Man fined for pirating Rihanna song

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BBC -Alain Prevost was fined 150 euros (£121) for pirating two Rihanna tracks even though his wife admitted she downloaded the songs.
The fine was levied on the 40-year-old because he paid for the web link over which the songs were downloaded.
The French government agency policing downloading in the country is preparing cases against 14 other people it suspects of pirating movies and music.
France operates a "three strikes" law which means suspected pirates get three warnings about their activity. If they ignore the warnings their net connection gets cut off and they can face further court action.
Prevost, of Belfort, in eastern France, was convicted because he admitted in court that the Rihanna songs had been downloaded by his wife via the ISP account he paid for. In his court testimony, Prevost, described as a local artisan by French media, said he was "incapable of downloading anything".
The case has been complicated by two other factors, reported French tech news site PC Inpact. First, Prevost terminated his web account after he received the first two warnings from the French agency, known as Hadopi, that seeks out pirates in France. Secondly, he is divorcing his wife.
Court plea Prevost wrote to Hadopi telling it to contact his wife about the downloads. However, it replied via email messages he could no longer receive.
For unwittingly ignoring Hadopi's messages, Prevost received a summons to visit his local police station where he wrote a statement repeating his claim that he did not download the songs.
The police asked him to have the songs removed from his PC by a local firm and he took documentary evidence of this to court when he received a summons from Hadopi.
Prevost told PC Impact that he went to court without a lawyer to represent him, believing that his honesty and co-operation would count in his favour.
For breaking the three strikes law, Prevost could have faced a fine of up to 1,500 euros (£1,200) and had his web connection cut off for a month. After making his statement in court, the 300 euro (£240) fine the prosecution sought was halved.
Marie-Francoise Marais, head of Hadopi, speaking to local French newspaper Le Pays, said the agency "was mainly a mission of education, not repression".

Rural IT Centers Abandoned

saharareporters - In 2007, Federal Government, through its National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), announced the Rural Information Technology Centers (RITC) project, the objective of which, the Government said, was to provide Internet access to underserved communities.
Most of the RITC's were opened across the country in 2008, costing massive amounts of money.  One of such multi-million sunk Rural Information Technology Centers, located in Jahun Local Government area of Jigawa State, has suffered such neglect that its expensive equipment is gathering dust and becoming rusty.
People of the Jahun Community told SaharaReporters that the multi-million Naira center, which was commissioned in 2008, has become a major hideout for miscreants in the area who turned the center into a haven for carrying out heinous plans. Residents say the C-Band Internet facility planted in the center only functioned on the day it was commissioned.
According to the residents, none of the equipment, including the expensive solar power instrument installed in the center, functioned afterwards, although the NITDA has continued to boast of it in newspapers and its official bulletins as part of its living achievements.
Adeniran Muiz, a graduate of Yaba College of Technology who was in the community when he was called up for his National Youth Service Corps, said that most of the computers and the UPS in the center failed to come up when he accessed the center.  Muiz suggested that the failure of the equipment has been caused by long years of neglect, and expressed disappointment at the infrastructural neglect by the government and its agency.
