Thank you. I was not aware of any of these.

I found New Matilda and Independent Australia but would like to confirm I have the correct site for Conversation AU.

I am curious how many 'little guys' actually managed to secure shares in the offering. I would say nil.

The underwriters decide who will receive shares in an IPO and this is done via an application/bid process meaning that friends and large clients of the bank are given priority. It would be a little suspect if all these shares were not issued to funds and the extremely wealthy.

In short, don't fret. This is the 1% fucking with the 1%. I approve of this.

Nobody will disagree with you here.

The shareholders could vote to liquidate, sell assets or cease trading. However, Mark Zuckerberg owns greater than 50% of voting shares.

If the stock price goes below a certain level, a possible reaction by Facebook Inc's largest shareholders might be to bail and we could see a second round of shares offered as they try to cash in. This could allow for a takeover which likely wouldn't be good for end users. I would love to see the end-users snap up the shares (and voting rights) forming the world's largest cooperative, but I'm dreaming.

By 2010, 65 laws existed.

You laugh, but...

https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/

https://wwws.safra.com/SafraOfficeBank/

http://wwws.aa.warnerbros.com/journeytothecenteroftheearth2/

https://wwws.loc.gov/readerreg/remote/

Secure browsing has already gone enterprisey with the new WWWS for secure sites

Notice the 3rd link. https:/// is not even configured on this server. Yet we are meant to think it is secure because of the 'wwws'.

Microsoft got sued for making their JVM incompatible with Java and still calling it Java. MS Java wasn't Java. It was Java-esque with a subset of Java plus some proprietary stuff.

I'll use an absurdly exaggerated yet not completely unrealistic scenario to highlight the importance of the pay-to-view model of standards

It is year 2035 and environmental issues are the hot topic in politics. The global population has reached 9 Billion and water has become scarce. An International Standard on toilet flushing systems has been drafted by a consortium of toilet manufacturers, plumbers unions and environmental groups. The standard also gives instructions on how to use a legacy flushing system efficiently by applying a certain pressure for a certain duration to a certain flush button.

A radical environmentalist party is elected in your state and proposes a law that makes any person that wastes water be arrested as an environmental terrorist. The opposition is corrupt and takes money from the toilet manufacturers and others and appends all these standards to the law. The environmentalists see it as a win and there is majority support

You hear about this new law and as you don't want to end up in Gitmo, you read up on it. Most of the law is reasonable. Then you get to the standards it references. There are a number of them which you look up online. Most refer to things like 'Farm Irrigation' or 'Industrial Complex Greywater Scheme', but then you come across the 'Household Toilet Efficient Flushing' standard. You do a Google search which comes up with some news and products. There are HTEF-compliant toilets starting at $15,000. You just spent your last $4,000 in replacing a broken toilet. You search more online and find a board that discusses the standard and find you can use your legacy toilet but MUST flush it in a specific way specified by the standard. You contact your local Plumbers Union Branch who offer to send you a copy of the standard for $200. They also offer the alternative of having a certified plumber come to your house and show you how to flush your toilet for $150.

This is not a situation I want to deal with as my principles are likely to get me incarcerated for life. Yes this scenario is absurd, yet we are getting closer and closer to it every day. Some will find this rant Insightful, some will see it as a Troll. I just hope I can never say I told you so.

I have run into this situation many times. Most recently, while planning a satellite bar to deal with takeaway coffee and breakfast rolls, I was alerted by the local council that the exhaust requirements will have to be met according to some Australian Standard or I could find myself in contravention of my liquor licence. An inconvenience but fair enough I thought, until I attempted to view the regulations. I found that I had to pay to view the standard to ensure I wasn't breaking the law.