収束ゾーンでのライフ: Life in the Convergence Zone

The deal would create an international regulator that could turn border guards and other public security personnel into copyright police. The security officials would be charged with checking laptops, iPods and even cellular phones for content that "infringes" on copyright laws, such as ripped CDs and movies.

Because, of course, they have TIME to do this.

How can they tell that your iPod's contents weren't purchased from iTunes? For that matter, content that is illegal in the US is perfectly legal in Canada; Canada's copyright on sound recordings is still fifty years, which puts the entire big band era in the public domain - as well as pretty much the entire recorded output of Elvis until his going into the Army.

Will our new security overlords be able to navigate Ubuntu? For that matter, what if I do a clean XP install (to provide a familiar face), partition the HD in half and install Ubuntu in the other, then edit /boot/grub/menu.lst to make GRUB invisible (with a one or two second delay to bring it up by hitting its hotkey) and to make it boot into Windows by default? I don't think they'd be able to tell; my sensitive stuff can stay on linux while a few throwaways can be on XP.

For that matter, how soon before these agents start running every Win laptop's activation key through WGA, to see if that installation of Windows is valid? When does the TSA hook up with the BSA?

I mean...why don't these legislative geniuses pull their heads out of their asses so they can breathe some fresh air, and put all their spare time to good use feeding the hungry and finding shelter for the homeless? Is it too difficult to think of *humanity* instead of being the personal police force of corporate media behemoths?