These atrocities have been known for a long time, and there are already several good books on the subject (which hopefully some Slashdotters with more time can link). What I don't understand is why this report came out know? Is there some political timing involved in it coming out now as opposed to a decade ago?

Scientific Atlanta cable tuners have been doing that for over half a decade. It isn't just limited to the cable provider either as I've been on two different providers with the same boxes and they've both had the feature. So there are definitely other boxes that do this; whether they are licensed I do not know.

It's been tried (and lost): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trivial_Pursuit#Fred_Worth_lawsuit

I keep hearing how CMEs can cause interference with electronics such as GPS, satellites, etc., but does anyone have an example where one caused noticeable impact? I fully believe the theory, I'm just wondering if there's an example of it being put into practice.

Most likely because China could care less. Contrary to the image China projects about being best friends with North Korea, they are pretty much as sick as NK as the rest of the world. China has lost billions in investments to NK, and if you've ever lent $20 to someone and never had it paid back, you can begin to imagine how they feel. That being said, China does actively enforce the border, but there is a myriad of different political reasons for this. The "legal" reason is that they have pacts with North Korea in relation to this issue (hence why escaping NK aren't granted refugee status by China). Some of the other reasons include the fact that many Chinese citizens are just as paranoid about North Koreans coming across and taking Chinese jobs as Americans are about Mexico. Others have already replied to your thread and also pointed out that other reasons may include China have an equal investment in getting information out. China probably isn't interested in the trade aspect so much, as it's entirely black market and therefore next to impossible to regulate. Unfortunately I don't have an direct citations to back up the above, but I am basing most of my information off of "Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea" by Barbara Demick. It's an excellent read. Most people try and draw parallels to first world countries with 1984, but the sad truth is North Korea could be considered source material.

I've been at work every time I've seen an article come up about the jailbreak, so I haven't had time to go digging for details (including the links off this article; I don't want to push my work's internet filter). Does anyone have an explanation as to how this jailbreak actually works? Every article I've seen doesn't go into the details other than saying it's a magic USB dongle you plug in. Can Sony even patch this hole?

Which Battery? It's my understanding that Hybrids still have a traditional 12 volt battery for the car's regular electrical systems. When I was looking at getting a Hybrid a few years back (ultimately did not end up getting one) I, like the grandparent, was unable to find any actual battery replacement stories (sans one story about a car that had a bad cell in it's pack).