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On July 19, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit overturned the convictions of two former London-based traders for conspiracy and wire fraud in connection with the manipulation of the interest rate benchmark known as LIBOR. The Second Circuit ruled that the use of compelled testimony in a U.S. criminal proceeding even when a foreign government has compelled the testimony constitutes a violation of the Fifth Amendment. This decision has potentially significant consequences for U.S. criminal cases that involve related investigations or prosecutions in foreign countries.

Facts and Procedural History

According to the charges, the two defendants were cash traders at the Dutch bank Rabobank and were directly involved in the bank's submissions for the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), a reference interest rate for the interbank borrowing market. In 2013, the U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) compelled the two defendants to testify about their involvement in the LIBOR submissions. Both individuals were given direct use immunity meaning their statements could not be used directly against them but not derivative use immunity meaning their statements could be used to derive other evidence that could be used against them in exchange for their testimony. Under U.K. law, they faced imprisonment if they refused to testify under such circumstances, whereas in the U.S., the government can only compel testimony by providing the witness with both direct and derivative use immunity.

Shortly thereafter, the U.S. Department of Justice began its own criminal prosecution. In October 2014, a grand jury returned an indictment charging the defendants with wire fraud and conspiracy. The defendants' compelled U.K testimony was utilized against them at trial, and both were convicted on all counts.

Second Circuit's Decision

The defendants appealed, arguing that the government "violated their Fifth Amendment rights when it usedtheir own compelled testimony against them." The Second Circuit agreed and held that "the Fifth Amendment's prohibition on the use of compelled testimony in American criminal proceedings applies even when a foreign sovereign has compelled the testimony."

The Second Circuit adopted the defendants' position that, to be admissible in a criminal case, a witness's statements including those made to foreign law enforcement must have been made voluntarily. The court emphasized that this requirement stems directly from the text of the Constitution; voluntariness is assessed under both the Self-Incrimination Clause of the Fifth Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Furthermore, the Second Circuit rejected the government's argument that foreign governments are analogous to private employers, which may question employees under threat of termination without running afoul of the Fifth Amendment. The court also rebuffed the government's assertion that the Fifth Amendment applies only if the same sovereign is both compelling and using the testimony against the defendant, also known as the "same sovereign" rule.

In addition to rejecting the government's arguments, the Second Circuit focused on the consequences of the government's position, namely that a defendant's compelled testimony might be introduced directly against the defendant in a criminal prosecution, in effect an end-run around the defendant's Fifth Amendment rights. The court hypothesized that the government's argument could lead to a situation in which the government proffers, "Your honor, we offer Government Exhibit 1, the defendant's compelled testimony." Notably, the government did not dispute this potential result.

The Second Circuit also rejected the government's concern that ruling for the defendants would allow foreign powers to inadvertently or negligently interfere with U.S. criminal prosecutions, noting that that "the risk of error in coordination falls on the U.S. governmentrather than on subjects and targets of cross-border investigations."

Ultimately, the Second Circuit reversed both convictions, holding, inter alia, that the use of compelled testimony was not harmless error.

Impacts/Conclusion

This decision reinforces Fifth Amendment protections against the use of compelled testimony. Moreover, the Second Circuit now joins the Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits in holding that "inculpatory statements obtained overseas by foreign officials must have been made voluntarily" in order to be admissible in U.S. courts.

Barring an appeal, DOJ will have to proceed with caution in its cross-border prosecutions where overseas testimony has been compelled by foreign governments. Mere compliance with the foreign sovereign's laws may not be sufficient to guarantee the admissibility of the evidence in U.S. criminal proceedings. Across the table, defense attorneys should continue to analyze the circumstances of foreign testimony, and in doing so, pay particular attention to any evidence of compulsion that might limit further use of that testimony against their clients.

The rest is here:
Convictions Overturned: Fifth Amendment Prohibits Use of Testimony Compelled by Foreign Governments - Lexology (registration)

Turkeys presidency is a ceremonial role, or it was until Recep Tayyip Erdogan became the countrys first directly-elected head of state in August of 2014.

