The game wasn't remotely disabled. Because he bought it from EA's online store, and because the download/installation requires account authentication, he couldn't download/install it because he account was temporarily disabled... If he had already installed the game before being an asshat on the forums, he would be happily playing it right now. Sounds more like a possible bug than an evil corporation trying to strip everyone of their rights to electronic entertainment if you ask me.

The security by obscurity bullshit constantly spewed as a counter argument whenever someone claims OSX or Linux is more secure is tiring. Security through obscurity doesn't work, and the argument falls flat on its face when you look at the rate of exploit of *NIX servers vs. Windows servers or Apache vs. IIS, the former being more widespread in both cases, but having fewer exploits compared to the latter.

Am I the only one who finds statements like this funny? Holding up "talking on the telephone" as being "actual human", but writing off instant messengers as if it's in some way inferior?

Don't get me wrong, different forms of communications have their place, but the idea that hearing someone's voice is inherently superior to reading what someone writes makes me imagine luddites in the time when telephones were just becoming wide-spread saying something like "Let's be actual humans and talk face-to-face. Directions to my house are..." and yet people like the parent now hold up the telephone as if it's an "actual" way to communicate.

Maybe for some people a technology isn't "real" or "valid" unless they grew up with it.

Well, I don't want a bunch of criminals carrying firearms, anyway!

IT'S "DON'T BE EVIL" NOT "DO NO EVIL" FOR FUCK'S SAKE.

Also, they're not stopping anyone from using it. What they're doing by patenting, which just means that those that want to use it can pay a licensing fee, or wait until the patent runs out.

Unless you actual read anything at all about the event. The guy was tweeting about the event still being on, even after it was canceled (in order to draw even more people in to an already bad situation), so the officers asked him tweet again to tell those who had seen his tweets before that it was actually canceled... That's not the main reason he was arrested, but it contributed.

By the way, anyone who actually think the headlines or summaries on Slashdot are even remotely accurate, as you and the GP seem to, is definitely new here.

The fact that he was promoting the event on Twitter, even after it was canceled (making a bad situation worse), might have gave the police an inkling.

So what you're saying is Microsoft isn't the bad guy for once?

Ones where you have to agree to an end user license agree that states " IF YOU DO NOT AGREE, DO NOT INSTALL, COPY, OR USE THE SOFTWARE; YOU MAY RETURN IT TO YOUR PLACE OF PURCHASE FOR A FULL REFUND, IF APPLICABLE." Windows XP EULA
Surely Microsoft's license doesn't apply to all the components, but it specifically says you can get a refund from where you purchased the software. Companies don't want to honor the Windows EULA? Don't sell computers with Windows.

When you buy a car, you don't have to agree to a separate license to use your engine, a license which restricts your freedom and that was not made available to you before you purchased your car.