It's a PR exercise, nothing more. They haven't got the time or inclination to go after anything other than the "Big 4". The courts wouldn't have any time for anything else otherwise.

A while back I was trying to setup a DNS server on a DMZ (wanted to host my own domain names) and couldn't get it working behind my router. Was getting infinite loop lookups from inside my network. Even though I'm only on a home broadband package, when I rang up support at my ISP (Zen in case you're wondering), the first line support person was able to talk me through how to get it working. I was really impressed.

Exactly. My ISP isn't exactly small, but it's also not one of the major players, and they don't block anything either.

In fact, my other half is a rabid TV downloader and wants to watch the shows when they come out on American TV so she can discuss stuff in forums without spoilers. We have a Sky subscription so we will have paid for them when they air, she just doesn't want the lag. Anyway, the ISP have been sent the usual e-mails from lawyers about her torrenting activities. The ISP just forwards them on for information purposes and says we can ignore them if we want. Unless they get a court order, they're not doing jack shit.

And for my masters thesis in 2000 I worked on a thing called TESSA. Specifically my part was on the compression algorithm that reduced the data points for the sign language half from 15 dimensions (1 dimension for each joint in the fingers and thumb) down to 3 dimensions as computing power was too limited back then to deal with any more in real time. In the end I used a combination of hidden Markov models and active shape models to do this. Was really interesting stuff.

"Based on what you've heard" - the most telling part of the question. They're trying to find out if their propaganda is working.

Saying the Zionists were looking for an amicable solution in Israel is akin to saying the IRA were looking for an amicable solution in Northern Ireland. Nothing that Haganah, Irgun or Lehi did pre-48 can be described as amicable. You're right in that the whole situation is extremely complex, but deliberately ignoring a complete section of the political landscape of the time does not make your point suddenly the correct one.

I most certainly would not as any religious beliefs he/she/it/anybody has should always be personal and therefore should always be "my" rather than assuming that everyone else does or should believe the same.

Looks like I was trolled. My point still stands in general though.

Your use of the word "our" is rather arrogant and pompous. Perhaps this is why your faith is such a target of comedians - the arrogant and pompous has long been a staple of the comedy diet.

It's also possible to be anti-Zionist (i.e. disagreeing with the legality of the state of Israel) without being anti-Jewish or anti-Semitic - even though any argument against Israel is immediately branded as such.

Don't know about Nixon, but as a European I can tell you right now that your two parties would be categorised as right wing (Democrats) and far right (Republicans) over here. Certainly neither are left wing.

If an artist is trying to create something to make money then they are doing it for the wrong reason - and it most likely shows (see Rebecca Black). If as an artist you end up making money, then that's great but it should never be a driving factor in the creation process. Which is why every single artist I know (including myself) would still put their music up on Spotify even if they paid nothing at all. It's all about spreading the word, finding an audience, and most importantly people appreciating what you are doing. One person saying they enjoy your art is worth more than any money these companies pay - whether that's 0.00029c or 99c (or whatever) per play.

(This is all IMO obviously)

I like it. It's a bit more "punk" than my style, but we're in the same ballpark.

Thanks. It's comments like this that make it all worthwhile.

http://www.negativland.com/albini.html Major labels have always screwed their artists, which is why I've always attempted to go it alone - even though I've so far been fairly unsuccessful, that's still better than going with the majors.