What it comes down to, (I could have probably said it better, but didn't particularly want to say this and more than likely get flamed into oblivion) is that if this is upheld, you're looking at a radical change in the consumer/producer relationship, and potentially the near total (if not completely total) collapse of the US economy assuming it is strictly enforced, or enforced at all. Given the precedents set by the RIAA/MPAA and Apple Computer, I do not think that the lower court's ruling can be struck down without also striking down the aforementioned rulings, but I'm also not a lawyer so I may be missing something there.

In a world where patent trolling is rampant... you'll see it happen, and unfortunately, if the ruling is upheld, you'll very likely if not definitely see the following:

- Pawn shops out of business
- 'legit' used car market evaporates or used car prices skyrocket to nearly the price of new (with all of the extra money going to the IP trolls)
- Trade stores (Gamestop, Trade It, etc) out of business
- Thousands upon thousands of jobs lost
- Billions of dollars in revenues (both tax and trade) disappear
- If they make it retroactive, lawsuits and repossession of property en masse
- If the law is applied evenly, the real estate market gets even more thoroughly screwed up than it already is (you sure that lumber and drywall is US produced? what about the wiring? light switches? ceiling fans? refrigerator? glass? vinyl/aluminum siding sheets? PVC pipe? faucets? the list goes on.....)

Bullshit. Your emissions are in the form of nuclear waste, which has to be stored for HUNDREDS of years in nuclear containment.

With every form of energy production that requires a fuel to produce that energy, there are emissions. Coal: carbon; Nuclear: nuclear waste, irradiated water; Diesel/gasoline: carbon.

Wind energy requires no fuel as it harnesses already existing energy and converts it to another form. The same goes for hydroelectric and solar. You also need to consider the reliability of wind, solar and hydroelectric. While abundant, they are not constant or reliable.

The real solution is hydrogen, but big oil, the government and auto manufacturer execs won't let that happen because there are too many profits to be made by kicking the can down the road. Hydrogen is so abundant and obscenely cheap that they'll never turn a multi-billion dollar annual profit on it, and if business incomes are low, along with a low fuel price, the government cant raise any revenue to line the pockets of the bureaucrats or feed the kickbacks to the auto execs who don't give a damn what's powering it as long as they're selling cars and getting their kickbacks.

Again, you don't understand the law as it was written. To properly understand it, you must read it NOT in modern English, but the language of the time.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State..."
In the time period, the Militia was pretty much anyone that could hold a weapon and was willing to fight. 'well regulated' refers to equipment, training and organization. The reasoning behind this is because of what the militias had by comparison to the British regulars. The British were well trained, extremely well organized, and for the time, had the best damn equipment available. The only thing we had was a stronger will. If you look at the revolution, we were getting f**ked up by the Brits and they knew it. A little help from the French in the forms of better hardware, some legitimate training, and a few more people who knew what they were doing running the show, and we sent the Brits packing. Essentially: our militia would be well off enough to take on any standing army, whether it be foreign or domestic.
By this, we can translate this to:
A well trained, well equipped militia, being necessary to maintain security of a free state... the right of the people to keep and bear
Translated to modern English: the right of the people to possess and carry
Arms...
Modernized: weapons (this means ANY weapon. no distinction of the type of weapon is made here, and this is done so intentionally)
shall not be infringed.
Modernized: will not be infringed (hence, it is illegal to take this right away) So in modern English, the law reads: "A well trained, well equipped militia, being necessary maintain security of a free state, the right to possess and carry weapons will not be infringed." There was nothing to account regulations for felons, because they did not try to 'rehabilitate' murderers, rapists and crooks in the joke we call a prison system... They hung the f**ks from a a good, strong oak tree.

