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I do knot know what GP believes or knows, but one would have to be have been living under a rock for the past one and a half years not to know that the use of defeat devices is very widespread in the industry. Some reports and articles easily found with your favourite search engine:

The emissions test defeat device problem in Europe is not about VW
Dieselgate At GM? Defeat Devices Claimed To Be Found In Opel Cars
Test of Fiat diesel model shows irregular emissions: Bild am Sonntag
Report on France’s Renault emissions probe omitted crucial details
French government ordered to hand over full details of Renault emissions study
PSA Group Raided by French Fraud Office in Emissions Probe
Nissan faces suit over alleged emission fraud
#Dieselgate continues: new cheating techniques
RDW emission test programme - Results of indicative tests for the presence of an unauthorised defeat device
VW, Daimler, Nissan, Mitsubishi, GM: Can We Finally Agree That Dieselgate Is An Industry Problem?
Revealed: nearly all new diesel cars exceed official pollution limits
Many car brands emit more pollution than Volkswagen, report finds

Defeat devices are hardly a recent phenomenon:
How Common Are EPA “Defeat Devices” In The Auto Industry?
Carmaker Cheating on Emissions Almost as Old as Pollution Tests

There are different ways to cheat, too:
`Shameful' Mitsubishi Fraud Risks Pushing Carmaker to Brink
This is the world now: Suzuki also admits to cheating on fuel-economy tests

It's not hard to find more. Pretty much every manufacturer cheats or has cheated in one way or another.

Is not design but project management.

You are right, it is not design. It is partially project management, it is also supply chain and experience. These are first of a kind builds, even the suppliers are being 'created' to support it. Korea shows what you can do after you get going;

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/ww...

Build a few, get the experience and work out the kinks in the process and supply chain, apply experienced workers, and things improve dramatically.

All it takes is building Nth of a kind and they can be built at a lower cost and quite quickly. Korean has proven this, China is as well. Pointing to a couple of first builds where there is no supply chain or infrastructure in place is misleading as to what can be accomplished. Plenty of proof out there;

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/ww...

As for all that "toxic materials" talk. There are some extremely nasty toxic chemicals produced for PV manufacture or other industrial productions, and there is a much higher chance of human exposure due to the ways they are used. Where are the worries about that? Meanwhile, used nuclear fuel is relatively inert, particularly compared to many of the industrial wastes we produce. Add that fact that the real volume of nuclear waste is so small from a global perspective, that the problem is really quite manageable. It is easily confined and tracked. We have the technology to easily monitor, clean up, etc nuclear fuel if that were a problem. It is not like the cold war nuclear waste that so many confuse it with. No, there is not an excessive corrosion challenge.

I have bad news for you (sorry, not much found online except in German language): http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/ww... http://www.welt.de/wirtschaft/... It's a literally giant installation, cost: 6 million euro (1.3million subventioned from the state), capacity: 5MWh, that's 250 euro worth of electricity stored. Life span - certainly not "decades", 10 years at most.

Samsung is also moving to 64 bit on their phones.

So do you really believe that both companies are going to all of this effort and expense is just for the sake of marketing hype, or is it just possible that the two companies with the most experience with smartphone development know more than you do about the advantages of 64 bit architecture for this type of device?

I get the joke but come on.....

Funniest part is that this phone is just patent bait anyway.

Apple know HTC and Samsung will immediately take legal action to block it, so they're not committing much in the iPhone 5 - just a minor facelift. Once the dust has settled on the litigation, maybe they'll release the real update.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/tech/2012/09/133_119602.html

1) Don't be so eager to downplay conservative social attitudes—after all, there are lots of countries where something is legal, but so shameful that no one would ever get caught doing it for fear of being disowned by their families. Unfortunately this even happens in the United States. A state-encouraged culture of conservatism constitutes a form of repression itself; the United States became much more conservative after World War II in part because the government wanted to show a strong face to Russia. And lo and behold: two women were executed for being 'tinged with capitalism' because they had sex with each other and had been to Japan.

