Exactly. This pandemic is the analog to what the Y2K was for the computer industry. People should be concerned - but not flip out - because if the professionals don't do their jobs (or the public doesn't follow their advice), the ramifications of failing could be enormous.

While the point your making is certainly valid, I don't believe the RIAA or MPAA would be stupid enough to go after the kind of "low-hanging fruit" that can't even install a DVD drive in their computer because it would take a disproportionate amount of funds to pay/bribe the techs in order to catch people. Also, it would probably be a large waste of time because different jurisdictions have varying laws about the required certification needed to "investigate" the files on your computer (e.g. Texas requires a P.I. license now, AFAIK) and the act of paying/bribing the techs elevates them from being tangentially involved (concerned citizen/burglar breaking into your house) to directly involved (friend of a cop that was told to do so).

Wait, who am I kidding? This plan is right up the **AA's alley!

It isn't that ./ is late to the party but that ./ is reporting on a new development in the story. All the previous actions have been media "echo-chamber" reporting. Not including the removal of the game from Amazon, this is the only part of the story that has been YRO-worthy (or even newsworthy, in my opinion).

Your argument doesn't do your opinions much justice.

I agree with your assertion that some people freak out about mundane things (for various values of mundane) when they probably should not. I also think getting too overworked about these things is hilarious. However, may I ask, what is the harm in the small, vocal minority of people that do freak out about every-little-thing in doing so? Would it be more beneficial for society to not have these watchmen, or - in your opinion - loonies, voice their concerns? You do, after all, have the ability to ignore them like they have of you.

In all of the posts that I have read under this article, not one of them would I attribute to the crazy, tin-foil hat societal fringe you describe slashdot as being comprised of. This book may, or may not, happen to have been written by one of these excessively paranoid people you and I find funny, but many of the posts on slashdot about this category of Big Brother and descent-into-fascism are well-reasoned and well-grounded in the reoccurring nature of history. One of the reasons why so many slashdotters make posts about Big Brother is because the technology being used to monitor us falls under one of their areas of expertise. Another reason they may post is that they feel we, as a people, should learn from fiction and history so that we do not repeat our past mistakes - or make them in the first place.

Specifically, on the subject of traffic and transit cameras, we feel that having a multitude of cameras everywhere in society does not foster an atmosphere of privacy and assumed innocence. Maybe we are overreacting now - maybe the amount these cameras can help society far outweighs the damage the may cause. However, reset the scenario for the generation after this technology was introduced when the next big advancement in surveillance technology occurs - assuming it does, of course. Are the next generation's fears that this new surveillance technology may be overreaching unjustified too? In addition to the future, we must also think about past technological innovations. Were concerns at the time these technologies were being implemented justified? If these technologies were abused, in what way were they and how did we correct for these abuses? Were the corrections successful? Etc.

The furthest out on the fringe are definitely hilarious. The paranoid, loony people that think the CIA are personally out to get them because they know about the Illuminati vampire plot to use the resurrected corpse of FDR to take over the world are just too absurd not to find funny. But the people on slashdot, for the most part, are not these people. Do not paint them with such a wide brush because their fears, while sometimes overstated and dramatic, are nonetheless relevant and justified.

Did you link the right article for your assertions? I didn't see anything of what you claim in that article. Summary provided by the first paragraph of your link:

If what you claim is true, it would be huge. So, I searched for more links to provide support or refute your claims.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/26/news/economy/obama_tax_reform_taskforce/index.htm
Money.Cnn's article says more or less the same thing as WSJ.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a_FIYIBVE5to&refer=home
So does Bloomberg. From Bloomberg: the recommendations from the tax reform task force are "to be submitted to Congress in February 2010".

Why all the outrage? We have 10 months to discuss the ramifications of any hypothetical proposed changes. In other news, the IRS has given me the task to inform you that you've exceeded your yearly allotment of hyperbole. You've been warned, comrade.

Once the record has been sealed or expunged, it no longer exists and cannot be used against you for civil or criminal reasons. If your (future) employer asks one of these "Were you ever ..." questions about your criminal record, you may give a truthful response, "Yes, ...", or a lawful response, "No, ...", because all that matters is what is on record. Of course, I need to make the disclaimer IANAL, etc.

Break the chains of industry and make their own costumes!