Mr. Erdogan had already served three terms as prime minister. Term limits meant he had to step down, so he ran for president, won handily and began remaking the office to suit his political ambitions.

The one-time Islamist activist has been transforming the former democracy into a de facto dictatorship ever since an effort that was given a huge boost by a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016.

Post-coup, Mr. Erdogan has held his country in an indefinite state of emergency, which he has exploited to justify multiple violations of basic rights and the silencing of the press.

In April, he orchestrated a referendum on constitutional amendments that abolished the office of prime minister and consolidated a number of critical powers in the presidents office, including the power to appoint judges and prosecutors.

Opponents of the amendments were systematically silenced by Mr. Erdogan, helping him win a slim majority, with 51.4 per cent of the vote. His margin of victory was bolstered by a friendly court decision that allowed the inclusion of unstamped ballots, raising doubts about the legitimacy of the referendum.

Mr. Erdogan is now the supreme and untouchable ruler of Turkey. Turks were reminded of his omnipotence in Orwellian fashion on July 15 of this year, when mobile phone users trying to make a call were first obliged to listen to a recorded message from him marking the anniversary of the attempted coup dtat.

In essence, the failed coup in the immediate aftermath of which Mr. Erdogan and his allies boohooed about the pain of seeing their countrys democracy under attack has led to the very real overthrow of that same democracy by those very same people.

The examples of Mr. Erdogans repression are many.

He has pursued the suspected followers of exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom he immediately and conveniently fingered as the mastermind behind the failed coup, with brutal, relentless vigour.

He has arrested at least 50,000 people, including human-rights activists, half the senior military ranks, thousands of police officers and hundreds of journalists, many of whom have been jailed without even the veneer of due process.

As well, about 150,000 public servants have been sacked, including dozens of judges; 6,000 university professors have been dismissed; and dozens of media outlets have been shut down.

On Monday, 17 journalists from Turkeys last major independent newspaper were put on trial on terrorism charges. They stand accused because they contacted suspected Gulenists and wrote about them, and quoted their social media postings. Twelve of the journalists have been in jail for nine months, for the crime of doing their jobs.

Mr. Erdogan has also seized as many as 950 companies, with $11-billion in assets, on spurious grounds that the owners were sympathetic to the Gulenists. Executives have had to flee the country or face arrest.

Citizens have been detained for the crime of insulting the president, or, in the case of a fashion model and former Miss Turkey, sharing a satirical poem on social media.

The countrys small Christian population is now living in fear, after the government confiscated as many as 50 churches and the land around them.

Turkey has also taken to squabbling openly with its putative NATO allies. In late July, it leaked details of French and American military positions in Syria, an egregious betrayal.

Turkeys relentless human-rights abuses, including the arrest of German human rights workers and Mr. Erdogans willingness to bring back the death penalty, have now also put its entry into the European Union into question a blow to both the EU and Turkey.

Canada has been affected, too. According to Amnesty International, at least five dual Canadian/Turkish citizens have been detained and denied consular access. The number of Turks seeking political asylum in Canada has surged by a factor of five this year.

None of this was necessary. All of it is the product of Mr. Erdogans naked quest for autocratic control. He has used a minor coup attempt of disputed origins as a pretext to end democracy.

A leader who was a democrat would not have taken these steps. Mr. Erdogan has turned what should have been, at worst, temporary measures until order was restored, into an ongoing repression of civil and political liberties, returning Turkey to dictatorship.

While he and his followers celebrate the anniversary of the failed coup with grand ceremonies, a fresh roundup of 6,000 political opponents, and the renaming of streets and landmarks to suit the new regime the free world can only mourn the death of a democratic ally.

Follow us on Twitter: @GlobeDebate

Read more here:
Globe editorial: Under Erdogan, Turkey descends into dictatorship - The Globe and Mail

A Turkish reporter admitted that he inaccurately quoted White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, who was reported to have lavished praise on Turkish President Recep Erdogan.