2) The Carter comment comes from a BBC story. This Guardian article, also cited on the page, says that the World Food Programme estimates that six million (out of 23 million total) are short of food.

3) Here's a bit more on the educational situation. I do agree that university tuition is a scandal in a lot of Western countries, but (in Canada and the US, anyway) that tuition is just a matter of acquiring a loan, usually from the government, which you can reasonably expect to pay back, especially if you finish your degree. Regardless of how university is in North Korea, many never get through basic school, and much of the curriculum is political indoctrination.

3 again, let's call it 4) If you read the articles on each of the four parties' pages, it appears they exist now only to give the illusion of choice. While they had political agendas early on, all of them are allied with the ruling party, and none exist except as a formality. It's slightly more elaborate than the CPSU, but it does not appear to be any more free. In the United States the two parties aren't truly political causes, but really more sets of rich people, who at least actually oppose each other. There are many political movements (ranging from the Tea Party, to the Libertarians, to the Green Party, to the Neocons, to Occupy Wall Street) which are allowed to express their views publicly, and have influenced the policies of their corresponding political parties.

4, bumped to 5) Have you seen this? I think it might be useful. You are wrong to say North Koreans are free to be homosexual (which you called "totally ok"); the statement that women have suffrage is meaningless because no democratic elections occur; there are numerous sources stating that North Korea has a serious and continual food problem; and for many North Koreans, public school education is very different from the equivalent in other countries, consisting largely of indoctrination.

5, bumped to 6) Like it or not, the government of Taiwan still claims mainland China. The official 'Taiwan' got stuck to it largely because other countries wanted to open up dealings with the PRC, and not offend the PRC when they did so. The legislature is still the Republic of China's legislature all the way back—you might as well say that Constantine's empire wasn't the Roman Empire just because it didn't possess Rome.

6, bumped to 7) Colonialism in the past doesn't affect a country's participation in the free world in the present. The UK does have a lot of problems, but it is still essentially a free country.

As for Greeks: no, it's more about your English. :) The person I knew was actually very conservative and admired the social order and relative lack of corruption in the US.

Korea had something similar - a requirement for government issued citizen-id numbers before one could post a message on any large website.

That didn't work out so well, not because of activists, but because of actual criminals.

Syria: civil war.

Not really, it's Libya-style revolutionaries trying to take over the country. The US even asked the UN for a no-fly zone so they could give the revolutionaries air support like they did in Libya.

Libya: civil war.

Again, revolutionaries funded and advised by the West destroyed what used to be the most prosperous country in Africa. They wouldn't have been able to do it without the help of NATO which bombed cities in blatant violation of their UN mandate.

North Korea: The new dictator hasn't had any time to start wars but under the previous dictator, a South Korean warship was blown up while standing in international waters. That's an a act of war.

There are doubts as to whether it was an attack by North Korea, as the South Korean press points out. So before you cry "act of war", make sure you're not falling for another Tonkin incident.

Iran: Finance several groups that conduct war actions against other countries, thus engaging in war by proxies.

Countries like occupied Palestine, or occupied Iraq? That's not really fighting against those countries, but helping them against an occupying military.

CNG is safer

Is there any statistical evidence showing CNG canisters are safer than gas canisters made by the lowest bidder in an average automobile? What is the basis for this conclusion? The URL you provided?

Strict safety standards make CNG vehicles as safe as gasoline-powered vehicles. In the event of a spill or accidental release, CNG poses no threat to land or water; it is non- toxic.

A canister containing 3000 psi of nothing but fresh air is dangerous by itself. Scuba tanks explode spontaneously for no apparent reason blowing walls out of houses and killing people in the vacinity...

