Hmmm, but even then, how would one know that it wasn't put there afterwards? Only the accelerometer log will tell!!

You remind me of my public sector economics teacher. I remember he once said "And just to take this to its logical, and far more important end, IN OUR MODEL, WHICH ANALYZES A SMALL CLOSED ECONOMY WITHOUT A GOVERNMENT, the consumers who WOULD support this kind of business by voting in droves with their wallets WOULD BE the singularly most important party turning "a blind eye". This WOULD applicable across all retail. The conditions under which the goods we buy are prepared, be it Nike shoes or a Big Mac or an iPhone, WOULD ultimately BE the responsibility of the individuals who are purchasing those goods. They WOULD hold all the power and therefore virtually all of the responsibility. ON THE OTHER HAND, IN THE REAL WORLD..."

That depends. Is the company more concerned about securing a $2B per quarter revenues from its technology or about the $5k court settlement that it'll ultimately be required to pay somewhere in Asia?

I am from Brazil, and my personal opinion is that this is not going to happen, for a couple of reasons. We have an overprotective Constitution, which tries to foster every civil right one could think of. So, it doesn't matter if hundreds of people are getting shot daily in our cities' ghettos, as long as shooting people remains illegal. Most of our laws is not only unenforceable, but also lack the political will to get enforced. Most of the time spent in the Congress is dedicated to discussing useless theory while millions are seriously considering shooting a fellow man for a piece of bread. Meanwhile, all of those who suffer in famine watch billionaire government scandals in the TV. We'll be in the next ice age by the time this bill passes, for our legislative process allows for hundreds of procedimental enjoinments, congressional discussions, stuff like that.

That's nothing but a political move to get some international recognition, by touching an issue that concerns the IT community worldwide. The digital economy, in central nations, may be a leading indicator of social trends and ideology, but in developing countries it's just a mirror of our pathologies. A good example of political cybermoves in Brazil is to hunt down Orkut users who are trafficking drugs, or violating the law in some way. Rather than a strong and innovative vector for crime, Orkut drug dealers are just plain criminals, showing their face through new tools. And a dozen of cybercops arresting middle-class pseudocriminals are useless to handle an army of tens of millions of orphans.