I love how adamant you are that we've crossed some kind of Rubicon and can never go back, but all they have to do is change the internet and they win. Change displays to not display "stolen" or "unapproved" content. Change hardware to plug the analog output hole. Change video cameras to blur copyrighted material, or to stop functioning when you point them at billboards/logos/whatever. Change internet protocols to carry bits that identify you. Change networking equipment so that law enforcement can easily get reports of your activity.

All of those and more are being pushed forward, now. Every new video format, every new gaming console, every new Apple product and Windows operating system makes it just a little harder for Joe Consumer to share stuff. It does not matter to them if some Swedish guys hacks a way around those restrictions and a few geeks are freer. Yeah, the technorati will always have hacked-up ways to get what they want. But the media companies don't care about our 1%; they care about the masses. To say that copyright is unenforceable (in the way that companies care about) is naive.

If you insist on seeing the dinosaur media companies as clueless idiots, you'll lose your chance to fight them on every front.

There are several reasons why comparing American Idol votes to presidential votes is an apples-an-oranges comparison: 1. You can vote multiple times in American Idol. Many people try speed-dial and vote over and over. Whether the votes get ~counted~ I don't know, but the vote count you see may contain dupes. 2. In American Idol, anyone with a phone can vote. No age limits, etc. 3. With American Idol, you can vote by phone, from the privacy of your home and without leaving your couch. 4. With American idol, the time between "thinking about voting" and voting can be instant. You can't just vote for president when you feel like it.