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Connecting the Dots - 6-26-2025 · Connecting the Dots

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  Today's tech news moves fast, but understanding
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  it shouldn't be hard. That's why Snarfl Solutions
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  Group brings you Connecting the Dots, where we
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  break down what's happening in tech and why it
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  matters to you. Now, let's dive in with your
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  hosts. Welcome, everyone. Alex here kicking off
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  your Thursday. And Morgan, joining you for Connecting
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  the Dots, where we try to unpack the stories
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  shaping your world. Exactly. And today is Thursday,
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  June 26th. 2025. It is indeed. That's right.
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  And before we dive into our main stories, let's
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  get you caught up on the day's pulse. OK. Right
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  here in Sacramento. It's looking like just a
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  beautiful day. Sunny high of 93 degrees Fahrenheit.
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  You really can't beat that. Yeah. Nice one for
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  us. But nationally, we still have that dangerous
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  heat continuing along and east of the Mississippi.
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  The big impacts today are really in the mid -Atlantic.
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  And that's going to linger through Friday for
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  the Eastern Ohio Valley. OK. Good heads up. And
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  definitely keep an eye out. There's potential
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  for severe weather, heavy rain across a huge
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  part of the country. We're talking Southwest,
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  Plains, Upper Midwest, Great Lakes, Mid -Atlantic
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  Northeast. Wow. Pretty wide spread. Yeah. And
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  also a disturbance near the Marianas could bring
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  some flooding. So always good to be aware of
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  what's happening beyond your own backyard. Absolutely.
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  Very true. Now let's switch gears a little bit
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  to the markets. The Dow Jones closed yesterday.
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  That was Wednesday the 25th at $42 ,982 .43.
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  Okay. That was a slight dip down about 147 points
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  or .34 % for the day. But if you zoom out a bit,
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  it's actually been a pretty strong week. Up a
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  healthy 1 .61 % since June 16th. Right. So a
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  bit of a pause maybe. And the S &P 500, it followed
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  a similar pattern. closed yesterday at 6092 .16
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  that was down just point two zero percent for
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  the day just barely yeah tiny dip but like the
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  Dow it's also showing a good weekly trend up
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  one point four seven percent since June 16th
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  so yeah maybe the market just taking a little
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  breath today after a pretty solid week seems
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  like it and for all our crypto watchers out there
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  Bitcoin closed today Thursday June 26 at a hundred
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  seven thousand two hundred seventy one point
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  six two so a really tiny daily change down just
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  point zero nine percent barely moved but his
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  weekly performance is definitely up 1 .61 % since
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  the 23rd. Yeah, kind of a mixed bag for the day
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  itself, but largely positive trends for the week
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  overall. Small movements day -to -day, but the
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  bigger picture, the trend is still upward. That's
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  generally encouraging for investors, right? Definitely.
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  Speaking of small movements that sting a bit,
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  let's talk about our beloved San Francisco Giants.
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  Oh boy, okay. They played the Miami Marlins yesterday,
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  June 25th, and well, unfortunately they lost
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  5 -8. still hurts. Yeah, another tough one. Every
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  loss does sting. It does. But you know, like
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  they say, there's always the next game. Hopefully
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  they'll bounce back soon. We are certainly counting
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  on it. Okay, so from the global markets to the
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  local ball game. We've touched on the day's headlines,
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  but now it's time to really connect the dots
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  on the forces shaping our digital world. We've
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  pulled together the top three tech stories from
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  our internal Snoreful Tech article report, we
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  call it the Morningstar, and we're here to help
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  you understand what they really mean for all
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  of us. Okay, let's jump into our first story.
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  This one has some pretty big implications for,
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  well... creators and AI developers alike Getty
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  Images. They've made what looks like a calculated
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  pivot in their UK lawsuit against Stability AI.
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  A pivot? How so? Well, they've dropped their
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  primary copyright infringing claims, the ones
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  that were really challenging the legality of
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  the AI training itself, you know. Wow, okay.
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  That sounds like a major strategic move. I remember
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  Getty initially came out really strong, almost
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  declaring like a day of reckoning for AI. Exactly.