"Initially, I felt members of the community did not understand the value of the center because of their perceived level of unawareness but when I began to interact with the youths and some concerned literate elders, I realized that I had maintained a very wrong position about the whole situation", said Muiz, a university graduate.
Muiz said he was surprised at the eagerness and level of awareness of the people of the Jahun community after he engaged them in discussion regarding the benefits of the long abandoned and rusting Information Technology center in their community.  He said that instead, the youths of the community lectured him on the function of the neglected Information Technology center, stating that it had died off for lack of maintenance.  They also drew his attention to the failure of the installed solar system to supply power, and the fact that the Internet facility had no subscription.
Despite all that, the people of Jahun Community took it upon themselves to revive the center, with the help of Muiz, who was then serving in the area and the technical, expert knowledge support of other well-meaning people.
Muiz's account indicates how the aspiration of the community people helped them revive the moribund IT Center.
"With donations from concerned individuals in the community and subvention from Jahun Local Government Authorities, I was able to connect the center to electricity, get a brand new lister generator, repair the Internet facilities and computer systems and I subscribed for Internet services from Galaxy Networks in Dutse, Jigawa State. In a nutshell, that marked a turning point for an already dead RITC in Jahun. Not only was it brought back to life but was also wearing a better look and ready to admit interested students", Muiz said.
In what marks an imminent return to inactivity of the center, however, the IT center which has a capacity to admit about 90 students suffers poor management and funding. Those who volunteer or donate funds for the management of the center have begun to reduce in number.  Also, the NYSC member who coordinated the revival of the center said he has completed his Youth Service in the community and was returning to Lagos.
The agency that set up the place, NITDA, has failed to show up to ensure continuous and productive management of the center. Even when contacted about how the center is fairing, no response came, which suggests a complete lack of interest from the agency on a center it set up using huge amounts of money. The agency failed to show the will to maintain and use the centers set up in all the locations where it did to benefit the people of host communities.
Complained one of the volunteers managing the center, "The Internet service is quite expensive to run due to the nature of the C-Band subscription. By and by, the subscription we made a couple of months ago will expire and there is currently no hope for continual subscription as the community seems to have been overstressed already by the financial burden of sustaining the center. In addition, the solar facility at the center is faulty. Consequently, the center runs solely on diesel since the government cannot provide stable power for its citizens."
He said that a series of letters were sent to the Director General of NITDA, Professor Cleopas Anganye, to seek his assistance in repairing the faulty solar facility and in subscribing for at least one year of Internet service, but with no response from him.
“It is, however, disheartening, heart-rending, and worrisome that nothing was heard from them. Due to the respect I have for the DG coupled with his numerous years of proven integrity and professionalism, I would only want to believe that the letters were not delivered to his office", he said.
The RITC in Jahun is not the only place set up by the NITDA that has gulped millions of Naira, only to be abandoned by the government.
"Within Jigawa State alone, I know of at least two other centers that are not functional and [have been] abandoned by the Agency since the inception of the projects,” Muiz observed.  “ There is one abandoned in Aujara town in Jahun LGA and another one Zareku town in Miga LGA that I personally know of."