Reported incidences of bus fires are related to engine failures

Try bus explosions... There *was* a nice video on youtube showing a CNG powered bus stopped and then exploded but it is no longer avaliable...WTF is up with that? You can still read the article.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2010/08/123_71263.html

20b ? I don't think so. The North Korea time says its around 800b$ Check this out:North Korea Time

FTFA:
``For as long as Apple does not drop mobile telecommunications functions, it would be impossible for it to sell its i-branded products without using our patents. We will stick to a strong stance against Apple during the lingering legal fights.’’

Samsung owns mobile telecommunications? So every cellphone infringes? Wow, how'd they get that patent?

I can't believe this is modded informative. It is a joke people, he's referring to Godzilla and Mothra. The giant earth worm seems to be a reference to this Korean news article (though it remains unmentioned elsewhere).

I really wonder what this guy's strategy is for convincing a country where 60% of Internet users still use IE6 to upgrade

But when little Johnny ... doesn't study as much as others, and I can go on and on.

I'm not so sure about that point. From the linked article:

According to OECD's Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2003, conducted on 15-year-old students around its member countries, Finnish students, who studied only 4 hours and 22 minutes during weekdays, only half of what Korean 15-year-olds do, scored higher than Korean students in mathematics.

I disagree with your other 50%. The other 50% of the problem is parents who steadfastly refuse to guide their children expecting the school system to become defacto parents, all the responsibility but none of the authority. Teachers (myself included) for the most part desperately want the kids to do better. But when little Johnny has a diet disproportionately consisting of Sugar, does not get enough sleep, doesn't study as much as others, and I can go on and on. When a parent isn't doing their job, the teachers job is infinitely more difficult. The problem with American education is American culture.

1) The South Korea's Games Rating Board is supposed to certify every game.
2) The Jesus Phone is finally about to be launched in South Korea and it will be widely popular for lots of reasons (you can trust me on this one).

But because of 1), the South Korean AppStore will not include games...

Yes, a state can do that.

[Already posted in a similar story a few days ago.]

But your freedom is defined by your government. If your government thinks you should not have the right to free speech, then it has no problems making it prohibited by law.

Indded! I just moved from South Korea, and my last few months there were made difficult by its new Internet ID requirements. Suddenly, I couldn't comment on (or sometimes simply log into) many large websites. Foreigners living in Korea are not able to log into or comment on Korean sites at all, though ironically, ethnic Koreans living overseas are able to register for an ID number.

This has a real chilling effect on speech (and I'm not talking about anonymous trolls). There is no way for a well-meaning whistle blower to escape the reach of Korea's oligopoly and political in-fighting.

Even sadder is that the whole system is strongly tied to IE and ActiveX (just like the banking). Sigh. I'm happy to be out of that situation. If the rest of the countries of the world adopt similar systems, we'll see the Balkanization of Internet. That shattering of communication (and a non-neutral Internet) may be inevitable.

But your freedom is defined by your government. If your government thinks you should not have the right to free speech, then it has no problems making it prohibited by law.

Indded! I just moved from South Korea, and my last few months there were made difficult by its new Internet ID requirements. Suddenly, I couldn't comment on (or sometimes simply log into) many large websites. Foreigners living in Korea are not able to log into or comment on Korean sites at all, though ironically, ethnic Koreans living overseas are able to register for an ID number.

This has a real chilling effect on speech (and I'm not talking about anonymous trolls). There is no way for a well-meaning whistle blower to escape the reach of Korea's oligopoly and political in-fighting.

Even sadder is that the whole system is strongly tied to IE and ActiveX (just like the banking). Sigh. I'm happy to be out of that situation. If the rest of the countries of the world adopt similar systems, we'll see the Balkanization of Internet. That shattering of communication (and a non-neutral Internet) may be inevitable.

1) The South Korea's Games Rating Board is supposed to certify every game.
2) The Jesus Phone is finally about to be launched in South Korea and it will be widely popular for lots of reasons (you can trust me on this one).

But because of 1), the South Korean AppStore will not include games... Now that's not keeping up with the times.