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  So what does this really mean for the legal battle
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  now? Have they just let stability AI off the
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  hook for training stable diffusion on all those
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  Getty images? No, not at all. It's more like
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  a tactical shift. It doesn't end the fight, but
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  it definitely reframes it. Getty's fight continues,
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  but now it's on two key fronts. at least in the
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  UK. Okay, what are those? One is a secondary
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  infringement claim, basically arguing the AI
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  model itself is an infringing article that was
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  illegally imported. Ah, okay. The model, not
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  the training act. Right. And the second is a
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  trademark claim, focused on Getty's iconic watermark
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  popping up on some AI -generated images. Hmm,
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  the watermark issue. That seems more straightforward.
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  Potentially. And, crucially, This UK shift doesn't
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  touch their parallel lawsuit in the US, which
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  is much larger and seeking up to $1 .7 billion
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  in damages. That's still full steam ahead. Right,
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  right. So for content creators, artists, photographers,
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  authors. This whole battle isn't over, but the
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  legal avenue is kind of changing shape. It's
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  less about the initial training and maybe more
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  about the output and how the AI got the data.
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  That feels like a key distinction. It really
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  is. And this is where it gets. the particularly
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  interesting for the AI developers. This move,
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  combined with a recent landmark decision in the
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  US involving the AI company Anthropic, it sends
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  a very clear signal. The era of scrape first,
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  ask questions later is... Well, definitively
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  over. OK, the anthropic ruling. That's been making
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  waves. Remind us, what are the core takeaways
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  from that decision? Why is it such a game changer?
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  Yeah, it's really pivotal. So in a California
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  federal court, Judge William Alsut ruled that
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  the act of training an AI model on copyrighted
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  books can constitute transformative fair use.
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  OK, so that sounds like a win for AI developers.
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  It was, but, and this is the monumental catch,
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  that protection does not cover the methods used
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  to get that training data. Ah. So. Training your
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  AI might be fair use but how you get the material
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  is now the critical part. It's like Um, you can
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  use a library book for research maybe, but you
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  can't just steal the book first. Exactly. That's
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  a great analogy. The court found Anthropic has
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  to face a trial because they built their data
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  set from pirated online libraries. Yeah. And
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  internal messages even showed executives preferred
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  using pirated books to avoid the quote legal
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  practice business slog of licensing. The judge
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  was pretty blunt about it saying that rationale
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  cannot be squared with the copyright act. So
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  the huge shift for AI devs is this. Training
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  might be fair use, but how you source that data,
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  that's now your biggest legal vulnerability.
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  Scrape first, ask later is basically dead in
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  the water. Wow. So AI companies now face this,
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  like immense legal and financial liability. They
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  have to prove clean data lineage. This must be
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  sending shockwaves through the whole industry.
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  It's not just ethics anymore. It's legal must
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  have. It really is. This ruling creates this
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  crucial legal split between the AI application
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  and the data acquisition now creator groups like
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  the authors guild they strongly disagree they
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  argue it contradicts established copyright precedent
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  and ignores the harm to authors right so the
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  fight is far from over far from it. This wider
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  copyright war, it spans pretty much every creative
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  industry, music, art, writing. These cases are
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  setting precedents for the future of AI and IP
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  globally. And just an interesting side note,
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  Sean Parker, you know, the Napster co -founder,
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  he's on Stability AI's board, someone who definitely
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  knows a thing or two about IP disputes from way
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  back, adds an interesting layer to their strategy
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  maybe. That is fascinating. Talk about history
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  repeating, or at least rhyming. And it's worth
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  remembering, like you said, Getty isn't anti
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  -AI itself. They have their own AI trained on
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  their licensed stuff, which pays artists. Exactly.
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  Their fight is about payment and proper licensing,
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  not killing the tech. It's about control compensation,
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  saying AI developers need to pay for the copyrighted
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  stuff they use. So the legal ground is definitely
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  shifting. It seems like the key question is moving
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  from is training fair use? To where did you get
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  your data? And was that legal that seems to be
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  the crux of it now? Yeah a much more granular
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  look at the data supply chain critical shift
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  Okay, let's jump into our next story this one
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  takes us across the globe to Indonesia and a
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  major move impacting e -commerce there. Right.
