...unless you also count the time required to set it up...

I'm sorry if I appear dumb, though I suspect I might in the following, but I guess it would be due to the difference of cultures...

Here goes, however: True, some people might not be in need of this protection, but that, however, does not invalidate it's existence (at least to my mind), as long as "some people" aren't a full 100% of the work force...

Secondly, under employment regulations here in Denmark, and unstable job simply isn't "the only way around", since it's illegal in the first place. How is a bad job situation better than the same job, but with better protection, from the POV of the employee?

Finally, we also have an unemployment system, so it seems to me that you are promoting a system of a lesser degree of respect for the employee over one that matches every opportunity for said employee and adds job security, barring direct violation of the job contract (the content of which is subject to regulation limiting the employer's power), and thus, I fail to grasp your point...

Interesting point, but why would an employee willfully subject herself to the possibility of being laid off because the boss has a bad day?

Actually, I stole it from a (non-attributed) signature here on /. but I'm glad to hear where it is from. How do you suggest I attribute it? Just a "- MIT Dormline telephone system" below it?

Agreed! I was mainly replying to his suggestion that people who use what they pay for should pay extra for that :-)

Fortunately, there *are* countries where an employer doesn't have such power :-)

Yes, and it didn't really make sense...

How have I been trolled? If you are suggesting that he was joking, I honestly can't see the point...

My point exactly :-)

I am aware that the distance to the nearest central might affect the speed that the ADSL modem gets to connect at, and that is fair, I guess. Throttling my connection willfully, though, is a poor excuse for not having an infrastructure to match what they claim to offer.

And no, I have actually never been to the US at all, but what are you trying to tell me?

Isn't that extra payment what is done through paying extra for faster connections? If I pay, as I do, for a 20/2 connection, shouldn't I be able to get exactly 20/2 traffic, provided that the other end is up to the task?

And of course, that's why "Computer Science" != "Software Engineering". What was your benchmark again?

And just because the word "engineer" is the key term to you, how would you happen to argue for extrapolating that to us "folks"?

Granted, if there is genetic predisposition for violence, then rehabilitation will be harder, but since you just up and call it impossible without citation, I'm just going to call it possible without citations too. There is, after all, something called the evolving mind...

If it's a matter of pathological psychology, however, an open-ended sentence to a psychiatric ward is in order instead, but definitely not run-off-the-mill prison!

Wow, I sure hope you lose your temper and punch someone in the face someday :-S

Not going to say much more, since people below seem to have pointed out a lot of good sentiments...

Because long prison terms create nicely-behaved perfect citizens after time served? Got any research material to that effect lying around?