A White House official told The Daily Caller Thursday that the quote in the Turkish newspaper AKSAM was made up. The reporter, Yavuz Atalay, admitted as much when contacted by TheDC.

The articlepublished Thursday claimed that Kushner, President Trumps son-in-law, said that Erdogan is making Turkey bigger again like US. We watch his efforts with appreciation.

The piece included a selfie with both Kushner and Atalay.

He [Atalay] approached Jared for a selfie but is not quoted accurately, a White House official told TheDC. Its made up.

Atalay also claimed that Ivanka Trump told him she loves Turkey and that Jared praised Turkeys economy. The White House did not respond to a follow-up question about Ivankas comments and whether the article in its entirety is a fabrication.

When asked over Twitter direct message about the White House pushback, Atalay initially refused to address the claim that he made up a quote.

That was not an interview. I didnt get any permit from Kushners office or Ivankas office or White House. As I mentioned in the report it was a very quick conversation with him (1-2 min.), Atalay said.

When pressed further on whether the Kushner quote was accurate, Atalay said,He did not say that. I asked him, Do you think, Erdogan is making Turkey great again, like Trump and he only said, Yeah, I think so.'

A native Turkish speaker who reviewed Atalays article said that the reporter has a history of making bombastic claims about the Trump administrations view of Erdogan and the Turkish government.

The source pointed to a Feb. 9 article in which Atalay reported that White House sources said that Trump told Erdogan in a phone call that he would order intelligence agencies to prepare an investigative file on Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric living in exile in the U.S. Erdogan has asked the U.S. government to extradite Gulen, who he considers a terrorist.

Erdogan-controlled Turkish media outlets regularly publish inaccurate reports about Gulen.

In an article published in November, Atalay reported that his sources told him that some of Gulens followers requested a meeting with Trump through then-Vice President-elect Mike Pence. According to Atalay, Trump declined the meeting, saying he will not sit together with terrorists. Pence passed this message on to New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, who then relayed the information to the Gulenists.

No other outlets have reported that chain of events.

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Reporter Admits Fabricating Kushner Quote | The Daily Caller - The Daily Caller

Good quality content is incredibly important to modern SEO and providing user value.

Thats why any copywriter, whether working on an agency or freelance level, should understand the importance of keywords and the research behind them.

Ive met many good copywriters who dont understand keyword research and Ive also met not so good ones who do.

Regardless, successful SEO starts with keyword research.

Its worth taking the time out to teach and help a copywriter grasp the basic concepts of keyword research and why its important to their work.

Helping a copywriter understand high volume keywords is easy enough. After all, these keywords are more likely to drive the most traffic and attention.

Getting a copywriter to understand why long-tail keywords matter in SEO might be a little more difficult. At least until you explain that long-tail searches often are rich in intent.

Additionally, more people are using voice search.

In fact, roughly 20 percent of Google mobile searches are performed using voice search. This has changed the keyword landscape because people are searching using full sentences and asking questions, rather than just typing in short queries.

Its also worth pointing out that long-tail keywords are the savior for small and niche businesses, especially ones that rely on local SEO.

For instance, a taxidermy store probably wont perform well if it merely targets taxidermy or even taxidermy stores, but a campaign that revolves around long-tail keywords such as taxidermy stores in London might not only get more traffic, but it might secure more business.

Cognitive Keyword Tool taxidermy stores in London Ranking Analysis

Whats more, if youre a taxidermy business thats looking to undertake paid search marketing campaigns, the likelihood is that youre going to have a slower, but far less expensive campaign not that your average copywriter needs to know this.

The truth is that its not in the usual remit of a freelance copywriter to do their own keyword research. This is often supplied by an agency or yourself if you happen to be working for a business carrying out its own SEO.

However, if you want to get an in-house copywriter more involved in the SEO process (something I encourage for the benefit of everyone), its definitely worth introducing your average copywriter to keyword research.