Another aspect to the South Korean model is that the Korean parents spend crazy amount of money for these cram schools out of their own pocket. Are Americans willing to spend the same percentage of money out of their own pocket as Koreans do? Probably not. Korean parents (and probably Japanese and Chinese parents) sacrifice tremendous amount of money, time, and effort in their kids' education. My parents certainly did and I am very grateful to them for that. Unless Americans are willing to do the same, it is highly unlikely that any government effort will lead to the same results.

Reference: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/09/117_30813.html

"The public education expenditure by the private sector, including parents and educational foundations, accounted for 2.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2006, according to the OECD report....However, the government's public education expenditure as a percentage of GDP stood at 4.3 percent, lower than the OECD average of 5 percent."

A city is a city. Wimax isn't country wide in Seoul. Seoul has both devices and coverage that other individual cities don't have.

As I pointed out in my follow-up post, tests showed Clear's wimax in portland to perform poorly. This isn't a judgment on why don't you have wimax in middle-of-nowhere town USA. While it might not be fair to compare the country wide implementation of fiber in a country like South Korea to the USA, comparing the implementation of wimax in one city vs another is completely fair.
Clear doesn't even offer an egg-like device which means wimax is only good for your laptop. With the egg, I can carry a cell-phone sized battery operated router in my pocket/bag and give wifi to any portable device I have. offering that has nothing to do with the geographic size of the country.

Offering 6Mb with 10Mb burst wimax vs 37Mb wimax in South Korea also has nothing to do with size, that has everything to do with your equipment.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/04/123_43867.html

You plug into your laptop? Oh..that's unfortunate. What if you don't have a laptop? What if you have an ipod touch, PSP, or other PMP?
Oh.. I see. You have to actually buy one of the only wimax ready devices.. a Samsung Mondi (Korean made btw)

too bad, keep trying.

Coverage?
Hmm
http://news.digitaltrends.com/feature/122/testing-clear-s-wimax-internet-service

Failed in the parking garage? Too bad..
the egg performed like a champ in the bowels of a building I was in.

Looks like clear didn't cut it there.

failed on the above ground LRT? wow.. as I already pointed out, skype on the underground subway in Korea.

If you want to try and throw something back at someone, you might want to try reading things.
Seoul, Wibro 37Mb (corrected that off the koreatimes article) @ $20 a month, includes equipment.
A few random american towns, 3-6Mbs (with bursts up to 10!) for $40 a month, you need to buy or lease the equipment, plus free crappy coverage

and Clear doesn't offer any solution for other mobile devices. too bad. The egg is only slightly larger than my cellphone.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/04/123_43867.html

Korea certainly is in sorry shape. next time do your homework champ. Shame on those people modding you up.

Letting the E.U. in on software patents would simply result in more patent violation suits against Microsoft. You'd think Microsoft would have learned by now.

South Korea bumbled its way into the Asian space race Tuesday...It seems that the KSLV-1 first stage, developed by the experienced Russians, worked perfectly. However, the rocket's Korean-made second stage, which was supposed to carry and push the satellite into its place, apparently had some issues.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/tech/2009/08/129_50676.html

In a video session disclosed only to a limited number of reporters Wednesday, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), the country's space agency, revealed footage taken from two built-in cameras planted on the KSLV-1 second stage...The second-stage tumbled back to Earth, and the satellite soon followed, as the remaining fairing was heavy enough to prevent the rocket from achieving desired speed and pushing the satellite to a speed faster than 8 kilometers per second that was required for the spacecraft to remain in orbit,'' Park Jeong-joo, who heads KARI's KSLV systems unit, said.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/tech/2009/08/129_50747.html

Russian officials cited by "Interfax" are claiming the vehicle failed during second stage flight.

