Blizzard is playing the role of a big-budget producer. If Blizzard had gone after Torchlight and built a strong off-line SP game, people would be complaining about how those "big" companies are being bullies to the little guys. They can't win no matter what they do. People need to put money toward products that fit themselves and stop whining. The marketplace is big enough for everyone and varies enough for many different flavors of games like this.

They are unaware because the consequences of it have been trivial. Google having tons of information isn't scary because they can't do anything to me besides annoy me with ads or use the data to profile masses.
The other side of the coin is that the information would be troubling if it fell into the hands of Government. If there is a debate here - it is whether the collected information can be used by Big Brother.

Also, put it into perspective. When people file their taxes look at what the government collects from them. Banking info, expenses, income, biz relationships... all of it going to an inept government. The idea that we have any privacy went out the window a long time ago.

And I'm not sure Americans want to spend $30 on T-shirts and $50 on plastic toys. Import taxes will just lead to artificial inflation and hurt the poorest Americans most.

I love that analogy. Thumbs up!

I take it you have never had to keep paperwork for a business. Never been audited?
I have had to produce receipts for transactions years in the past to make the IRS happy. Who I bought something from and when isn't any of their business, but they make it.

Sure they don't collect it all - they just make us do it for them and be able to ask for it at any time. Without a warrant, without charges, just because they can.

Your argument is just semantics.

We are well on our way to a very robust environmental policy. Unemployment will continue to rise globally because of suffocating governments. The use of natural resources is already growing increasingly cost ineffective so you won't have to worry about wasting them on things like generating heat, building schools, hospitals, or homes. I'm sure the lucky elite will do a great job of deciding who/what gets the resources in the coming years.

Every year I have to fill out countless government forms detailing every facet of my personal finances and business finances so the State & Federal government can collect taxes "fairly" from businesses and employees alike.
Now suddenly Mr. Conyers isoutraged over ISP tracking? People need to be consistent with their privacy thoughts. The ISP tracking is absolutely ridiculous, but it is nothing compared to what the Feds already collect from people. This battle was long lost.

When your house burns down that doesn't mean all that "trash" is free for every passerby to grab whatever they want. And it isn't legal to walk onto my property and sift through my garbage can.

The circumstances of when/where this "trash" was picked up mean everything to the case. Accidentally missing a valuable in the debris doesn't automatically mean they relinquished ownership. Unless he was invited to remove this from the property I don't think he was in the right to claim any object as "his".

You may be right on the issue but under no circumstance should people accept a creed that says animals are equivalent to people or that their well being should come at the expense of humankind. Meeting such an anti-human philosophy half way doesn't benefit humanity at all.
The PETA idiots practice a leftist form of original sin, where people are born into the wrong and have no right to exact will over the lesser animals in the food chain. Laws that you suggest require the acknowledgement that the animal kingdom is something we can and will control as a fundamental human right. Including using them for food, pets, or work. When people put their own lives second to some furball don't expect them to put your life very high on their society priority list.

I agree. This is an issue with a lot of hype and no bite. From what I have seen, patent lawyers have stirred up this pot to make some coin from large companies. Sure there have been some high-profile lawsuits, but it's hardly an epidemic nor is it shutting out innovation. The lawsuits I have been involved in or witness to - common sense has prevailed or, *gasp*, would-be borderline tech wasn't pursued and actual original solutions were implemented instead of copycat BS! If the industry should be outraged or annoyed at anything... it should be the stupid lawyers. Don't get them involved!

I agree. If a pending charge is actually in the works then the name of the company & CIO should be cited. This story is bogus.

I agree in principle, my point is both need to be seen as a serious crime. (Theft of personal information even more so!) Like I said, companies that do not protect this information need to be called out and owe up to their lack of protection. A few years of massive lawsuits in response to customer's lost data will foster radical change.
When protecting my home, I wish my only concern was items but there is the threat of physical harm to loved ones by an intruder. That's why when these crimes are reported the police response is serious. Their first response isn't "why don't you have more security?" (Even though a home could always be more secure in some way) To gain influence, I think we need to make sure our industry's response to these hacking stories is first to identify the act as a crime before preaching security. (Even though it is VERY necessary in most cases.)

I agree, except these "hackers" need to be labeled criminals and called out by our industry as such. Sure the companies could do better (and need to be called out when they are grossly negligent), but that can be like saying a home owner *could* or *should* have put up cameras, steel doors and bars on the windows to help deter the burglar. Sure we could make every house Fort Knox, but that isn't cost effective nor is it always the proper front of the battle. There is a reasonable amount of security that should be in place, depending on what is being protected, and a reasonable amount of vigilance from the law to go after these criminals.

Absolute Democracy is the exact opposite of freedom. You cannot have a Right when all laws are subject to the will of the majority. The act of voting doesn't make a policy moral or even "effective." When your rights are violated it is little consolation whether it was done by a vicious dictator or by the voting of your neighbors. Both pure democracy and pure dictatorship are morally vacant and eventually, self-destructive. The only useful form of government is one that recognizes the individual and their inalienable rights.

This happens all the time. PSAs don't come from nowhere... it is always some well-funded lobby with an agenda. Some groups are just better at hiding their tracks than others. . The abuse of power begins the moment the power is created. All government agencies exist because the pols want to be the focus of the corporate influence. Without these government agencies the actual citizens would be "lobbied" with, *gasp*, better services, prices and policies.