China’s progress in developing its stealth aircraft, first tested in January 2011.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: May 7, 2013

An earlier version of this article misstated the number of the People’s Liberation Army Unit identified by a New York Times article in February as the likely source of many of the biggest thefts of data from American companies and some government institutions. It is P.L.A. Unit 61398, not 21398. The article also misspelled the name of China’s first aircraft carrier. It is the Liaoning, not the Lianoning.