Recently in Regulation Category

A hotel in Australia calls it Breakfree Maldives

The Maldives- a music band from Seattle

So what should the country, the Maldives, to do about it?

It is now illegal to ride a Segway off of private property in the Netherlands. This is my favorite quote:

"It doesn't have a brake, you brake by leaning back, and that's clearly not permissible," he said.

In a country where a lot of things are allowed, this has to be one of the oddest decisions. The Netherlands and especially Amsterdam is made for such a transportation device. Considering how many times I was nearly killed there by bicycles with brakes, I would far prefer to have seen Segways rather than something I rarely saw coming at me and even more rarely did they attempt to slow down.

Book forum from Cato is now online How Nations Prosper: Economic Freedom and Doing Business in 2007;

“Nations that are more economically free outperform less free nations in growth and levels of prosperity. James Gwartney, coauthor of the annual Economic Freedom of the World report, will review current trends and the latest research on the impact of regulations, the rule of law, and other aspects of economic freedom on the whole range of development indicators. Simeon Djankov will show how excessive bureaucratic procedures and government fees make it prohibitively expensive for the world’s poor to join the formal economy. Reform can make it easier for entrepreneurs and businesses to create wealth. Djankov will show which countries are making progress, how they are successfully reforming, and the potentially large growth opportunities they can expect.” Listen to the podcast.

Related;
Simeon Djankov and the Doing Business Database
Discussing Doing Business
The Road Less Traveled of Business Regulatory Reform

A ridiculous ruling;

“Google has been told by a Belgian court that its news service is in breach of the copyright of a group of local newspapers, in a surprise ruling that goes against existing global practice. The verdict meant that Google was forced to remove links to articles in French-language newspapers in Belgium over the weekend to avoid a €1 million (£675,000) daily fine.

The court decided that the way in which Google News operates “causes the publishers of the daily press to lose control of their websites and their contents”. However, Google said that it intended to appeal against what it described as “flawed” decision that would force it to close its news service if it was repeated elsewhere. It said that the Belgian legal action caught it unawares…”

Via AEI-Brookings’ Daily Reg-Report

Related;
Here is the actual ruling
Google's Belgium Fight: Show Me The Money, Not The Opt-Out, Say Publishers
Google could face Brazil lawsuit