The US has more guinea pigs.

I agree it's an unfair act to strangle customers with new provisions to older purchases. I don't believe I have a working system that could log onto PSN currently to accept those provisions but I'm considering sending an opt-out to Sony's legal department just in case because I have a lot of older digital purchases from the Playstation Network dating from 2006-2009. If a lawsuit does happen over the EULA and it works in the favor of people that are entitled to class action ability (or even the ability to launch a lawsuit on my own), I want to be a part of it.

You can't get a refund for anything on the Playstation Network. Trust me, I tried. After SCEA turned the keys over to SNEA (or whatever abbreviation Sony's using for their digital networking division) and the hacking that bought PSN down for a month, I wrote a letter to Sony explaining that I've lost faith in their digital service and their ability to secure vital financial and personal information and could no longer A) Be their customer B) Agree to their new terms because it's not the service I signed up for in November of 2006 (and it might have never been with the way EULAs are crafted). I can either have to forfeit your ability to log in or accept the new terms.

EULAs have become this living contract that only favors the company and totally, unconditionally screws the customer. Period. Sony is a case example of excessive abuse of EULAs because of their management and business shortcomings and have a total disconnect with their customers.

It's a problem because as we've already seen, if AT&T or Verizon makes a business move, the other "reacts" to it and the reaction is usually it's beneficial to both parties and not to the customer.

The basic principle of regulation is missing from the US regulatory puzzle. You have a market where the telecommunications companies function as their own regulators. They set their own prices, place their towers where they can make the most money (particularly AT&T here)/screw expansive infrastructure and actual mobility, stipulate the kinds of phones that are on their network, and create a barrier of entry revolving around contracts/subsidies and credit checks. Spectrum allotment is an obvious technicality so everything works but in this case, it's a fancy way to pad and line a few wallets.

It's super cozy if you can set all the conditions and variables in your market and be the one or two companies in it. FCC and FTC basically function as agencies willing to do anything for the highest bidder and the companies only care about themselves. The problem is obvious; the customer is completely left out of the equation. It's not a free market and if it was, it's been perverted out of one.

Somewhere, somehow, it hasn't been made an issue, yet. I wonder if and how AT&T will work up the muster to get rid of it's unionized workforce with this acquisition/merger, if it does happen.

http://blog.instapaper.com/post/6830514157

Marco Arment explains his version of the situation in his blog. Basically, the FBI has this "drug bust" proximity to the evidence must also be evidence mentality to executing a search warrant. Anything unrelated to the crime could have been loaded on adjacent servers. Did they only need one search warrant for DigitalOne?

and why is this a Slashdot story?

SNES9x is a non-commercial license. Even if he released the source, he can't sell it for money, like he's been doing.

Is it so hard to put the hippie's entire name in the title of the article instead of abbreviating it?

Skype is working just fine. I just call tested in on my iPhone 4 moments ago and the polite British test call lady sounded as clear as ever. I think she's British. Never really stopped to play her accent. This is another Orson Welles caliber example of Internet reporting. Bravo.

So that one episode in Voyager where Seven of Nine makes a "Fourier Analysis" wasn't total bullshit?

I received this information from an alien. It was in the Paramus Holiday Inn, I was having a drink at the bar, alone, and this alien approached me. He started talking to me. He bought me a drink, and then I think he must have used some kind of a ray or a mind control device because he forced me to follow him to his room and that's where he told me about the end of the world.

Where's the option for Cowboy Neal's ZPM?

The PSN+ month free offer is worst than a them offering customers a gift card. It comes as absolutely no loss to Sony offering this because it's just a way to ensure and wrap more people into their revenue stream. I liken the move to something more of a casino comp in that they'll lure you in with a shitty buffet so you can piss away more of your money on some false hope.
I'll pass on their token gesture, scripted apology, and boneheaded-ness of connecting with the customer.

Telecommunications in the United States is flawed to the point where we are at an impasse where AT&T is getting back to where it was 30 years ago.

They've tied up GSM to suit their own needs by locking down their phones to prevent customer retention to a competing network and signing two year contracts to further prevent the retention and legitimize it by selling atrociously overpriced phones for something that should be manageable without the contract (or bribe).

Carriers pick the phones they want on their network and dictate to hardware manufacturers the what features they want.
In general, carriers have been this middle man that dictates EVERYTHING... and I think that it really can't sustain itself on an ethical or economic level. It's been ignored for way too long. Their customer service is lousy and their corporate stores run like a used car lot.

FCC and FTC needs to put their foot down and counter-bullshit them with an opportunity to rewrite or enforce the books a bit more. Contracts and SIM locks need to go away at the very minimum if the deal goes through. What in the flying fuck do these government bodies even represent if they don't kick AT&T's ass to the floor?

I'm kind of leaning on the idea that the "anonymous reader" that submitted the article might be the author of the software.

The software barely works. You need to lock yourself in a pitch black room for the thing to even remotely register the geometry correctly. Anywhere with any hint of light other than from your iOS device screen totally throws it off. Put your money into a more worthwhile 99 cent investment/scientific achievement... Fat Booth.

by clicking the "like" button under "CODE RED: TERRORISTS STRIKE".