No, it's a matter of being a decent business partner, regardless of the country you do business in, as a company with moral standing you give the options of opt-in and opt-out.

In the EU it's been that way for several years and it caused no grief to any company that does value it's customers.

So why didn't MS take the same decision when the EU countries installed these rules? MS just followed them and added a working opt out.

Like during the first quarter the Dutch economy that last year seemed out of recension suddenly shrunk, purely because there was so much less gas export, the rest was doing OK.

One is the playing field where the elected representative is being influenced by lobbyists with deep pockets, the other is where voters are being influenced by the press, including bloggers.

The first one is reprehensible, the representative has to work for his constituents, not the guy with most money.

The second is exactly what democracy is about, the constituents are influenced by whatever rocks their boat and then they vote.

The USofA ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and it demands the freedom of association: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F...

Hey, this is about the USofA, not some commie fiefdom.

I mean, the US has ratified the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights that makes a clear statement about the freedom of association...

Anyway, the rich guy would have a great advantage over a poor guy and that's quite contrary to the one man, one vote principle of democracy.

You, as an individual, are not statistically relevant, even if what you describe is the actual truth. I say that last bit because infants, as soon as they are born, start sucking up language from their parents / caretakers, and I cannot really imagine you growing up in a total vacuum.

I do tend to agree most people learn best from people, because of the simple reason that there is so much evidence all around us that supports that claim. It is wired into us to mimic and learn from the people in our environment.

My opinion is for example that a steering lock (bolt) operated by an electromagnet can be build smaller and simpler than one operated by hand as the open and close forces are more predictable. An added benefit is you no longer need to install it at the top of the steering column.
Mechanical and electrical problems on a conventional ignition lock are not unheard of and not cheap to fix while another piece of logic in the firmware is first of near free to build and second does typically not require maintenance.

Additionally car manufacturers are in a fight to lower the weight and thus fuel consumption so every gram counts, electro magnetic systems are lighter than mechanical ones operated by hand.

The first remotes were to avoid getting up to change channels and they were expensive.

But as soon as IR became a single chip option the TV manufacturers jumped on the remotes to save cost on the much more expensive mechanical switches.

Why would it need to be different for cars, these electronic switches are simply cheaper to manufacture.

My 2011 Nissan is also 'missing' an ignition key, it has a proximity sensor for the fob and a push button to start and stop.
The brand new Renault hire car I have has a push button on the dash plus a keycard that has to slide in the centre console, exactly like the company Renault I had in 2004.

Over the past 60 years I don't see much advancement, maybe except for the proximity sensor.