For one, youll be expanding someone with a soft skill and helping them progress a little into SEO, and for another, youll know that if you need someone to get a task out of the way for you (for whatever reason), therell be someone at hand who might just enjoy getting their head out of Microsoft Word for a bit.

When training a copywriter on keyword research, its usually best to start with the most basic tools.

After all, its better to learn how to drive a car before you get behind the wheel of a monster truck.

The first tool I go to when teaching people how to get started with keyword research is Google Adwords Keyword Planner.

Dont rely on this as your only training tool. However, for someone whos head isnt quite in an SEO sphere yet, its probably one of the best places to start.

Like many tools and apps Google creates, its easy to understand, offers a lot of supportboth in written and visual form, and takes you through a step-by-step process of setting up a campaign.

Often I take a person through the planner using an imaginary business, but I find it best to pretend were setting up a campaign for the company at-hand, usually the agency I work for, so the person can really understand the ins and outs of whats needed.

The next keyword research tool to introduce your copywriter to is SEMrush. This great tool will give your copywriter a view of the bigger keyword picture.

SEMrush is pretty cool for multinational environments and when you want to find out what your competitors are up to and where theyre getting ahead of you in search.

Its important not to forget about competitors when youre teaching someone about keyword research.

Although a copywriter will often look at competitors for content ideas, its worth taking the time out to go through a set of competitors to get the juices flowing.

But going back to long-tail keywords, SEMrush has a talent for offering accurate and abundant keyword data for both local and international versions of Google and Bing.

Similar to Google Adwords Keyword Planner, once youve been about it for an hour or so, its pretty easy to navigate and get into the meat of what youre searching for.

Cognitive SEOs tool stands apart from any other keyword planner.

Why?

Unlike other tools, this keyword tool doesnt just give you keyword suggestions. It also tells you what you should do next to improve your rankings.

The extra information that the tool supplies have so far been a great help and were just beginning to implement them.

For that reason alone, you should include this tool in keyword research training with a copywriter, especially if youre dealing with a niche business or industry.

Of course, there is a range of tools on the market that is perfectly good, but for something a bit more encompassing, these are the go to ones I would use when explaining the keyword process to copywriters, or any other people that are just breaking into the SEO business.

Image Credits Screenshots taken by author, July 2017.

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Long-Tail Keyword Research: How to Train Copywriters for SEO ... - Search Engine Journal

Affiliate marketing has its pros and cons advocates and detractors. The industry is booming but there are many merchants that have negative opinions of the channel. They have seen fraud or low return on investment. Sometimes consumers dont want or need their product. Often, merchants just havent put the right resources into the channel.

But itsnot hard to find examples of companiesthat have shown consistent affiliate-sales growth over many years. In fact, I profiled one in May, at Affiliate Marketing Report Card: Jane.com.

Ive found that the common mistakefor negative merchant attitudes on affiliate marketing is unrealistic expectations. The truth is, affiliate marketing is not a silver bullet for online growth. This channel needs a solid strategy and consistent management from the beginning.

Take the caseof a merchant who recently told me that he hated his affiliate marketing program. It was launched by a previous employee several years agoand was, essentially, forgotten. The sales volume was so low, monthly expenses barely exceeded $100.

Ive found that the common mistake for negative merchant attitudes on affiliate marketing is unrealistic expectations.

Upon examining the program, I found several simple errors. The affiliates were approved automatically. There were no newsletters sent. No coupons, deals or promotions were added. The data feed was not optimized or updated. Affiliates had no incentive or education on how to promote the products.

Too many merchants launch with no clue how to properly manage the relationships. They dont appoint the right people to take charge. They dont create the right infrastructure. And they dont communicate with affiliates the way they should.

Merchants often anticipate immediate sales from new affiliate customers and rapid overall growth. This is unrealistic. They dont understand why existing customers return through affiliates and they question the lack of ROI during the launch process.