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2009/08/south-korea-launch-of-kslv-1/

South Korea bumbled its way into the Asian space race Tuesday...It seems that the KSLV-1 first stage, developed by the experienced Russians, worked perfectly. However, the rocket's Korean-made second stage, which was supposed to carry and push the satellite into its place, apparently had some issues.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/tech/2009/08/129_50676.html

In a video session disclosed only to a limited number of reporters Wednesday, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), the country's space agency, revealed footage taken from two built-in cameras planted on the KSLV-1 second stage...The second-stage tumbled back to Earth, and the satellite soon followed, as the remaining fairing was heavy enough to prevent the rocket from achieving desired speed and pushing the satellite to a speed faster than 8 kilometers per second that was required for the spacecraft to remain in orbit,'' Park Jeong-joo, who heads KARI's KSLV systems unit, said.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/tech/2009/08/129_50747.html

Russian officials cited by "Interfax" are claiming the vehicle failed during second stage flight.

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2009/08/south-korea-launch-of-kslv-1/

Some (like Bruce at the Heritage Foundation) think that China's influence is rather limited anyhow.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/05/113_44916.html

I recall reading somewhere it was Mao who told Kim Jong Il that he was a bad communist for leading such a lavish lifestyle and they in turn kicked all the Chinese out of the country.

a handset...

In a different scenario, the mark/target/suspect won't necessarily know of being targeted, and probably any would-be assassins may not know they are about to attack a spoof. But, anyone intent on murdering or assassinating would just field an acceptable-risk-number of assassins who might be responsible for their own target, and may not even know who it is who is their designated hit.

But, you might find these interesting.

Man Arrested for Rigging Top Actress' Phone
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/01/113_38309.html

Man Arrested for Rigging Top Actress' Phone
http://www.hancinema.net/man-arrested-for-rigging-top-actress-phone-17780.html

http://www.telecomskorea.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6853&Itemid=2

Agencies use "cloned phones" to hold celebs hostage
http://koreadispatch.com/2009/01/21/agencies-use-cloned-phones-to-hold-celebs-hostage/

Well, considering "stretch some muscles", they'll have to take some newly codified law books with them, redefining sexual misdemeanors.

"The more I miss it, de meaner i get" is what some might say. I guess it might separate the men from the mice, the asTROnaughts from assholenauts and the a*holenaughts...

Now, if necrosis or other tissue damage happens to the reproductive organs (why would they be different? Well, has anyone studied the effects of N2S on sperm count? Ovarian production?), colonization of distant worlds might just remain a twinkle in the human eye.

I suppose this question (probably asked by others) might lead to funding of N2S+SEX studies for astronauts.

BTW, the originally-first-slated Korean astronaut was dismissed for two security violations. I'd read in Shanghai Daily News (March 20 issue) about it.

--
http://bigblog.com/space_science/1st-korean-astronaut-could-be-a-woman-1329645657.html
"Korea's first astronaut hopes to make peace with North"
----
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2008/03/123_20464.html

"``The main reason for the cut is Ko made two consecutive security violations,'' said Lee Sang-mok, the head of the ministry's space technology bureau, adding that both events appeared unintentional."

---
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2008/03/202_20538.html

"The switch came after the Russian side dismissed South Korea's original choice, Ko San, for repeatedly breaking training protocol."

Well, considering "stretch some muscles", they'll have to take some newly codified law books with them, redefining sexual misdemeanors.

"The more I miss it, de meaner i get" is what some might say. I guess it might separate the men from the mice, the asTROnaughts from assholenauts and the a*holenaughts...

Now, if necrosis or other tissue damage happens to the reproductive organs (why would they be different? Well, has anyone studied the effects of N2S on sperm count? Ovarian production?), colonization of distant worlds might just remain a twinkle in the human eye.

I suppose this question (probably asked by others) might lead to funding of N2S+SEX studies for astronauts.

BTW, the originally-first-slated Korean astronaut was dismissed for two security violations. I'd read in Shanghai Daily News (March 20 issue) about it.

