With the right mix of chaff, encryption, and anonymizing proxies, ISPs (and the NSA) will rue the day they ever questioned net neutrality and the sanctity of private communications.

Also, a nice update from Jennifer Granick 2 days later...

EFF Answers Your Questions About Border Searches:

http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/05/border-search-answers

P.S. You have no rights at the border.

Apparently, even a basic understanding of the Bill of Rights isn't a prerequisite for holding office in the Illinois General Assembly.

"If you work on your mind with your mind, how can you avoid an immense confusion?" Seng-Ts'an

"Unlike those in same-sex marriages, domestic partnerships, or civil unions, Nancy and I are afforded the more than 1,100 federal rights of marriage."

What we really need is to separate marriage from the legal aspects. When will a political candidate have the guts to propose that full legal rights are afforded to all couples of a generously defined civil union / domestic partnership, and marriage is an optional thing, perhaps religious or spiritual, that can be done in whatever way the couple feels appropriate but is wholly separate from any legal recognition?

It's not only the biggest bands who can be creative with how they get the income they need to keep on truckin' with their art.

Perhaps more in the spirit of Kevin Kelly's 1,000 True Fans, Jill Sobule is taking donations in advance for her next record:

http://www.jillsnextrecord.com/?r=36293

and posting free content as well. OK, so she has lots more than 1,000 fans, but same idea.

@Cory, there's nothing wrong with constructive complaining, as it provides feedback to companies. And the volume of complaints should correlate to the extent and severity of the problem. There's also nothing wrong with voting with your wallet and buying an alternative; that's a valid free market recourse if you don't like a company's product or service.

BUT, the statement that companies are treated like charities and not for-profit entities is a bit over the top. As much as you or I may dislike DRM, most consumers don't care. If they did, Apple wouldn't now be the #2 music retailer in the US. Amazon has more DRM-free music currently than Apple I believe, but how's that going? Cell phone service contracts and device locks are evil, but consumer still buy the stuff en masse. In other words, there can be a free market that doesn't fully address every concern of every consumer, if most people decide that whatever it is Is Good Enough, and clearly they do.

@Thinkerer, good points. I don't even have cable as an option in my area, so I'm stuck with DSL as my one choice.

LET's attack the real problems... things like abusive consolidation of market power (e.g., telecom industry) and undue influence from special interests in our government (e.g., RIAA/MPAA). Let's get some laws passed that support Fair Use, or at least let's get it tested in the courts so we can strike down things like DMCA anti-circumvention.

Yeah, just a tad sensationalist. High-def digital Hollywood video requires HDCP. This is nothing new from HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. It's not consumer-friendly, but at least make the headline reflect responsibility appropriately:

"Hollywood HDCP DRM makes iTunes rentals incompatible with some older HDTVs, just like on High-Def DVDs"

Show me a legal download service with unprotected 720p or better output and a reasonable selection and I'm there.

Don't succumb to the cartel:
http://www.google.com/search?q=diamond+cartel

OMG, Jefferson StarTrek!

Just wait for the CD rot to set in on those 300,000 optical discs.

@ROSSINDETROIT, for $3,000,000 or so, I'd spend a few minutes answering questions, too.

Surely there's some support out there for making the border less Guantanamo-like, at least for returning residents:

http://logicalextremes.blogspot.com/2008/02/eff-sues-dhs-over-intrusive-border.html

Savvy travelers can take advantage of cloud computing and encryption. Just arrange to have use of a computer on either side. Kind of makes the whole confiscation of electronics look like a pretty silly strategy.

OK, now let's address the issue of intrusive interrogations and searches of returning residents:

http://logicalextremes.blogspot.com/2008/02/eff-sues-dhs-over-intrusive-border.html

And how about returning confiscated private property and expunging government databases of the records of innocents?

Even better than the one in A Christmas Story.

Now if we can only get the US to drop the perpetual war nonsense, we'll have a chance to get rid of the obscene perpetual war powers too.

Yes, but is the UK going to tear down its panopticon as a result? I doubt it.

To boldly go where no man has gone before. To seduce new life and new civilizations.

I liked this upcoming live lineup at Shuba's in Chicago:

Holy Fuck
with A Place To Bury Strangers
and Fuck Buttons
Date: Sunday 2/17/2008 9:00 PM 18+

Right, Michiel. I manage to keep in touch with people I want to just fine, without having to offer up my personal and behavioral information for public consumption and commercialization.

And, in related news, the Westminster City Council will be increasing staffing to include two new Urine Volumetric Analysis specialists.

I've spread my share of ashes and have yet to find anything that couldn't be crumbled and spread. Stick to nature for the spreading though folks, and complain to the service provider if the cremation wasn't complete enough to render the ashes inert and harmless. Having the ashes end up in a HEPA filter really doesn't seem to show the proper respect. I understand that people like a place to visit their dear departed, but cemeteries are really a waste of good land and not a shining example of sustainability.

Considering that you can get sent away with no rights for the duration of the permanent war for doing who-knows-what, why would anyone in his right mind agree to be a citizen bomb tester?

Hopefully it's apparent to most folks that the two scenarios aren't equivalent either; the $11 is a higher percentage sale on the lower dollar amounts.