Also, in reference to 'sawed off' shotguns, any shotgun with a barrel length of less than 18 inches is considered a sawed off, and is illegal to possess in most, if not all states. Any rifle with a barrel length less than 18" is considered a SBR, which in most states require a class 3 federal firearms permit (good luck getting one of those), and appropriate tax stamps, if they're legal at all. Rifle's less than 12 inches or less are considered handguns, and are treated as such.
If you do choose to get a class 3 permit, expect to have your door regularly kicked in in the middle of the night with a bunch of commandos shoving their weapons down your throat and terrorizing your family, demanding to see your firearms and the papers that go with them.... god help you if you don't have them.

It depends on which part he was making and what state he is in, for example:
If you CNC/3D print/mold/magically create the lower receiver for an AR-15, you MUST have already been licensed by the fed, and in some cases, the state which you are making the parts in, whether you're selling it or not. This is because an AR-15 type rifle is considered a NFA firearm and the government has named the lower receiver as the actual 'gun' portion of the firearm. You can produce EVERY OTHER PART of that firearm without a license, as much as you want, for whoever you want as long as you're in compliance with state law. I've built AR-15's and own a few of them as well, so believe me, I know.
AFAIK, the aforementioned also applies to all handguns.
If you make the receiver for a bolt action rifle, or any non-semiautomatic shotgun or rifle, *depending on the state*, you can make as many as you want as long as that receiver never changes hands from you (the maker) to someone else, whether it be a sale, a gift, a donation, repossession, inheritance, whatever you choose to call it.

Unfortunately, here's how it works:
1. Copyright law is there to prevent someone from taking credit for another person's work. I have no problem with this and all lawsuits based on copyright infringement are basically null because people are not claiming credit for another's works.
2. Theft constitutes inflicting a measurable loss against another party. (this is where things start to get hairy)
3. Regardless of your opinion of the healthcare law, the government has shown that they can and will force people to engage in commerce, with the purchase mandate.
4. With the ability to track and tally data transfers on the internet now, there are now measurements of how often and the number of times something has been downloaded. Before the internet (well, before the masses had access to it), the RIAA couldn't provide metrics as to losses because there were no metrics, even though we all know exactly what those cassette tapes were used for ;-)
5. Contraband laws which cover stolen goods/services

What you now have is the cliche' recipe for disaster for the masses, and here's why:
- The RIAA/MPAA/etc. now have a quantification of their 'losses,' which means they can apply theft laws with metrics based on quantity of downloads.
- The pirated copies are now considered contraband, as they are now classified as stolen goods, and possession of stolen goods is a punishable criminal offense.
- The government has shown they can force you to purchase whatever the hell they want if they choose to do so, and on their terms. When the government is controlled by the lobbyists of the RIAA/MPAA/others, they now control what you must purchase and how it is purchased.

When you purchase a DVD/CD/software/etc, you are purchasing a license, not the actual songs. With that license, you are legally bound to only use the items this license applies to in ways that the license permits you to do. If you buy a CD, you may only use the contents of that disk the way the license says you may, at the whim of the record company, which means you may only play the cd in a cd player. You cannot rip the songs to your MP3 player, or back up the disk to your computer, or share the contents with your friends, whether you loan the disk to them or upload MP3's to the web for them to acquire at their convinence, or even have the DJ play the contents at your birthday party. Same thing with DVD's as well as software. This is where they get you, this is how they win, and they are within their legal rights. This does not mean the system is not broken, because it is.

In reality, most artists don't make anything off of record sales, so truth be told, they probably don't give a flying fuck what you do with the CD/DVD after you buy it. Their money comes from touring. Even with software, Adobe doesn't exactly actively pursue random schmucks over pirated versions of photoshop, namely because nearly all pirated copies are in the hands of people who are using the software to make memes or do other generally dumb and/or harmless stuff. Adobe makes their money off of graphic designers who actually use the software to make a profit. This is a good example of 'doing it right'.
People pirate movies because of 2 things: one, they're tired of taking out a second mortgage to go see something in the theater; two, they're tried of all of the crappy, poor quality, and just generally bad movies and don't want to pay for crap any more.

