Yeah... I was thinking they could do this. However I'm sure P2P networks will quickly spring up that let you ask peers for a salted hash of a file, then use it to download the full quality file from Apple. More of a ballache though.

According to the announcement, once music is added to iCloud it can be downloaded onto iTunes and mobile devices, in DRM-free 256kbps AAC format. They don't support streaming.

So let's get this straight... iTunes will allow you to replace a pirated copy of your music with an official download, presumably identifying the original track based on audio fingerprinting and/or file hashes.

I can't think of any way in which this could be designed not to be broken. I'm expecting people will quickly figure out a way to trade hashes/fingerprints, bypassing the requirement to even bother downloading a pirated copy. Or maybe if the threshold is low enough we'll get a Shazam-like app - that records snippets of music then presents them to iTunes as a ripped track for replacing with a HQ version.

54Mb/s and freedom from wires is more useful to me than 100Mb/s.

Except you'll not be seeing anywhere close to 54Mb/s actual throughput. You'll see around 20Mb/s, barely double the 10Mb/s Ethernet network that you deemed too slow in the mid-90's. Proves your point though that you're unlikely to need more in a home setup. Server data centres are a different story...

I thought a requirement for patents was for the 'idea' to be non-obvious to a skilled professional in the field.

I don't work in the field of display technology, but the second I read the headline I knew how it could be achieved with a trivial modification to the LCD shutter glasses.

Your assumption is correct. It only recurses to one degress of seperation

  It's not friends of friends of friends ;)

Because a lifetime supply of daily recommendations of girls selected to be biologically compatible for amazing sex seems fucking awesome, of course.