09.02.2011

Govt sues tax preparers in 5 states on tax credits

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department says it has sued seven tax preparers in five states to stop them from fraudulently claiming tax credits for first-time homebuyer and earned-income.

The department also has obtained an indictment of a Philadelphia man in the law enforcement initiative, charging Jonathan Brownlee with filing false federal tax returns. The government says Brownlee allegedly knew the people whose names he used for the first-time homebuyer credit were not entitled to it because they had not purchased a home and had not signed a contract to do so.

The lawsuits to halt the practices were filed in federal courts in Texas, Pennsylvania, Alabama, Florida and New Jersey.

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US senator Webb will not seek new term

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Democratic US senator Jim Webb, a critic of China and leading champion of engaging Myanmar's military rulers, announced Wednesday he would not seek a new term in 2012.

"After much thought and consideration I have decided to return to the private sector, where I have spent most of my professional life, and will not seek re-election in 2012," he said in a statement.

Webb, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on East Asia and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee, said he had "led the way toward stronger relations in East and Southeast Asia" and "been a strong voice in calling on China to act more responsibly in the world community."

"We will continue to work on these and other issues throughout the rest of my term," said the lawmaker, who was elected in 2006 to represent the US state of Virginia.

In August 2010, Webb became the first US official to meet the Myanmar junta's reclusive leader Than Shwe and won the release of American John Yettaw, an eccentric Vietnam War veteran who was sentenced to seven years' hard labor.

The senator was a decorated combat soldier in the Vietnam war and later served as US Navy Secretary in Republican President Ronald Reagan's administration.

His decision not to seek a new term -- the latest in a string of Democratic retirements since November 2 elections -- was expected to complicate the part's efforts to hold the US Senate.

Webb had been expected to face a stiff challenge from popular former Virginia governor George Allen, the Republican he beat in 2006 in a Democratic wave election fueled by then-president George W. Bush's unpopularity.

A Democratic insider suggested the party could turn to another popular former Virginia governor, Democratic National Committee chief Tim Kaine, to run.

Webb's announcement came after Democratic Senator Kent Conrad, Independent Senator Joe Lieberman -- usually a reliable Democratic ally, and Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison said they would not seek new terms.

At the White House, spokesman Robert Gibbs said President Barack Obama had spoken to Webb on the telephone and "thanked him yet again for the service he has displayed on behalf of his country."

Obama talked about Webb's contributions on Veterans benefits, a post-September 11 "GI bill" that helps pay for veterans to get advanced degrees.

"I think Virginia is going to be a very competitive state, as it was last time in both presidential and Senate elections," said Gibbs.

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Microsoft Extension Puts H.264 Back in Chrome Browser

Google recently shook things up by announcing that thewill no longer support the H.264 video codec. Fear not, though--Microsoft has come to Chrome's rescue with a browser extension that enables Chrome on Windows 7 to play H.264 video content in spite of the Google snub.

A post onprovides some explanation for the Google decision. "Though H.264 plays an important role in video, as our goal is to enable open innovation, support for the codec will be removed and our resources directed towards completely open codec technologies."

Fair enough. But, A) Adobe Flash support is integrated into , and Flash supports H.264, so the move seems purely symbolic or political, and B) the WebM VP8 video codec that Google is supporting doesn't require patent-licensing payment right now, but is not that different from H.264 and may very well charge patent royalties in the future.

Al Hilwa, ananalyst, e-mailed me with a query regarding the Google decision. Question: "How can you put the growth of adoption of your most important software product at risk, fragment the most important standard you care about, and, at the same time, upset a lot of your developers and Web-content owners who will try to figure out how you are living up to your motto of not being evil doing this?" Answer: "You announce that you plan not to support H.264 in your Chrome browser."

Hilwa goes on to point out that the VP8 codec is still under development and is not ready for primetime. With such low penetration for VP8, Hilwa believes that asking developers and content owners to abandon H.264 in favor of the nascent codec will result in many choosing instead simply not to support the Chrome browser.

Theblog proclaims, "For many reasons - which you can read about on other blog postsand --H.264 is an excellent and widely-used video format that serves the web very well today. As such, we will continue to ensure that developers and customers continue to have an optimal Web experience."

Toward that end, Microsoft developed theto ensure that Windows customers at least will still be able to experience the vast content available on the Internet in the H.264 format.

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