Every affiliate program is different but, in general, it should take at least six months for a new program to begin generating regular sales. The ROI might not happen for 12 to 18 months. There is no meaningful way to forecast affiliate growth. There are too many variables involved, with hundreds of moving parts. However, a program of 24 months typically yields 10 percent to 20 percent supplemental growth in year over year comparisons. If the program is being relaunched, sales will (hopefully) begin to grow within six months.

When an affiliate manager is hired, either in-house or outsourced, add the salary and fees to the overall marketing budget. Without the proper management, the channel will remain stagnant. The affiliate manager is a crucial role and should not be delegated to inexperienced personnel. But for the first year, calculate the ROI using only the commissions paid and network fees, not the cost of the manager.

There will always be crossover (among various sales channels) with customers. For example, print catalog users from the 1980s started using the Internet in the mid 1990s and early 2000s.

As more customers became comfortable with shopping online, the in-house channel debates began. Catalog managers started accusing the newly hired Internet marketing managers of stealing customers. In 2017, attribution is still a hotly debated topic. But its now largely understood that it often takes more than one touch point to close atransaction.

Some merchants are unhappy with the promotion practices of loyalty and coupon affiliates because of the higher ratio of existing customers. This is a valid point and should be discussed at the highest levels of those merchants. Smart managers find the balance to work with them or exclude them entirely. Trust between these two sides comes only when the relationship is nurtured and rules are enforced respectfully.

But its nowlargelyunderstood that it often takes more than one touch point to closeatransaction.

Using the auto-approve function in the major affiliate networks such as ShareASale and CJ Affiliate is the bestindicator of a bad start. Even if some filtering rules are applied, such as auto-approval of only United States-based affiliates, there is no guarantee they will obey the terms-of-service agreements any better than foreign affiliates. The worst offenders paid search, toolbar, browser extension, and coupon sites are often U.S.-based affiliates.

Affiliates outside of the U.S. are capable of delivering U.S. traffic with new customers. The manager just has to find the right ones to allow into the program.

All affiliate applications should be approved manually in a timely fashion. Some managers prefer to check applications weekly but affiliates want approval within 24 hours, if not sooner. They lose interest and patienceotherwise.

Fraud is a concern in affiliate marketing, but its usually not the fault of the affiliates themselves. Credit card fraud is always a risk in any channel. Thankfully, technology has advanced to mostly eliminate this threat.

Using multiple affiliate networks can create duplicate orders. This may look like fraud to the unexperienced merchant or manager but its a technical issue, not fraud.

Affiliates in traditional cost-per-sale programs will try to beat out their competitors to earn the commission on a transaction but they do not necessarily commit fraud while doing so.

Violating terms-of-service agreements isnt fraud either. In many instances, programs launch without firm or enforced agreements. The merchant only files complaints after they realize how the affiliates are promoting the merchantsbrand. This is when ecommerce managers start throwing desk chairs through windows and cursing the affiliate channel. But again, its not fraud. Its the merchant not understanding how to regulate the partnerships.

Affiliates will test the boundaries. Even if you have a readable affiliate agreement, they will proceed with their normal promotions until the manager enforces the terms. I addressed this atFor Affiliate Marketing Success, Know Your Affiliates.

The hardest concept to explain to merchants is that affiliate marketing might not work for them, at least not now. They read about affiliate marketing and they dream about overnight success. But if the product is untested, if the website is new, or if there is no community of significant support for the brand, affiliate marketing isnt the right channel. When you start with zero sales overall, youll most likely have zero sales through affiliates in the next year.

Scroll through the networks as an affiliate and look at programs in different categories. Many of them have not had any sales through the affiliate channel in days, weeks or months. The merchants launched without a strategy and most likely walked away, hoping for a miracle.

Growth through the affiliate channel takes a coordinated effort from the merchant, the manager, and the affiliates. One of the hardest parts is managing expectations from all parties involved.

Excerpt from:
The Common Affiliate Marketing Mistake - Practical Ecommerce