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  Indonesia has made a pretty significant policy
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  change. They've banned e -commerce transactions
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  on social media platforms. Think TikTok shop.
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  Banned transactions. Wow. Why? Well, their stated
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  goal is to protect local businesses. They have
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  something like 64 million micro, small and medium
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  enterprises, MSMEs, and the government says this
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  is to shield them. Okay, that's a huge number
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  of businesses. But this is a massive deal for
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  TikTok, isn't it? I thought they were really
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  pushing hard into Southeast Asia, especially
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  Indonesia. They have, what, 125 million users
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  there? Huge market. And yes, it's a big blow.
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  So for the traditional merchants like the ones
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  in the Tana, a bang textile market in Jakarta,
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  this ban was largely welcome. You're feeling
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  the heat from TikTok shop. Definitely. They blamed
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  TikTok shop for predatory pricing, unfair competition,
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  you know, because of its interactive video selling
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  model. Some merchants there said foot traffic
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  was down by half compared to before the pandemic.
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  The Indonesian trade minister even said flat
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  out transactions are not allowed on social media
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  like television. Social media is only for advertising.
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  Wow. That's a pretty stark line to draw. Social
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  media is just for ads, not sales. Yeah. But what
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  about the online sellers, the ones using TikTok
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  Shop? This must have just crushed them. Oh, absolutely.
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  It was a massive blow. There were an estimated
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  six million sellers using TikTok Shop in Indonesia.
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  Many reported their sales just dropped to almost
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  nothing overnight. Six million sellers. That's
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  staggering. It is. And now they face the challenge
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  of moving to other platforms like Shopee, which
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  are maybe be less interactive. It really highlights
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  that double -edged sword of digital disruption,
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  doesn't it? What helps one group can just devastate
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  another. Yeah. It's not just about TikTok either,
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  is it? It's like a global reminder that digital
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  innovation, while it creates opportunities, can
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  also really hammer traditional economies. And
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  governments end up having to choose between,
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  well, progress and protection. Exactly. That
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  tension is playing out everywhere. I can only
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  imagine the scramble for those businesses trying
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  to pivot. It also makes you wonder about the
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  tech giants. How does this hit TikTok's e -commerce
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  strategy? They've grabbed, what, 5 % of Indonesia's
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  $52 billion e -commerce market in just a year?
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  That's incredibly fast growth. It definitely
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  impacts their investment plans. And, you know,
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  it certainly raises questions about whether rival
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  platforms, Shopee, Tokopedia, maybe lobbied for
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  the ban, seen TikTok moving in so fast on their
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  turf. Always a possibility in these situations.
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  Yeah. And this whole thing fits into that broader
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  global debate, right? About social media as marketplaces,
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  about cheap imports, flooding markets, data protection.
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  It connects to similar discussions everywhere.
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  How do traditional businesses adapt to this,
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  this accelerating digital tide? It's the speed,
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  isn't it? I saw a quote from an online seller
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  in Bali who sold only on TikTok. She said something
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  like, the retail world is evolving every day.
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  Store owners need to catch up or get left behind.
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  A pragmatic view. Yeah. But then an independent
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  economist argued the ban was the wrong move.
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  They suggested the real problems were maybe reduce
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  spending power and lobbying, not just TikTok.
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  It's never simple, is it? No, never black and
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  white. It really underscores that tension to
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  protect local economies versus embracing digital
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  innovation. In the end, the ban went into effect.
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  TikTok said they'd comply, but the long term
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  ripples for both traditional and online sellers,
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  that story is definitely not over yet. Hmm. Okay,
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  before we wrap up our Morningstar report, there's
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  one more thing to know. And this one has certainly
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  had people talking. It involves a new mobile
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  phone making headlines. The Trump Mobile T1.
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  Ah yeah, the T1 phone. So when it was first announced,
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  it came with a pretty strong claim, didn't it?
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  That it would be made entirely in America. That's
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  right. But just a week later, that specific language,
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  it's gone from their website. The classic made
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  in USA dance. It often comes with some fine print
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  or interpretation, doesn't it? So what's the
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  updated messaging saying now? Well, the website
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  now uses softer phrasing, things like, designed
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  with American values in mind, brought to life
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  right here in the USA and American hands behind
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  every device. Brought to life, American hands.
