this issue, then it is your DUTY to educate people as aggressively as possible. I know most of you already do, or think you do but I can't help but read the comments already made here today as being "the situation sucks, nobody understands, we are effed." Call me an optimist but I don't think the fight is over yet. Personally I am going to increasingly tailor my anti-IP-insanity rant to be along these lines:

The end-result of the current IP-law culture is a stifling of not only information flow and freedom of speech but to everyone's bottom line. Everything from stupid software patents to DMCA to the Mafiaa is stifling innovation and thus our economy. This reduces jobs, incomes and international competitiveness. The Baby Boomer generation in the U.S. made a conscious choice at some point to allow all manufacturing to die off and to replace this with the bastardized IP law business models. They did not understand the Internet, let alone the machines behind it, and so not only did they fail at the Dot Bomb point but long before that and continue to do so today. From the Democrats protecting "Hollywood" to the Republicans protecting "service providers" everyone knows the politicians are in the pockets.

So if you are talking to a Republican you explain that they should be for more information and copying freedom as it will take money out of their opponents pockets. If you are talking to a Democrat you explain that they should be for Net Neutrality because it takes money out of their opponents pocket. And if you are talking to a "regular joe" you explain that they should be for ALL of this because to do otherwise TAKES MONEY OUT OF THEIR POCKET. If we want an economy that can grow jobs and not just be a "new normal" then we must explain in DIRE & CERTAIN terms to Baby Boomers and the younger generation alike that innovation flees from IP law cultures like we have in place today. You can skip the lines about "making bits harder to copy is like making water less wet" because they don't understand or care about the impossibility of it if they can just ignore it. Instead, make sure you tie everything you say about stupid IP laws to their bottom line. Maybe a bit U.S. centric, but that is my perspective so it is all I've got.

Unfortunately I believe this is all Internet karma for Mike Mann being a douche himself. Someone seriously needs to teach him the meaning of the Streisand Effect. He sent a C&D take down notice to a website who had made a satirical video about him. Now, no matter what your beliefs are about this issue one must agree that threatening legal action against fairly fringe websites and their lil youtube videos is dumb.

The article from the site in question.

Now the video has gone viral, been featured on Breitbart and Fox... so guess how guys like this Virgina AG even KNEW to go after Mann?
Sadly, scientists might be real good at their day jobs but apparently suck at handling PR etc. as now there is some Canuck who is doing the same thing.

If scientists are going to remain convincing they are going to have to resist the desire to get lititgous and instead fight back with smart and appealing campaigns of their own. Sorry but we all know better than most that this is how the Net works.

Not only is there lots of research being done about copper replacing aluminum, but this particular scientist has done some himself.

His faculty page
Stuff his group has done regarding copper

Although it looks like he has done stuff to do with corrosion, most of this is over my head... go go Physics Nerds!

Ok, so they were INCREDIBLY stupid in how they went about their astro-turfing. They literally had tons and tons of people review ONLY their apps and always give them 5 stars, it was only a matter of time till it was detected. So, if you are wondering how to do this better, just RTFA. The BIG kicker = Apple isn't going to refund any money, and the app dev isn't either.

Disclaimer:IANAL

I think I have to side with eBay on this one... as they bought a 25% stake in Craigslist for $25 million, how that doesn't mean they should get a say in how the company is run I couldn't fathom.

Don't forget the Garlic Bubble!

Yeah, I think this treaty (and the secrecy bs) is a danger to free people everywhere, but if you think ANYONE but those on sites like /. care... you are dreaming. I wrote an email to my Senator Al Franken (heh hollywood) and here was my reply:

Thank you for your recent message to my U.S. Senate office. Each week, several thousand Minnesotans send me their thoughts and suggestions on legislation and important issues facing our nation. This impressive volume is a testament to the Minnesotan traditions of grassroots activism and civic participation that distinguish our state.
In recent months Minnesotans have contacted my office to share their views on the economic recovery bill, health care, education, and numerous other policy issues. I appreciate hearing from each one of you because understanding your views helps me better represent all of my constituents. I closely track the concerns that are expressed in your letters and emails, and will answer them as soon as possible.

Soooooooooooo yeah, if you think a concern that is primarily held by Gen Xers in this country is going to even get AIRTIME against the concerns of "economic recovery, health care and education" you are drunk, high or ignorant. So yeah, no offense but I preach constantly about the copy fight to anyone and everyone who will listen but if you haven't yet realized that audience is very very small you haven't practiced what you just preached.

devilsadvocate> Just because GWB didn't express his intelligence in ways that we would normally associate within our social norms with "intelligent" doesn't necessarily overcome the fact that he was very successful at carrying out plans that he wanted to. He was a two term president of the most powerful nation in the history of the planet, continued policies that were VERY unpopular literally up till the day he left office. Just throwing this out there because "pissing lots of people off" does not equal "unintelligent" necessarily... it could, but its not like anyone is threatening his continued existence, except one guy with a shoe (which apparently he was intelligent enough to dodge). /devilsadvocate

Normally I let this kind of misquoting go, but since it is directly relevant here, it was actually Eleanor Roosevelt a woman who was arguably as influential in here feminine ways as her husband was in his masculine ways. Equality =/= sameness.

Indeed. Stealthy it is not, nor new: http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/messagepad/stats/newton_mp_100.html