What it comes down to is LEGALLY, they are in the right and pirates are in the wrong, and as long as there is profit to be made and control to be had, it will stay that way. Until there is a mass boycott of ALL products that the RIAA/MPAA are responsible for, and for a long enough period of time to do enough damage that it nearly bankrupts them all, all at once. All consumption must stop, pirating included, in order to send a big enough 'fuck you' to the fat cats in Hollywood and Capitol Hill.

Here's what you're probably looking at if they send no one: Judgement in your favor with a few stipulations you should be able to get... What you paid: $500.00 Add your court costs: (+/- $120.00) Add travel expenses, be prepared to produce invoices/receipts Add lost wages (pre tax, if applicable) Add legal fees (if allowed/applicable) Judgement against you: pay court costs waste vacation day(s) IF they send someone that knows what he's doing: Judgement in your favor: What you paid: $500.00 Add your court costs: (+/- $120.00) Add travel expenses, be prepared to produce invoices/receipts Add lost wages (pre tax, if applicable) Add legal fees (if allowed/applicable) Subtract what you would have paid on an annual agreement for the same time period you have had the service (if he/she's really good, monthly agreement) Judgement against you: pay court costs pay legal fees (if any, theirs and yours) If the defendant is a bloodsucking asshat: forced to fight likely counter suit which will cost you god knows what and probably put you in financial ruin... More than likely the judgement will be in your favor, unless the judge finds himself on their payroll.....

In what way and to what purpose?
If we had a properly informed electorate, There would have been term limits long ago, patent trolls would have been beaten back under the bridge where they belong, and corporations wouldn't have anywhere near the power that they have now. Hell, if we had a better informed electorate, the country wouldn't be headed off a financial cliff.

Right now, they do have a 'better informed electorate,' except that in reality the electorate has been brainwashed with false truths that have been carefully crafted by the corporations and government officials, namely so that they stand to gain regardless of what the outcome of the vote is. They're simply using simple sleight of hand tactics to feed the illusion of control to the electorate.

You weren't supposed to bring stuff from the real world IN to the Matrix, Neo.....

Agreed.... The reality of the whole thing is unless they plan on having regular schmucks performing spacewalks.... the need for space suits inside the ship is negligible. The jumpsuits they wear now inside the ships are antimicrobial, and provide a minimum level of insulation to keep the astronaut warm. Remember that the astronauts are up for days on end now. They need specialized clothing considering space limitations on the capsules/ISS since they will have to wear the same outfit for a week. For the short hops tourists will be doing, jeans and a nice cotton shirt will suffice just fine. IF the ship/capsule depressurizes, generally speaking, all aboard are completely screwed unless they're wearing the spacewalk suits..... and even then if they aren't relying on the suit's life support system, they'll be screwed anyway. because it will only take a matter of literally a few seconds for the ship to depressurize.

Honestly I think they count suicides in gun deaths just to fluff the number against firearms. If someone wants to kill themselves bad enough, they're going to regardless. If there are no guns, a steak knife to the wrist works equally well.... so does rat poison and car exhaust.

You know that Geek Squad pays on average 15 bucks an hour in my area...... which is quite a bit more than pretty much any entry level and even equal to or more than some mid level 'real world' IT job I've seen on the want ads lately... Its a sad state of affairs when a high school kid working part time at best buy makes as much or more than a sys admin.... either that or I'm way behind the times

Keyword: Should.... Reality: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAROFLOMGWTFBBQ! They pay the first person to come along that is desperate enough to work for nothing.

If cash was so tight then how come they're posting record profits? Given that you have an MBA, you should know that it's all about the bottom line.

PRMan is right.... I can tell you from personal experience, they aren't giving raises, and if you show them an offer from another company.... expect to be thrown out on your ass in a week. If they can't find an excuse to fire you, you'll be involved in a 1 man layoff.

Reality: they cut salaries and continually float rumors of layoffs on a regular basis to keep you working for far less than you are worth.... and laugh while you squirm. Company morale is of no consequence to them. Also from what is being seen around here.... the more you make, the less you actually do. Around here, you were taught what we call... a lie.