To begin with, They are not talking about adding hardware data recorders. What there are talking about is requiring current engine computers to retain more info and make that info available to download. Oh and most of them are silver not black. beginning in 1996 all passenger vehicles were required to be fitted with computers that would monitor the running state of the engine and alert the driver to malfunctions even if they did not effect drive ability of the car. An example would be if the EGR valve failed. The car would run fine but , would pollute more. The computer would light the check engine light and the mechanic would use a reader to retrieve the error code. This standard is called OBD2 (On Board Diagnostics ver 2) and the error codes and readers are standardized. The engine computer collects a large amount of information in order to do its job. It knows the throttle position, engine temp, speed, transmision gear, steering wheel angle (for ABS) O2 sensor info, accelerometer (for air bag deployment), misfires and other info. The information is already at the engine computers. The debate is how much info should it record and how long should it keep it. There is also the troubling problem of who can have access to your info and for how long? If you have a corvette and your 17 year old sneaks off with the keys, does a high speed run and you don't find out about it till your insurance company jacks your rates from engine computer data, how long should that follow you? what rights do you have to challenge and or see what info they have from your computer? Do the insurance companies get to share the info they collect with each other? Will this create a class of un insurable drivers much like the difficulty people with pre existing conditions have getting health insurance? The potential for misuse of this info is quite real with the consumer being the loser at most turns. In short the info is already there. What we need to do is craft intelligent policy about who can see the info and what it can be used for. Without such a policy, I could easily see dealerships selling downloaded data to insurance companies. Is that what we want?

It would seem that Die Hard meets Die Hard Drive Die. We've gone from you can't take it with you to you MUST take it with you, Ah Progress......

The first 2 that come to mind are Paper Weight and Skeet. There likely better re-uses than Skeet but, I doubt they are any that are more fun. First you call someone that bugs you, Your boss, your Ex, the IRS or DMV then you yell pull, and blam. That's how you drop a call.

Simply put: With our police, we have created a class of "Super Citizens" who get to do things that the general population can't. It is extremely important that they follow the rules and we are able to observe their actions. The penalties for breaking the rules MUST be higher for those in charge of enforcing the rules. Anything less is a gradual invitation for creating a police state. Transparency and oversight. We always need them. Each of the three branches of government watch each other and All three should answer to us. I am profoundly worried by the fading away of the free press and its replacement by partisan reporting designed to comfort what ever political leaning you have. It is good for all sides to exchange views. It is good to challenge your assumptions. There also is great need for fact checking in the media. The need to draw attention to half truths and out and out lies. The real war has been a war on debate. End Rant.

The point here isn't how is the signal transmitted. Yes digital does use a signal that can be observed in the analog domain. The real question is where is the information. With what we call an analog signal the information is in the amplitude of the input signal. With digital the information is in the CHANGES in voltage over time, Not in the voltage itself. For each clock cycle you look at the input voltage to see if it is in the high or low state. Lets say the low state is defined as 0 to .5 volts and high is defined as 4 to 5 volts. the transition to high from low occurs at 3.5 volt and the transition from high to low occurs at 1.5 volts. You could have a half volt of noise on the line and it would not effect the information in the signal. The transition from high to low and low to high would still be read the same. In short the information would be unchanged. Try that with an analog signal and most of the information is lost.

Alright you scofflaw Pirate you, Yeah, they're coming for you but, you don't seem to know who "they" are. They folk that you need to be in fear of are the gang of three, ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. These guys are almost as blood thirsty as the RIAA but, there is a slightly highly chance of the monies collected getting to the song writer. At least they have the good sense not to go after the listener. Instead they try to shake down any business that has the nerve to play music. It doesn't matter if the music is live or just the radio, they want their cut. On a serious note: there are three degrees of ownership for any recording. A. The performance, This is owned by the performers unless they sell the rights for the performance to someone or something else, such as the record labels. Radio stations do not pay royalties for this right. The agreement is that the promotional value is greater than the value of the royalty. B. The publishing right. This is held by the songwriter/composer unless sold, etc. The royalty for this right would be administered by either ASCAP, BMI or SESAC. Radio stations pay a flat rate royalty for this based on the number of listeners. The different organizations sample whats being played by the station and divide the royalty up amongst its members based on how much they are played. C. The media itself. Believe it or not, it is possible to own the media without owning the other 2 rights. Good reel to reel tape has never been cheap. When tape was all that was available, It was common practice for studios to "rent" the use of multi-tape to bands on a budget. If a song sounded especially good the studio would hang on to the multi-track tape and not reuse it. If the song started to take off, the record company would approach the studio to buy the multi-track tape from them. It was common to remix the song for national distribution. The studio didn't own the song or the performance, so they couldn't sell the tape on the open market, they did own the tape itself. They would often sell the tape for several thousand dollars to the record label. not a bad return.

To paraphrase the movie Braveheart, The trouble with law, is that its practiced by lawyers.

Go Wings Eh!