Ernst Strasser, Austrian (former) MEP is just on trial for offering to sell his influence for EUR 100.000,-
Problem is, the so-called lobbyists where british journalists.
There are fine videos on youtube (he actually speaks english, ahem, sort of) as well, try to spill not your coffee though.

Maybe, but the remaining 1% would at least have the option.

of your phone, you just dump it into the shredder?
Will the phones then end up as confetti?

the mice are blocking teh tubes!
on a more serious note, this sounds like a cartload of crap.

No, I think it would rather lead to an increase of products 'made anywhere' but 'sold in the USA' by a company the copyright holder approves of, thereby leading to neither lower prices nor better availability.

While I think this action is quite cool, I would argue that not even coffee shops and businesses like that need open wireless connections.
They could just as well make the WPA2 key easy to remember and put it in some obvious place, enabling their clients to use encrypted connections and avoid all that Firesheep stuff as well.

'Potential Indicators of Terrorist Activities' guidelines? PITA guidelines? Well done!

I fear you'll find many people who ardently believe one thing or another without having any clue whatsoever.

That could result in a Jack Daniels slashdotting of the local whiskey store.
And a very slow day tomorrow....

contraception != abortion.
I know, it's very difficult to understand the difference, but trust me, there is one...

I see no shortage of excellent candidates when I look out (of my basement window). But really, the idea could lead to the renaissance of an excellent tradition from the founders of democracy: Ostracism!

while in reality, they go "FOO FOO FOO" and the people they hit go "BAR BAR BAR".

Of course they can. They can charge you whatever they want without giving any reason whatsoever. And you can take your shopping somewhere else. In the end, it probably won't be done on a large scale because people can compare prices on the internet rather easily.
I agree with you on your main point however: Philosophically, this sucks.

In the EU (not only in France), warranty is two years, AFAIK. That's what's bitten Apple. I'm not sure, however, that the warranty would cover this. The devices are still working, only 'a little bit too well'.
You'd probably say, and I would agree, that such a blatant security flatulence should cause the producer to take back and repair his device. The producer will probably disagree and then? A court of law... because of a WiFi router? Probably not going to happen, if not done by some consumer advocacy group.

Those Burston-Marsteller guys have a great list of clients though. Maybe Foxconn just wanted their name on that illustrious list of people/achievements/events. It's not like that weren't an accomplishment. Certainly, they've managed to escape mediocrity.