Damn straight - we need these bio-engineered life forms to protect us from the robots when they finally make their move...

That's what you meant by risk vs. return right?

I clicked on your Strike 1 link, read that article then clicked on the link that showed the Google Image search results to see the actual image.

The doctored image of Michelle Obama rightfully generated a lot of negative reaction; however about 8 pictures in to the search results was one showing the similarities between George Bush and a monkey. There seems to be no outrage to this one...

Maybe the difference is an attack specific to an individual vs. an attack that is seen to be against a group of people?

Agree completely. The only example I can think of where someone used patents as a learning tool is the TRIZ method of innovation, where a Russian scientist in prison combed through thousands of patents to develop an algorithm for problem solving. Since then I haven't heard of anyone proactively searching patents for design.

I think we are on the same side here, indeed that is what they SHOULD have done. What I was saying was that I think their MBA promotion department did something like this:
Shiny Suit #1: "Whoa, we seriously don't own that copyright and are being sued? What the eff is that going to cost us?"
Shiny Suit #2: "864 sales times $10K damages each, that's like a freakin' billion dollars! Can't we just zap those copies?"
SS #1: "Good idea, and if anyone complains we'll just send em a gift certificate or something to keep em happy."
SS #2: "Solid work here bud, it's 2pm, you know what that means?"
SS #1: "Hooker time! God I love the 'client entertainment' expense category!"
...chest bump...

I get the feeling that this was a decision by Amazon based on what would cost them less. Either delete these and face user wrath, or let users who have the books keep them and settle monetarily with the copyright holder. I think they may have underestimated the true cost of losing reputation with their user base, lawsuit cost aside.

When I am screening broads I am really hoping to avoid false positives where she is really a dude...

Hey, anyone else see that final episode of Murder She Wrote where Jessica Fletcher got into a situation she couldn't explain, broke down, and confessed that she actually committed all the crimes she solved??? Wait... uh me neither... damn NyQuil and your purple fever dreams...

Well, I hope these guys working in a similar area are invited to be part of the panel: http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/new_video_game_technology

Ex-CoWorker: All your face are belong to us. Ex-CoWorker: You are on the way to destruction. Employee: What you say!!