Money is the root of all evil. Everyone has heard that phrase before, but how many people believe it? I love money and I’m sure all of you do too. Without money, it sure would be hard for any of us to survive. Recently, though, several news stories have proven to me the problems that money seems to raise. Some can’t manage it properly while some just can’t seem to get enough.
Rapper Nas is just the most recent in a string of high-profile celebrities who seem to forget that it’s that time of year when tax season rolls around. According to TMZ, as well as several other websites, Nas never paid the government the almost $340,000 he owed in 2010, in addition to a staggering $6 million he owes from previous years. I understand that nobody wants to pay taxes, but isn’t everyone raised knowing they have to just grit their teeth and do it?
Apparently Nas never heard what happened to Wesley Snipes, who is currently serving a three-year stint in prison for tax evasion. Snipes actually went as far as filing false returns for sums of over several million dollars and according to The Baltimore Sun, he didn’t even file returns at all between 1999 and 2004.
Snipes actually began his stay in federal prison in December of 2010, and one would think that’s enough to scare anyone away from trying to fudge their taxes, but Nas either doesn’t follow the news or thinks he is Al Capone. And lest we forget, out of all the illegal things Capone did, the one that finally busted him in the end was tax evasion, which proves one thing – you can’t escape death or taxes. Nas should take heed.
On the other spectrum of this fascinating issue of money mishandling and greed we have people and companies who not only can’t seem to get enough, but will also go to any length to acquire more. At least that’s what Apple proved last week when tech site Ars Technica reported that the company has sued Motorola in Germany over an infringement of the slide-to-unlock feature common on most cell phones.
You read that right. Apple has patented the simple act of a finger swiping across a screen to unlock a phone.
It is baffling to me that any company can patent such a ridiculous thing, but Apple did. In fact, the patent even has a name and number: patent EP1964002, or, “Unlocking a Device by Performing Gestures on an Unlock Image.”
It’s unclear what the outcome of this case will be, but what it ultimately means is that companies that violated the finger-swipe patent would have to pay royalties to Apple. How much money is enough for one company to have?
For the company’s 2011 fiscal year, Apple reported revenue in excess of $100 billion, and the company is estimated to have a market value of $500 billion, a milestone few companies ever achieve.
I’m not against companies dominating certain markets, but to sue Motorola over the way a user slides their finger across a screen really puts a bad taste in my mouth.
While the phrase I used at the beginning of this article is certainly a catch-all saying that doesn’t ring true all the time, these stories show you that there definitely is some truth to it.
And when it comes to money, it truly is a double-edged sword. The Notorious B.I.G. was right when he pointed out almost fifteen years ago, “Mo Money Mo Problems”.
Gerry Wachovsky is a graduate student and columnist for the Daily 49er.