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  That usually points towards assembly in the US,
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  rather than sourcing all the components and actually
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  manufacturing everything here. It's a subtle
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  shift, but significant in electronics. It really
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  highlights the complexity, doesn't it? What does
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  Made in USA? Truly mean for something like a
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  smartphone for consumers who really value American
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  -made products this kind of shifting language
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  can be well Confusing at best frustrating absolutely
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  and the reality is building a modern smartphone
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  entirely in the u .s. Is just prohibitively expensive
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  and logistically incredibly challenging We just
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  don't have the domestic factories for many critical
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  parts like the advanced processors or the high
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  -end displays Right, it really shows how global
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  tech manufacturing is. Think about all the tiny
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  bits inside your phone getting every single one
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  from the US for a complex gadget like that. It's
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  a monumental task, maybe almost impossible with
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  today's supply chains. Exactly. It puts that
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  America first branding in an interesting light
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  when faced with the realities of global supply
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  chains. Now, despite the website changes, a Trump
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  mobile spokesperson did insist that the T1 phones
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  are proudly being made in America. Okay. And
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  Eric Trump, executive VP of the Trump Organization,
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  commented that eventually all the phones will
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  be built in the United States. Eventually. Okay.
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  That word is doing a lot of work there, isn't
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  it? It seems to be. The phone itself, it's a
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  sleek gold Android 15 device, costs $499 and
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  they offer this 47 plan unlimited talk. text
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  data for $47 .45 a month, plus roadside assistance
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  and telehealth. Interesting bundle. Yeah. And
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  the launch date, that's also shifted. It went
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  from August to September, and now it's just later
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  this year. All of this kind of underscores the
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  huge hurdles in setting up a fully domestic smartphone
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  manufacturing pipeline for something so complex.
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  Exactly. It's a perfect example of how hard it
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  is to completely detach from the global manufacturing
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  web, especially for consumer electronics. And
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  it raises that question for us as consumers,
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  right? For companies that talk about transparency,
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  how do they really balance those aspirational
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  claims with the practical realities of making
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  things globally? It's a tough line to walk. It
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  is a delicate balance. Yeah. And one consumers
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  seem to be watching more closely these days.
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  OK, so as we wrap up today's Connecting the Dots,
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  we've covered quite a bit of ground stories that
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  really do impact our digital world. We really
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  did. We started with Getty images and that calculated
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  pivot in their UK lawsuit against Stability AI.
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  It highlights how the legal fight for creators
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  and AI developers is evolving, shifting focus
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  to data lineage trademarks. Right. The big takeaway
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  there. That whole scrape first, ask questions
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  later approach, officially dead. Seems like it.
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  Then we jumped over to Indonesia's build move
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  banning e -commerce on platforms like TikTok
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  Shop. It really showed those complex, sometimes
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  contradictory impacts on both traditional businesses
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  and online sellers. Yeah, a real reminder that
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  digital innovation can disrupt things fast, forcing
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  tough choices between progress and protection.
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  Definitely. And finally, we talked about the
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  Trump mobile T1 phone and that subtle but significant
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  shift in its made in USA claims. Just reminding
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  us all about the huge complexities and costs
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  of genuinely making high tech stuff entirely
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  domestically today. Yeah, the global economy
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  in action. or in action, depending how you look
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  at it. Exactly. And each of these stories, whether
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  it's a legal battle in London, a policy change
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  in Southeast Asia, or a marketing claim about
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  a new phone, they connect the dots back to our
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  everyday lives. They really do. They impact how
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  we get our news, our entertainment, how businesses
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  run, how we think about the products we buy,
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  and where they come from. It kind of makes you
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  wonder, doesn't it? With tech evolving so incredibly
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  fast, how long can our legal systems, our economic
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  rules, truly keep up? Are we always just playing
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  catch -up? That is definitely something to ponder
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  as you go about your day. We're here to help
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  at Snarful, so reach out on our website if you
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  have any more questions. Thanks for listening,
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  and we'll catch you next time.