Darren Fletcher included in Man Utd Premier League squad

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(BBC)-Darren Fletcher has been included in Manchester United's Premier League squad as he pushes to return from a chronic bowel condition.

Scotland midfielder Fletcher, 28, has not played for United since November last year.
Aston Villa have selected Stiliyan Petrov, who was diagnosed with acute leukaemia in March
Clubs were required to submit 25-man squads to the Premier League on 4 September.
Players under the age of 21 are eligible over and above the limit of 25 players.
Stoke's squad will be confirmed at a later date as they are currently considering an application to register new signing Michael Owen.
Fletcher has also been included in Manchester United's squad for the Champions League.
Kolo Toure has been omitted from Manchester City's Champions League squad and Chelsea have left Florent Malouda out of theirs.
Premier League squads:
Arsenal (23): Andrey Arshavin, Mikel Arteta, Santiago Cazorla, Marouane Chamakh, Andre Santos, Abou Diaby, Johan Djourou, Lukasz Fabianski, Gervinho, Kieran Gibbs, Olivier Giroud, Laurent Koscielny, Vito Mannone, Per Mertesacker, Lukas Podolski, Aaron Ramsey, Bacary Sagna, Sebastien Squillaci, Wojciech Szczesny, Thomas Vermaelen, Theo Walcott, Craig Eastmond.
Aston Villa (25): Gabriel Agbonlahor, Marc Albrighton, Barry Bannan, Darren Bent, Ciaran Clark, Fabian Delph, Richard Dunne, Karim El Ahmadi Aroussi, Shay Given, Bradley Guzan, Christopher Herd, Brett Holman, Alan Hutton, Stephen Ireland, Eric Lichaj, Matthew Lowton, Ashley Westwood, Andrew Marshall, Charles N'Zogbia, Stiliyan Petrov, Enda Stevens, Ron Vlaar, Stephen Warnock, Joseph Bennett, Christian Benteke.
Chelsea (20): Petr Cech, Branislav Ivanovic, Cesar Azpilicueta, Ashley Cole, David Luiz, Ramires, Frank Lampard, Fernando Torres, Juan Mata, Victor Moses, John Obi Mikel, Florent Malouda, Paulo Ferreira, Marko Marin, Ross Turnbull, Daniel Sturridge, Gary Cahill, John Terry, Ryan Bertrand, Hilario.
Everton (19): Victor Anichebe, Leighton Baines, Darron Gibson, Tony Hibbert, Phil Jagielka, Phil Neville, Leon Osman, Seamus Coleman, Sylvain Distin, Marouane Fellaini, Magaye Gueye, John Heitinga, Tim Howard, Nikica Jelavic, Jan Mucha, Steven Naismith, Steven Pienaar, Kevin Mirallas, Bryan Oviedo.
Fulham (21): Mark Schwarzer, Csaba Somogyi, David Stockdale, Neil Etheridge, Sascha Riether, Stephen Kelly, Aaron Hughes, Brede Hangeland, Philippe Senderos, John Arne Riise, Damien Duff, Ashkan Dejagah, Simon Davies, Chris Baird, Steve Sidwell, Mahamadou Diarra, Bryan Ruiz, Kieran Richardson, Mladen Petric, Hugo Rodallega, Dimitar Berbatov.
Liverpool (20): Daniel Agger, Joe Allen, Ossama Assaidi, Jamie Carragher, Sebastian Coates, Joe Cole, Alexander Doni, Stewart Downing, Steven Gerrard, Peter Gulacsi, Jordan Henderson, Glen Johnson, Bradley Jones, Jose Enrique, Martin Kelly, Lucas Leiva, Pepe Reina, Nuri Sahin, Martin Skrtel, Luis Suarez.
Manchester City (22): Joe Hart, Micah Richards, Vincent Kompany, Pablo Zabaleta, Joleon Lescott, James Milner, Samir Nasri, Edin Dzeko, Scott Sinclair, Aleksander Kolarov, Sergio Aguero, Gareth Barry, David Silva, Gael Clichy, Kolo Toure, Richard Wright, Costel Pantilimon, Carlos Tevez, Yaya Toure, Maicon, Javier Garcia, Mario Balotelli.
Manchester United (24): Anderson, Bebe, Alexander Buttner, Michael Carrick, Javier Hernandez, Tom Cleverley, David de Gea, Jonny Evans, Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand, Darren Fletcher, Ryan Giggs, Shinji Kagawa, Anders Lindegaard, Nani, Rafael, Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes, Chris Smalling, Antonio Valencia, Robin van Persie, Nemanja Vidic, Danny Welbeck, Ashley Young.
Newcastle (22): Romain Amalfitano, Shola Ameobi, Vurnon Anita, Demba Ba, Hatem Ben Arfa, Yohan Cabaye, Papiss Demba Cisse, Fabricio Coloccini, Rob Elliot, Dan Gosling, Steve Harper, Jonas Gutierrez, Tim Krul, Sylvain Marveaux, Gabriel Obertan, James Perch, Danny Simpson, Ryan Taylor, Steven Taylor, Cheik Tiote, Michael Williamson, Xisco.
