I don't know about the US, but here having a minimum wage job (well below poverty line) usually means you don't qualify for any kind of welfare. On the other hand, welfare does not guarantee survival either (won't even cover cost of food). Of course there are some who still claim that the minimum wage is way too high but given that unemployment among people 18-24 yo is ca. 40% and most people will take ANY job at the moment, and the fact that I see more and more Porsches, Ferraris et al. in the streets I don't think the minimum wage is the problem we have here.

Or higher wages for government employees, more tax cuts for corporations and the rich, another war or two. It's not only how high the taxes are, it's about how well you spend the money.

Why not a BMW M3? It's got better mileage than a Prius and it's more environmentally friendly in the long run ;)

This. According to some definitions, in capitalism the "capitalists" use all available means to maximize the profit, including, for example, lobbying for favourable legislation (see: patents, copyright, monopolies etc.) to limit and ultimately eliminate competition. Whether we agree with this definition or not, I think this is current state of affairs. I believe that while capitalism might, a long time ago, be synonymous with free market, it is no longer the case.

They say "Once a Marine, always a Marine". I guess it also applies to SEALs. That's why I'd never use such a service as long as former US (or any other country's, for that matter) military/government employees are involved. I just t believe they be too easily convinced that "the greater good" or "national security" demand that they give the government free access to the system.

A Soviet prosecutor, Andrey Vyshinsky once said "Give me a man and I'll find an article." I think this is a clear example of this principle being used against a political enemy. It was a standard practice of totalitarian regime to charge someone with some relatively minor crime and then sentence them to death or life in prison. In this case Assange could just be sent to Guantanamo and "await further decision" till hell freezes over.

In EU market share is not the only factor determining dominant position. However, 60% market share is usually the level when a company has to start watching its every step.

Nope, I was travelling to the UK. No one bothered to check my passport when I was leaving to see if I didn't stay longer than I was allowed to at that time. Now I there are no limits on how long I can stay in the UK, but I last used the tunnel in summer 2001... ;)

Last time I took the train they checked the passports in Folkstone, UK. It was quite a few years ago thoush so things might have changed...

I don't think they don't have the right to choose a wrong model and go broke. I think that piracy and how ubiquitous it has become proves that they've chosen a wrong model. However, instead of changing the way they operate they just buy laws to ensure that it's "their way or the highway". And we're paying them whether we go to their movies, buy their CDs or books or not. There's a fee for "potential copyright infringement" on every blank CD and every blank sheet of printer/photocopier paper you buy because it's assumed we're all thieves and use them to copy copyrighted music/video or books. So every time someone copies a flyer saying their dog is missing "the entertainment industry" gets paid, every time someone backs up the pictures of their granny on a CD - they get paid. With such ridiculous laws they won't go bankrupt even if they price Justin Bieber CDs at $100 a pop or just stop producing "content" at all.

True, but now their "autocorrect" function is more of a problem than a solution. I use several languages and changing language in google before every search would take too much time. Worse yet, google used to search for what you typed and politely suggest "did you mean..." now it shows the results for what it thinks you wanted to type and it's almost always wrong and just shows what you typed in small print below the search box. While I still prefer it to other search engines in my opinion is started turning into bloatware...

I like the ideas (especially the latter one) but how much time would pass before taxes similar to the "potential piracy tax" we pay on blank CDs would be charged even on printer paper? I'm afraid we would only make them push for legislation which would guarantee them a nice and steady stream of revenue regardless of whether they actually release any movies or music

Free corporations of any government oversight and you have Cyberpunk 2020 - corporations become independent states with their own military and law enforcement agencies. Unlikely? Well, the SFPD has already been used as a private police force but that was at least questionable and a few people had some explaining to do. If corporations are accountable to no one you can be sure that they are going to take full advantage of that. Yes, the current system is broken and governments sit in deep pockets of their corporate sponsors but they have to do something from time to time to please the masses if they want to keep up the appearances of a democratic election process.

You don't seem to understand that companies don make decisions by themselves. There are people running them, they call the shots and they should be held responsible for results of their own actions. The entire "corporate personhood" idea is just a way for them to wriggle out of that responsibility.

While I agree with most of your views I think the margins are not the only motivation. Some people are attention who... errr... hungry and will gladly accept lower margins in return for exposure in media and "respect" the studio execs show them.