Nope, you do not need to disable it from being capable of recieving live broadcasts

from the TVLicensing website. No mention of disabling it, and the law doesn't state it either. All you'd really need to do is to have your TV detuned.

You actually don't need to pay a license fee if you own a TV, as long as you don't use it to recieve live broadcasts (IE, you just use it for DVDs/Videos/Games Consoles). With the internet, you can use iPlayer as long as you don't use the live streams and it will be the same with this new protocol, unless new legislation is passed (which I doubt, especially not with the conservatives holding the most power at the moment)

Well... seeing as you lot haven't bothered ratifying our side of the extradition treaties (and so won't give us someone if we asked) why should we bother with our side. Also, the punishment you're proposing is excessive compared to the punishment he'd get over here!

It's in one hospital. You can choose which hospital you go to.

errr... if you read his post he said in all countries copyright expires!

I don't think you quite understand... 1) The lib dem MPs have a mandate from their constituents to try and impliment as many policies as they can, by forming a coalition they can do this. 2) The lib dems want PR. This means that they must show that a coalition can work and that they can compromise! If there's one thing I've learned in this election is that a LOT of lib dem members don't seem to understand that with PR compromise must happen on both sides. However, I think people are starting to get it. 3) We do need a stable government who is able to do things, a minority tory government would not have worked as well, as the LDs/Lab could have toppled it easily and a "coalition of the losers" would not have pleased the electorate much. At the end of the day,the lib dems had to make a choice and in my mind they made the correct one (democratically speaking), they aren't really wangling their way into power, if there had been a confidence and supply agreement the Lib Dems would basically just be backing tory policies, with this situation, the Lib Dems are actually getting some of their policies implimented!!!

None of the proposed systems are party list based, STV is proportional, but keeps the constituency link, as is MMS and AV+ (AV isn't very proportional)

But the laws vary significantly from state to state :)

Well, then if you don't do the update they've removed another major feature (PSN connectivity)

Though I disagree with them, their policy is to vote no on everything that goes through the european parliament!

In the UK, they now accept SMSs to the emergency services, it's mainly marketed at people with disabilities and you have to register your phone here, I have my phone registered, but luckily haven't had to use it yet!

They have that in the UK too, visa paywave, my debit card has it. Though I do have to enter my PIN one in ~ every 10 attempts!

But it's not... It's copyright infringement, it's different. Both are wrong (though I'd argue that copyright, as it stands at the moment is a bit excessive), but for different reasons, they carry different punishments and are dealt with under seperate laws and different systems (stealing = criminal (but you can get damages under a civil court), copyright infringement = civil). The definition for stealing you used is wrong, missing out the fundamental point of the owner not having the original that you took, with copyright infringement, you have a copy AND they have the original, therefore it's different (albeit, there are similarities).

We are technically celebrating his failure, hence the burning of his effigy :)

How do you know the government doesn't have their own licensing terms with Microsoft? I know MS provide source code licenses to companies/governments that are willing to pay and I reckon that the US government are one of these...