You can, but when the feature was introduced it was enabled by default without asking the user for permission. The Germans think it should have been an opt-in feature, not an opt-out one.

I view my bookshelf and the books in it as an decorative element that also happens to serve a useful function. The room just wouldn't be the same without it. Also, I just like reading books in the paper form. Amazon can't come in and erase them if they find something displeasing.

Just remember HTC is already paying Microsoft a few dollars for every Android device they sell. So sad the market is heading to a direction where you can't buy a smart phone without money going to an company you don't want to support.

As long as you know the pass phrase used for the encryption you can stick a LiveCD in and mount the encrypted partitions. The way it's done depends on what was used for the encryption. Google is your friend for finding a relevant HOWTO ;)

That's quite rich considering your government just shut down 84,000 websites "by mistake": http://torrentfreak.com/u-s-government-shuts-down-84000-websites-by-mistake-110216/

The filter isn't mandatory and as such not all ISPs use it(not that it makes it much better). For example my ISP(Saunalahti) doesn't use it. Though they often operate in Elisas network which does use the list so if your connection makes use of Elisas name servers you'll be on an filtered connection. To the credit of Saunalahti, all it took was one e-mail to them and I had instructions to use their name servers to avoid the filtering.

And other than Symbian (which AFAIK doesn't have a phone with a touchscreen)

There is the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. Not sure if it's available in the US though.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/02/nokia-5800-xpressmusic-hands-on/

The thing with banning people from the internet is it severely affects your ability to function in a modern society. Banking? I can't remember the last time I visited some brick and mortar bank office. Hell, they'd make me pay extra service fees if I went there. Job hunting? Pretty much all is on-line. An increasing amount of government documents and applications are on-line and they're actively pushing people towards using them and discouraging people from visiting any actual office. That trend will only continue and dependence on access to the internet will grow.

Banning someone from the internet for allegedly sharing copyrighted files is an unreasonable punishment, especially if there is no proper investigation, no trial, no judges, no way to defend yourself and no way to appeal for a reversal.