MS is lobying against software patent law? Did I wake up in bizzarro world this morning?

Perhaps this school should be referred to as copyright re-education. We could even have a special program for the worst offenders where they get to go to some type of low-tech retreat where they learn how infringing copyright is detrimental to society. They could then complete their "re-education" at one of these "camps" and become a productive consumer generating add revenue again. This is a GREAT idae!!

I like to think of the 2nd amendment as backup for the first.

Sarcasm is sometimes difficult to detect over the internet apparently...

I hope to all that is holy and right that you're being sarcastic with this....

And if Marie steals my bank account info, she should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Same with Bob. That doesn't mean I should be required to go register my stereo and tag it with a lojack style system, that incidentally reports on what my stereo happens to be playing, just so it makes the job of the police easier.

Unless the target is white males, or muslims. You're allowed to hate them.

I'd rather nip this kind of thing in the bud at the legislative level than let it go into law and hope that a panel of 9 people shoots it down. Open debate is a cornerstone of a free society. I'm simply speaking up and voicing my opinion in hopes that this bad idea doesn't get implemented.

This is what happens when we let governments start protecting us from ourselves. The point of the government is to keep me safe from the barbarians kicking in the castle walls, or from Bob down the street who wants my stereo system. As long as another person's rights aren't being violated, the government should stay out of my business.

You're right, individual sites have every right to enforce TOS on their individual site. If I don't like it, I can go make my own blog somewhere and say whatever the hell I want. Imagine for a moment if a browser's license was required.

"Hello, this is the Internet Police, you have gotten too many anti-social points on your internet license. It is hereby suspended for the next 6 months."

Yeah, right. According to Uncle Sam, SSNs are also voluntary. And while it may be voluntary according to the government, what's to prevent ISPs from requiring it for internet access?

And how is this private? Sure, it might just share enough info to complete a transaction on any specific site, but what's to prevent the administrator of the program (in this case the highly trustworthy US government) from using it to track citizens who happen to be doing things they don't approve of? For example, making a donation to a group that has contrary views to said government (for example, if I decided to donate to the American Communist Party.)

Screw this, I'm moving to Canada.

A large portion of politicians have legal backgrounds. Coincidence?

I am honestly afraid that this is basically going to turn into an internet driver's license. Imagine if you were required to get government approval in order to read a book? This violates all kinds of freedom of speech provisions. I'll wait to see the details before I make a final judgement, but I much prefer being able to remain effectively anonymous online.

I still don't understand why religion and science are always at each other's throats. Personally I see it as 2 halves of the same coin. If you actually read genesis with an objective mind it actually supports the theory of macro-evolution. God created man "from the dust of the earth," and the order of creation follows the believed evolutionary order. Also, everyone assumes a 100% accurate translation from the original old Hebrew. Language doesn't work that way. "Day" in the original language of genesis is actually a much more loose term and the actual translation depends heavily on context. It could very well mean just a period of time. A more accurate translation would be age or era. Zealots on both sides tend to discount all evidence that contradicts their personal belief system. This goes against all scientific principles along with the biblical admonition to "be humble." The conflicts between religion and science are imagined and played up by the radicals on both sides, and do more to harm humanity's search for our origins than help it.