Unfortunately the article reflects the philosophy of a good portion of the FOSS community. Which is that not only the core system be free, but every layer on top of it. Which while nice from a philosophical point of view offers no practical benefit to the FOSS community, commercial software developers and most importantly, the end-user.

After all the IFPI/MPAA/RIAA represent the media companies and not the artists.

It sounds better that they represent the interests of the famous artists everyone (supposedly?) likes rather than the faceless company that leeches of their talent. After all, it's the media companies who create these groups. This is why performing artists form their own unions and trade organisations to represent themselves. The only way this story could've been interesting is if the IFPI did something that was in the interests of actual artists.

Unforunately for this packet switched network there are a lot of dropped packets.

They don't represent artists at all, they represent the movie and music studios. Any claim of artist representation they make is bullshit because by definition they're there to serve the record and movie companies, they cannot by association represent the artists who work for these companies because artists represent very different interests to those of movie and record companies.

If you follow the supply-chain you usually find the distributor or importer that posts the massive markup. Most stores will get their games for about $90 (Before rebates for some of the larger chains) and sell for $99 - $110. I've seen a few places pull the $120 especially in areas that lack many shops.

However knowing a few importers/distributors (Or as I call them, scumbags) they're making a mint from every sale while the developer and the retailer get screwed. I know Woolworths Group started their own import/distribution business but with many companies contracted to the more expensive distributors they're usually locked into sourcing product from south-east Asian distributors that are often destined for those markets.

Are they called Monster Cables by any chance?

That I've only bought a license to the media that I've bought then what is the point in buying it? If they're insisting that all the media I've paid money for I don't really own, that I have to use it on their terms then why the fuck am I spending money on any media at all?

Think about it this way, if you lost the ability to use the internet (Mobile or otherwise), what would you do?
Watch a movie? Well no because Time-Warner have put your movie collection into the cloud.
Listen to some music? No because you've subscribed to an online streaming service, or put all your music into the cloud.

With movies, music and other media. People simply want to own their collection. After all, they paid top dollar for it, some people get pretty boastful about their media library, they like the idea that in their theatre room there are thousands of movies, television shows, documentaries and what-not on tap ready to watch. How far are these media cartel group have their heads jammed up their own arses not to come to this basic realisation? Consumers have been afforded this luxury for almost half a century in one form or another, why would they want to backtrack now?

If you want to make your product economically unviable and restrict the ways in which a paying customer can enjoy their purchase, then piracy will always be the better option and if you want to hang on to these bullshit notions of licensing and rights managements, so be it but I won't afford this cartel and iota of sympathy when profits turn to losses and jobs turn to redundancies.

Does that mean every developer that has inspired Zynga can sue them for copying their games?

Because using sheepskin condoms on sheep is wrong.

The police in this case have stated that the customers of these USB keys (The list being compiled from information collected at the raid) will be persued by police and treated as “receivers of stolen property."

I really want to see how that bullshit plays out in court.

The Mark II version can be called the Big Mountainous Occluded Fortification Ordinance

and the nation of Sealand becomes a reef.

Car companies should limit features in their cars when sold as used. Say GM can disable the GPS or in-dash entertainment when their car is on-sold to someone else and then offers an upgrade to the new owner, all because the new owner isn't rewarding the thousands of engineers and designers who put so much work into that car.

No, bullshit and that reasoning would not be accepted by consumers in any other industry. So why do publishers constantly treat their customers like a piece of shit and why does the average consumer accept it?

Replace oil with natural gas and you'd be a little closer to the truth.

Who says I am?