[i]Think about it: who regulates the Internet right now? The ISPs. You may have your complaints about the ISPs, but you can switch to another one if you don't like the one you're on.[/i]

I was with you until here. I have almost no choices on ISP and I suspect most people are the same. I can either choose comcast, at&t and perhaps one small time DSL company in the area. It wouldn't be hard for Comcast and AT&T to form a conglomerate and nip out the little ISPs if they perceive them as a threat. ISPs have effectively created localized monopolies already.

LOL. Will she display signs at the picket with her iPad?

I don't know how else to take it, but literal when Li claims you can have super powers. What else does, you can become immortal, fly through walls and read other peoples minds mean? Maybe it's, because I'm not prepared to realize that I can have super powers, but just because other fanatics in the world make the same outlandish claims, does not legitimize it. There might be a grain of truth in some of these exercises IE Meditation helps reduce stress, but compared to the realization of immortality, that is one grain in a wheat field.

Fine, call it a legit religion. In the same nature, you have to call Scientology a legit religion as well.

I don't believe this claim about it being free. How do you get the books, the classes and the instructions. I'm sure youtube videos only take you so far. I know when Li started, he had a club, not a church in which you pay to practice his "religion".

I aware that all religions dwell a bit into the supernatural, but Falun Gong dwells so far into the supernatural it's not even a comparison. Claiming to offer immortality, invisibility, super strength and everything associated with a marvel comic makes it far more susceptible than being a creationist.

Do your own research. The truth is really in between. Falun Gong is not a satanic cult, but they are also not a "legit" religion either. The best comparison is with the Church of Scientology. On the surface, it appears innocent, but as you dwell deeper into their teachings, you'll see several flags pop up such as super natural powers and immortality. Much like the "E-level" of Scientology, you have to devote time and money to achieve this level of super naturalness. The society even created a "Science Institute" who's sole purpose is to use conventional science to prove the legitimacy of the exercises and how it could give you powers.

The Chinese government does not tolerate religions with a central authoritative figure, so when Mr. Li pretty much claimed himself as "God", well you know how the rest went.

I'm not amazed that this would come out of the dailymail, but I am amazed so many slashdotters are falling for it.
I see the term slavery being thrown out there like Foxconn is raiding villages and making chain gangs.

The people who work in these factories are often young migrants, leaving their homes to find better wages. They would seek out overtime hours so they can earn more money to send home or for their dream savings. They know it's tough work, but it's a much better wage than what they would otherwise get. Some people can't handle the stress from being away from home and working a tough factory shift.

China is in that era of an industrial revolution. Family farms are becoming non-sustainable and the next generation is moving into the city to find work. Unskilled labor tend to end up in factories and the rapid life style change along with the isolation puts a lot of stress on these kids. I'm not saying Foxconn shouldn't relax their work policies, but the we're avoiding the true problem here.

I don't know where you got the idea pandas lived in an isolated habitat. The historical range of giant pandas covers more than half of China. They only exist in isolated mountain valleys today, because it is difficult for people to develop in those areas. Despite their evolutionary short comings, they survived quite well before human interference.

Pandas are the perfect example of something we should save. The low breeding ratio for pandas is an evolutionary trait that's beneficial in its natural environment. A panda is a giant cow with teeth and claws. It has no natural predators once it reaches adult size. If pandas were to breed on the level of rabbits it would destroy the plant ecosystem in Asia. The truth is if it were not for deforestation by humans, the pandas would be prolific. We need to balance our effect on the environment.

Examples of animals not worth saving would be the endangered freshwater mollusk colony in north Florida that was at risk due to low water levels caused by prolonged drought.

People who think this is stupid need to get real. This guy won't get caught. The cops aren't out on main street screening for his face. Unless he leaves his full name, birthday and SSN, the police aren't going to act on anything else. Burglary is just so low on the pecking order that they're basically ignored. Even the detectives "assigned" to this case probably have 5-6 other cases to work on.

Only geeks support this, because we've been playing with a computer since birth so it wouldn't be a hassle to keep a computer clean. The rest of the world won't be receptive of a blacklist law.

Punishing the victim has never been popular. See how popular TSA is? Whatever the problem is, you start with the criminal. We are far from exhausting all options against spammers. This is purely a zero-cost (to the law makers) law made to fill a resume for re-election. Off the top of my head I can think of all sorts of punishments more effective at stopping spammers and botters.

Let's start lightly.

1) Removal of constitutional rights.
2) Banned use of government facilities. (roads, post office)
3) RIAA style fines automatically garnished from their bank accounts. (Want to access a computer or get food?)
4) Public Beating
5) Private Beating
6) Private Execution
7) Public Execution
8) Predator strikes on their house

The system is flawed. Your jury of peers are full of the most easily manipulated people. People who are malleable and submissive, often the un-educated. This is how wrongful convictions occur, by an imbalance in skill level of the opposing attorneys.

The ideal jury would be those with good reasoning ability and highly educated. Those who can see past the bias of the presentation of evidence and testimony to form their own opinions of the case. These are the people who can form a neutral opinion. Therefore, I believe it a duty for those who are in the latter category to TRY to get on the jury, because someones livelihood is at stake.

If you're any good with reasoning and logic. Try to serve on a jury. TRY! Give them the answers they want. I've been through the jury selection process and see who they pick as your "peers". God forbid if you ever have to be trialed and all the reasonable jurors made up excuses to get out of jury duty.

I would like to make the request that we stop with the Harry Potter references. Can we not go through one legitimate discussion of this topic without mentioning that buffoon?

I don't insert "Hackers" movie quotes into articles about network security. You shouldn't trivialize actual science with little boys playing fairies. (Yes, it really is that annoying.)

Just a bunch of windows network protocol questions. Apparently us hardware engineers are equivalent to pom pom wielding cheerleaders.