Norwich (25): Leon Barnett, Sebastian Bassong, Elliott Bennett, Ryan Bennett, Mark Bunn, Jacob Butterfield, David Fox, Javier Garrido, Grant Holt, Wes Hoolahan, Jonathan Howson, Simeon Jackson, Bradley Johnson, Simon Lappin, Christopher Martin, Russell Martin, Steven Morison, Anthony Pilkington, John Ruddy, Robert Snodgrass, Andrew Surman, Alexander Tettey, Marc Tierney, Michael Turner, Steven Whittaker.
QPR (25): Robert Green, Samba Diakite, Armand Traore, Shaun Derry, Anton Ferdinand, Clint Hill, Ji-Sung Park, Andrew Johnson, Djibril Cisse, Adel Taarabt, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Jamie Mackie, Nedum Onuoha, Stephane Mbia, Ryan Nelsen, Kieron Dyer, Fabio, Hogan Ephraim, Junior Hoilett, Brian Murphy, Bobby Zamora, Julio Cesar, Alejandro Faurlin, Esteban Granero, Jose Bosingwa.
Reading (25): Simon Church, Shaun Cummings, Chris Gunter, Danny Guthrie, Ian Harte, Jem Karacan, Adam Le Fondre, Mikele Leigertwood, Jobi McAnuff, Alex McCarthy, Garath McCleary, Adrian Mariappa, Alex Pearce, Jason Roberts, Hal Robson-Kanu, Nicky Shorey, Jay Tabb, Stuart Taylor, Mikkel Andersen, Adam Federici, Kaspars Gorkss, Brynjar Gunnarsson, Noel Hunt, Jimmy Kebe, Pavel Pogrebnyak.
Southampton (23): Danny Butterfield, Richard Chaplow, Jack Cork, Kelvin Davis, Steven Davis, Danny De Ridder, Ryan Dickson, Guilherme do Prado, Jose Fonte, Jonathan Forte, Daniel Fox, Jos Hooiveld, Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert, Tadanari Lee, Emmanuel Mayuka, Jason Puncheon, Gaston Ramirez, Frazer Richardson, Jay Rodriguez, Morgan Schneiderlin, Daniel Seaborne, Maya Yoshida.
Sunderland (21): Phil Bardsley, Titus Bramble, Wes Brown, Fraizer Campbell, Lee Cattermole, Jack Colback, Carlos Cuellar, Steven Fletcher, Craig Gardner, Adam Johnson, Matthew Kilgallon, Seb Larsson, James McClean, David Meyler, Simon Mignolet, John O'Shea, Danny Rose, Louis Saha, Stephane Sessegnon, David Vaughan, Keiren Westwood.
Swansea (22): Germaine Agustien, Leon Britton, Jonathan De Guzman, Nathan Dyer, Jose Flores, Mark Gower, Danny Graham, Pablo Hernandez, Sung Yueng No Ki, Leroy Lita, Miguel Perez Cuesta, Garry Monk, Luke Moore, Curtis Obeng, Wayne Routledge, Itay Shechter, Alan Tate, Neil Taylor, Gerhard Tremmel, Michel Vorm, Ashley Williams, Angel Rangel.
Tottenham (25): Heurelho Gomes, Carlo Cudicini, Brad Friedel, Hugo Lloris, Younes Kaboul, William Gallas, Emmanuel Adebayor, Jan Vertonghen, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Sandro, Yago Falque, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Clint Dempsey, Aaron Lennon, Kyle Walker, Kyle Naughton, Michael Dawson, Mousa Dembele, Tom Huddlestone, Scott Parker, Jake Livermore, Jermaine Jenas, Gareth Bale, Jermain Defoe, David Bentley.
West Brom (24): Chris Brunt, Luke Daniels, Craig Dawson, Graham Dorrans, Yassine El Ghanassy, Marc-Antoine Fortune, Ben Foster, Zoltan Gera, Gonzalo Jara, Billy Jones, Shane Long, Gareth McAuley, James Morrison, Youssouf Mulumbu, Boaz Myhill, Peter Odemwingie, Jonas Olsson, Goran Popov, Steven Reid, Liam Ridgewell, Markus Rosenberg, Gabriel Tamas, Jerome Thomas, Claudio Yacob.
West Ham (22): Yossi Benayoun, Andy Carroll, Carlton Cole, James Collins, Jack Collison, Guy Demel, Mohamed Diame, Alou Diarra, Stephen Henderson, Jussi Jaaskelainen, Matt Jarvis, Modibo Maiga, George McCartney, Mark Noble, Kevin Nolan, Joey O'Brien, Gary O'Neil, Winston Reid, Jordan Spence, Matthew Taylor, James Tomkins, Ricardo Vaz Te.
Wigan (20): Ali Al Habsi, Antolin Alcaraz, Jean Beausejour, Mauro Boselli, Emmerson Boyce, Gary Caldwell, Albert Crusat, Franco Di Santo, Maynor Figueroa, Jordi Gomez, David Jones, Adrian Lopez, Shaun Maloney, James McArthur, James McCarthy, Mike Pollitt, Ivan Ramis, Ronnie Stam, Ben Watson.

