I didn't know Tux was Australian.

Such a system already exists. It has been used in Slovenia for about 10 years. It was developed by Ultra d.o.o. and is called Moneta/M-pay.

Our national broadcaster (Radio-Television Slovenia) already provides its programme via the proprietary p2p technology called Octoshape.

Nobody can enslave you and remove your rights, any more than someone can remove your rights to use software that you have a license for

That's because there are some restrictions that prevent this from happening.

When my m505 died six months ago after only two years use I bought a Tungsten E off eBay. Six weeks later the power button stopped working and Palm told me they wouldn't fix it for free. Two devices over a year and a half totaling over $500 both worthless.

Contrast that with the two Palm III's I still have and still work. My wife uses one of them *every* day for at least an hour total and has for years. I used to put my III in my back pocket with nothing for protection but the flip cover. It still lives.

In short, their hardware is shit and has been for the last few years. That coupled with poor customer service and a sweeping failure to innovate and take chances:

* Palm should have had an OQO like device out years ago, say something around 6"x9" and 640x480 or more. They could have owned the "personal slate" market but probably never seriously considered the for factor.

* They have done fux-all in terms improving/expanding/innovating their included base apps. Useful yes, but seriously dated. Where are the handheld apps that are light-years ahead of the competition ala Apple on the desktop?

* Communications still suck. I can buy their proprietary wifi SD card for my Palm at twice the going price of other cards and I have the privilege of waiting months for it to come out. They should have been market leaders in this area.

I could go on here but I'll spare you. These things and more have caused me to start shopping for something, anything, else. Hopefully not Pocket PC but I don't see much other choice (but something I can at least put linux/Qtopia on).