To answer your question: Chechnyans don't really have any reason to export terrorism -- but they DO have reason to sell munitions to those wanting to use them to overthrow western powers. And if Russia collapsed, you'd have a LOT of equipment looking for a new home. This is already a bit of an issue in Ukraine.

Iraq was already in collapse prior to the US military pulling out. ISIS was not the juggernaut it is today, but they were already strategically attacking installations and gaining members. Pulling out proved to have negative consequences, but staying there likely would have had other consequences just as bad. That's what happens when you install someone like Hussein in the first place and expect him to be an acquiescent puppet. The fact that the US had to invade the country and have him deposed when the US was responsible for him being in power in the first place seems to fly over many people's heads.

If sanctions causing collapse of an allied country don't work, what hope is there for having them with a country that nobody but you considers to be an enemy?

There is one other group that can call it a success... ISIS. They wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the US meddling in Iraq and creating a power vacuum. There's a reason Hussein was kept busy between the Kurds, Sunnis and Shias. He wasn't just sitting on his hands letting his country fall apart around him, despite all the horrible methods he used to try and prevent collapse.

We know from hard-learned experience that it is better to encourage and support reform [so that we can make a state fail by importing our "goods" while we make a profit] than to impose policies that will render a country a failed state [while we get nothing out of the deal.]

So yeah, what you said.

Information wants to be free. Sony demands. Anthropomorphism requires.

Q: If entropy is increasing, where is it coming from?

TOM!

"Uh, Tom... Tom... Actually, from now on, we're the comedy team of Ahjnudpippibod and Davis."

They've outgrown the confines of Guantanamo Bay.

There's a difference; in those cases, the sites were routed to an alternate IP via a court order. What the MPAA is talking about is just dropping the domain altogether based solely on a takedown notice.

Because whoever has the most nickels and dimes at the end "wins". That's objectively stupid, of course, but that's the core of corporate, MPAA, RIAA, and Wall Street thinking.

The Maryland State Police arrested the Army for filming them - no film at 11.

(I'd list some reference articles (including ones on /.) about how Maryland Police keeps arresting people for filming them, even though it's not unlawful, but, you know - Google)

Debit cards are basically "checks" that clear immediately, (with some, supposed, safeguards), and so are good for people who have trouble managing their money and/or living within their means as the funds are withdrawn directly from their bank account. The downside is that the funds are withdrawn immediately directly from your bank account. If the funds are spent fraudulently, then you have to ask (beg) the bank for your money back and deal with any hassles about short funds, should your account be that close to the edge.

All these problems can be avoided by using a no-fee credit card and paying it off in full each month. (a) you get a one-month float on your funds, (b) your bank account is not directly attached to the card, (c) fraudulent purchases cab be disputed w/o have to first pay for them (assuming you don't use auto-pay) and (d) it helps your credit rating.

In short, if you have a no-fee CC and are responsible, there's no rational reason to ever have/use a Debit card. Especially as CC / Debit cards are both accepted in all the same places - CC might actually be accepted in more places.

It's simpler than that: if they break DNS, what will happen is that Joe Average will a) blame their ISP, b) blame the MPAA when the news comes out about what happened, c) search for "piratebay" or similar and find a link to TorBrowser. TorBrowser will then get a whole bunch of downloads, and people will carry on as normal.

After all... remember the days of eDonkey2k? The only people I ever knew who installed that were Joe Average kinds of people. But enough of them installed it that files were being shared left right and center. And anyone who couldn't figure out how to install it either knew someone who did, or knew someone who could just copy the files they wanted onto a removable drive and give them to them.

So there's really no winning situation for the MPAA members in following this strategy, unless nobody knows they're doing it.

Let's just say: good luck breaking DNS for the .onion TLD.

IPv6.

AlterNIC doesn't even have to return... OpenDNS will already route around this unless OpenDNS is specifically served with a court order that is valid in their countries of operation. Not to mention, the first time this is used, Google can show harm caused, as people will pretty much abandon 8.8.8.8 if it stops resolving domains.

Oh, and I've already got a list of domains in my hosts file that I'm sure some enterprising soul will file a takedown notice for. If it's honored, that would knock the MPAA off the internet as if they had never existed. Surely they have considered that outcome?