Free or not, hiding (or not mentioning it, or putting it in the .000001 point fine print, or burying it in a 100 page EULA - IOW: obscuring the truth) something that you know people will object to is deceptive, dishonest and wrong. You have to ask yourself, would people not install my "free" software if they knew what it was doing - if the answer is anywhere close to yes, you have a moral obligation to reveal the details.

This is part of the bargain - if you give away something for "free" and advertise it as "free", it needs to be "free" - as in not just that the costs are hidden. Otherwise, it really is a Trojan Horse.

Don't reap the goodwill of the public when you're secretly using them.

Didn't you see Bubba Hotep?

Elvis went to a West Texas nursing home with the president.

Let's think about this - is Amazon the kind of company that would intentionally incite a class-action lawsuit for the purpose of setting legal precedent against the type of actions it performed?

Call me a conspiracy theorist, but having this whole mess center around "1984" is a pretty big coincidence.

In any case - Release the hounds!

The example in the summary could be easily handled by disallowing the transfer of copyright ownership for academic materials - making the originator always the owner with the option of allowing others to use their work.

We have to remember the purpose of IP law - when it ceases to protect creators of intellectual works, it is no longer serving its purpose.

Make sure to factor in the time it takes to make the system available to the repairman. For me, that's more time than it usually takes to install a part. I can open up the case where it sits at 11:00pm and make the go/nogo decision.

To get one repaired, I have to disconnect the system and take it to the shop or avail myself, my computer and my home office to an onsite repairman during business hours.

I have always built my own systems - and I have encountered very, very few (can count on one hand) the times that a repair was the most cost effective option. Usually when a PC has a problem that inhibits operation, it's time for a new one. They've pretty much reached the point that other electronic devices have - repairs cost more in labor than a new one would cost - not to mention that the technology advances so fast that finding parts is a problem (that's what happened to the last computer I had to take behind the woodshed).

You're missing the point - this is just attorneys' arrogance at work (on the public dime, no less). The Bard had it right - they lawyers need to go.

This reminds me of a joke I heard from a court clerk:
Q: Do you know what they call an attorney with an IQ under 80?
A: Your Honor

There's a recession, people are out of work (despite what some think, food and shelter are more important than gaming). Few good games have been released, (it's about the plotline, not how big you can draw the imaginary gun). MMORPGs supply ongoing gaming experience for a low, flat rate per month.

I realize that these are hard problems to fix, but the "silver bullet / soundbite" method appeals to the sheeple that follow the loudest voice that keeps its words small. So we're bound to hear from casual or even non-gamers how piracy and used game stores are the source of these woes.

Accept it - adapt and overcome. Figure out how to rebut these claims - keep your words small and your voice loud. Repetition never hurts either.

Sadly enough, I think you're right. This is just another attempt by producers to exploit intellectual property laws beyond their original intention. I had to study First Sale Doctrine and how it applies to software in grad school. DMCA was only the first in a series of legal changes aimed at preventing a consumer from having any real "rights" when they pay for content.

Hopefully we'll come to our senses before any real damage is done and re-evaluate the purpose of intellectual property's legal protection.

Isn't this what Wikileaks was made for?

How about we try to develop an app platform that is vendor independent - not simply so we can have homegrown apps, but so that you don't have to choose your cell service provider based on what apps you want to run. While we're at it, can we make software for phones that will run reasonably fast? I hate having to hit the power button 7 times, each time wondering if the button is worn out or if the software just hasn't caught up yet.

I mean, really, really lame? Even an action scene where they're having to blast oncoming rocks for any time longer than 10 seconds will be overkill. It's not that I have no appreciation for the game, I played it in the 80's (the home version I rolled over the score twice in the same game while I had chicken pox).

There are many better games to make movies from. (Deus Ex, Thief, Zelda, Golden Axe, heck - even Pitfall or Pac Man would be better).

Agreed - the likelihood of a "fire sale" scenario is very minimal, but the odds for any given individual getting caught up in a specific attack on a "soft target" such as in the TJ Maxx case are about 1:1. I have already been involved in 3 - one of those incidents put a coworker in the sights of an identity thief. This is the issue: It's the same old game - "Security is a cost to be minimized, not a "value-added" feature of a business", "It's not like we're protecting national security info", "Why would someone want our data?". Until this old-school mindset is broken, the problems will persist and fear of consequence is the only way to motivate the decision makers in the short term.

Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate and hate leads to suffering. - Yoda

The biggest problem I have with Hulu is its bandwidth requirements. TFA states that you need a 2Mbit connection. I just don't have that available to me. On a good day I get .5Mbit out of my Sprint wireless card and I have the best connection in my neighborhood. If I could set a buffer high enough, or if I could set it to download overnight, I could watch it later. Does anyone know of a way to do this with Hulu or any other such service for that matter?

What do you do with people who refuse to cooperate? My assumption must be that they are not allowed to leave. This is not compatible with the American idea of freedom.