That could result in a Jack Daniels slashdotting of the local whiskey store.
And a very slow day tomorrow....

contraception != abortion.
I know, it's very difficult to understand the difference, but trust me, there is one...

I see no shortage of excellent candidates when I look out (of my basement window). But really, the idea could lead to the renaissance of an excellent tradition from the founders of democracy: Ostracism!

while in reality, they go "FOO FOO FOO" and the people they hit go "BAR BAR BAR".

Of course they can. They can charge you whatever they want without giving any reason whatsoever. And you can take your shopping somewhere else. In the end, it probably won't be done on a large scale because people can compare prices on the internet rather easily.
I agree with you on your main point however: Philosophically, this sucks.

In the EU (not only in France), warranty is two years, AFAIK. That's what's bitten Apple. I'm not sure, however, that the warranty would cover this. The devices are still working, only 'a little bit too well'.
You'd probably say, and I would agree, that such a blatant security flatulence should cause the producer to take back and repair his device. The producer will probably disagree and then? A court of law... because of a WiFi router? Probably not going to happen, if not done by some consumer advocacy group.

Those Burston-Marsteller guys have a great list of clients though. Maybe Foxconn just wanted their name on that illustrious list of people/achievements/events. It's not like that weren't an accomplishment. Certainly, they've managed to escape mediocrity.

Well, that demand doesn't need to be answered.

So that'll be Joe_NoFacebooknoPlus Smith? No Facebook, No Plus? Nice title for Bob 'in Moms basement' Marley.

If it's the MAC address of my smartphone, which I'm likely to carry around with me more or less all the time, I care a lot about who knows where that MAC address has been. While Googles rather idiotic behaviour just (may have) recorded, where said MAC address was at one point in time, the statement above is, in its broadness, quite a bit more than I would like to have to stomach.

yet. It's not like nobody could ever come up with that smart idea.

Opensource the Space Shuttle :)

What's more interesting: The count of crashes or the count of "stuff working as expected"?
With 5/11 crashes, the glass is not only "half empty", the other half is red wine spilled all over the tablecloth. And that's a bitch to get rid of.

Dear US military!
Please be so kind as to include german speaking countries, especially Austria, in your oh so earnest puppet shows. I hope your sock puppets operate during normal US business hours which would mean I'll get a couple of great laughs with breakfast.
Thank you.
BTW: Why bother, just use Fox news and Google translate.

prove it in court.