Michael Owen: I should have left Manchester United earlier

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(BBC)-Michael Owen says he has regrets about spending last season at Manchester United before his release this summer.

Owen was urged to stay at Old Trafford by Sir Alex Ferguson a year ago but made only four first-team appearances for United in 2011-12.
The former England forward, 32, is now with Stoke City after signing a one-year deal with the club last week

"In hindsight, probably with that extra year, it might have been better if I had moved in many ways," he said.

"I was on the bench a lot of the time, but then when the manager says 'you have a big role to play and we want you to stay for another year', it was great to hear that from someone like Sir Alex Ferguson."
As it turned out, Owen's final season with United was blighted by a thigh injury that prevented him being available from November until the final few weeks of the campaign.
Owen could make his Stoke debut against Manchester City on Saturday - a team he scored a dramatic injury-time winner against for Manchester United in September 2009.
That was probably the highlight of his injury-hit time at Manchester United and he is looking forward to making a bigger impact at Stoke.
He added: "I want to perform and I want to finish my career on a real high. I'm still only 32 and I still feel as if I have a lot left in me.
"I've always scored goals, no matter what team I have been in, so as long as I can stay fit and healthy, then I'm sure I can do that here at Stoke."
Owen was interviewed by Football Focus this week and asked if he felt he got the respect he deserved.
He has won numerous accolades and titles during his career. He helped Liverpool win League Cup, FA Cup and Uefa Cup in 2001 and was awarded the prestigious Ballon d'Or the same year.
He is also fourth on the list of all-time England goalscorers after finding the net 40 times for his country.
"I wouldn't know what view people have of me," he said. "I don't really mind what type of view in many ways.
"I think real football people appreciate what a good player I was and hopefully think I've still got a lot to offer.
"Obviously I'm not 18 anymore and the fastest thing in the Premier League and a good finisher and everything else.
"I'm still a decent finisher but I'm obviously not at the absolute peak of my powers. I was probably that at 19 or 20 but I still feel I've got a lot to offer.
"Evidently Stoke do as well and evidently a few other Premier League teams did because they were a few teams I was in talks with."

Japan confirms disputed islands purchase plan

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(BBC) - Japan has confirmed that it intends to purchase disputed islands also claimed by China from private owners, amid tension between the two countries.
The government had formally agreed to ''obtain ownership'' of islands called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, the top government spokesman said.
Japan controls the uninhabited but resource-rich East China Sea islands, which are also claimed by Taiwan.
China has denounced the plan as illegal and warned it will affect ties.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said the Japanese government was buying the islands to promote their stable and peaceful management.
It was not immediately clear how much the purchase would cost. But previous Japanese media reports, citing government sources, said that the government was paying 2.05bn yen ($26m, £16.4m) for three islands.
"This is just the ownership of land, which is part of Japan's territory, moving from one [private] owner to the state, and should not cause any problem with other countries," said Mr Fujimura.

"We do not want the Senkaku issue to interfere with Sino-Japanese relations," he added.

"We believe it is important to avoid misunderstandings and unforeseen circumstances between us, and have been using diplomatic channels to keep in close contact with China since they made their position on this matter clear."
Outspoken Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara had wanted the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to buy the islands and had been collecting donations from the public. He had talked of developing the islands - a plan that could have further strained ties with China.
At the Apec summit in Russia on Sunday, Chinese President Hu Jintao was quoted by state-run media as telling Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda that buying the islands was "illegal and invalid".
His point was reiterated by a foreign ministry spokesman, Hong Lei, on Monday.
"The unilateral measures that Japan has taken on the Diaoyu islands are illegal and ineffective. China is firmly opposed to it," he said.
The islands, which lie south of Okinawa and north of Taiwan, sit in key shipping lanes and are thought to lie close to gas deposits.

China ships sail in waters near disputed islands

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(BBC)-Six Chinese surveillance ships briefly entered waters around islands claimed by both Japan and China, amid a bitter territorial dispute.

China said the ships were carrying out "law enforcement" to show jurisdiction over the islands, called Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan.
Three vessels left after a short time and the other three have now also left, the Japanese coast guard said.
The move came after Japan sealed a deal to buy three of the islands.
Japan controls the uninhabited but resource-rich East China Sea islands, which are also claimed by Taiwan.
Three were in the hands of a private Japanese owner but the Japanese government bought them earlier this week.
'No force' The Japanese Coast Guard said the first two Chinese boats entered Japan's territorial waters at 06:18 local time (21:18 GMT Thursday), followed by another fleet of four other ships just after 07:00.

Three ships moved away from the islands about 90 minutes later, amid warnings from the Japanese coast guard, followed hours later by the other three, NHK reported.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda established a task force to address the issue, local reports said, and the government also summoned the Chinese ambassador to lodge a protest.
"We understand that the dispatch of six ships is surely an unprecedented case, considering past incidents," Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said.
He added that Japan asked China to "secure the safety" of its nationals after a report from its Shanghai consulate that a Japanese group was "assaulted by Chinese" at a restaurant.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed early on Friday that its ships were there.
"These law enforcement and patrol activities are aimed to demonstrate China's jurisdiction over the Diaoyu Islands and its affiliated islets and ensure the country's maritime interests," a statement said.
Trade fears The US has called for ''cooler heads to prevail'' as tension intensifies between China and Japan over the islands, which lie south of Okinawa and north of Taiwan.
US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is due to visit both Japan and China from this weekend as part of a tour of the region.
The dispute has seriously marred diplomatic relations between China and Japan and threatens to damage the strong trading relationship, says the BBC's John Sudworth in Beijing.
The row has also generated strong nationalist sentiment on both sides that observers say now makes it very difficult to be seen to be backing down, says our correspondent.
The Japanese government says it is buying the islands to promote their stable and peaceful management.
Its move followed a bid by right-wing Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara to buy the islands using public donations - an action that would likely have provoked China even more.
China, on the other hand, says the islands have historically been its territory and fishing grounds.
Meanwhile Japan's newly-appointed ambassador to China, Shinichi Nishimiya, remains in hospital in Tokyo after he was found unconscious near his home in Tokyo on Thursday.
No details have been given on his condition. He was appointed on Tuesday to replace Uichiro Niwa, who has been criticised for his handling of one of the worse diplomatic rows between Japan and China in recent years.

Federal Reserve to buy more debt to boost US economy

(BBC)- The US central bank has moved to kick-start economic recovery by restarting its policy of pumping money into the economy via quantitative easing.

The Federal Reserve said it will buy "additional agency mortgage-backed securities at a pace of $40bn (£25bn) per month".
Stock markets in the US and Asia jumped on the news, with European markets also expected to open higher on Friday.
The US economy is a pivotal issue in this year's US presidential election.
Interest rates in the US have been close to zero for several years now, and the Fed again kept them at below 0.25% on Thursday.
'Matter of time' Fed chairman Ben Bernanke also lowered the Fed's growth forecast for the US economy to 2% this year, down from the 2.4% it predicted in June. But it expects growth to rebound in 2013 to as much as 3%.
"The committee is concerned that, without further policy accommodation, economic growth might not be strong enough to generate sustained improvement in labour market conditions," said the Fed.

The US central bank has tried to support the economy by quantitative easing - buying $2.3tn (£1.4tn) in bonds in two rounds.

For some analysts, the latest measures - dubbed "QE3" - were less than expected. But Q3 is to be an open-ended move, continuing until the employment market improves.
However, Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics, said: "We doubt it will be enough to get the economy on the right track. It's only a matter of time before speculation begins as to when the Fed will raise its purchases from $40bn a month."
The Fed's move sparked a jump on Wall Street markets, with the Dow Jones index closing up 1.55%. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 1.8% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 2.5%.
The central bank calls its QE measures "asset purchases", where the central bank buys bonds to keep the long-term cost of borrowing down. The last round of asset purchases ended last year.
Mortgage-backed securities are debt backed by loans made to homeowners.
The unemployment rate in the US has been above 8% since January 2009, but the current 8.1% is down from the recent high of 10% in October 2009.
"To support continued progress toward maximum employment and price stability, the committee expects that a highly accommodative stance of monetary policy will remain appropriate for a considerable time after the economic recovery strengthens," the Fed said.
The Fed also confirmed that its $267bn (£170bn) programme to reduce long-term borrowing costs for firms and households would continue for the rest of the year.
In a move dubbed "Operation Twist", the central bank buys longer-term bonds from retail lenders and swaps them for shorter-term bonds.