--
http://bigblog.com/space_science/1st-korean-astronaut-could-be-a-woman-1329645657.html
"Korea's first astronaut hopes to make peace with North"
----
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2008/03/123_20464.html

"``The main reason for the cut is Ko made two consecutive security violations,'' said Lee Sang-mok, the head of the ministry's space technology bureau, adding that both events appeared unintentional."

---
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2008/03/202_20538.html

"The switch came after the Russian side dismissed South Korea's original choice, Ko San, for repeatedly breaking training protocol."

Who cares about phosphorescent cats. What about the AM OLED from Samsung with a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio to be displayed at CES in the spring? That's the real story worth linking to from slashdot. http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2007/12/123_15417.html

Ah... the web has a long memory, even though I do not. He's been consistent, at least (or at most).

[4/2/98] http://www.calinst.org/bulletins/bull 512i.htm
he suggested that the U.S. should expand copyrights to match the extended copyrights of European nations; continue its fight against worldwide piracy; and, expand intellectual property right protection by enacting the WIPO copyright treaties agreed to in Geneva in 1996 (see article below). He also stressed the necessity of other countries enacting and enforcing similar penalties for copyright infringements

[04/03/1997]http://www.star.so.swt.edu/97/04/ 03/040397n3.html
As a war pilot, scholar, White House special assistant, movie industry leader and author, Valenti has worn many hats throughout his career
...
He received his bachelor's degree in business from the University of Houston in 1946 and his M.B.A. from Harvard University in 1948. In 1952 Valenti co-founded Weekley and Valenti, the advertising/political consulting agency, which was in charge of coordinating the media during President John Kennedy's and Vice President Lyndon Johnson's visit to Texas in 1963
...
Valenti was in the motorcade in Dallas when Kennedy was assassinated, and within one hour of the shooting was hired as the special assistant to newly inaugurated President Johnson
...

[Mar. 14, 1997]http://www.mediacentral.com/Magazines/MediaDa ily/OldArchives/199703/1997031405.html
"Sen. Lieberman believes if you say 'V, S and L,' nirvana has arrived," Valenti said, adding that such a content rating "winds up lumping The Three Stooges in the same category as "Natural Born Killers." However, Valenti on Feb. 27 told a Senate committee hearing that he was not opposed to some changes in the system. "I've changed my mind," he said at the hearing. "I'm not inflexible."

[1992-1997(?)]http://iitf.doc.gov/members/valenti. html
Apparently, he was on "The President's Information Infrastructure Task Force." This site has not been updated in a while: "Use Netscape 1.1, IE 2.0, or CyberDog in 8 bit color" Cyberdog? Heh.

[1-28-98]http://www.twsu.edu/~news/insi de/1-28-98/forum1.html
Valenti will explore the relationships among free speech, censorship and personal responsibility in "Lights, Camera, Rhetoric! Who has control of television and movie violence?" on Monday, Feb. 9, at 7:30 p.m. in the Metropolitan Complex
No stranger to controversy, Valenti's first movie content battle came just weeks after becoming president of the MPAA in 1966 with "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" and its frank language. Other controversies followed, along with a Supreme Court decision that stated cities had the power to prevent the exposure of children to books and films which could not be denied to adults.
Those events led Valenti to announce in 1968 a new voluntary movie rating system, which has been revised occasionally to reflect changes in the movie audience.
In 1996, Valenti helped create a similar, and controversial, rating system for television.

[July 16, 1998]http://www.internetnews.com/i wlive/summer98/key4.html
Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association Of America, took on the persona of a fire-breathing, circuit-riding preacher as he talked about digital copyright protection to the afternoon keynote audience today at Summer Internet World.
...
"The only way to protect works [of intellectual property] and to guarantee their future is to employ technology to protect them whenever they go on the Internet," he pronounced. "If Congress confers legal status on any machine whose mission is to commit copyright burglary, we're in trouble."
Valenti's jeremiad was inspired by proposed U.S. legislation being revised later the same afternoon in Washington. The bill would implement an international treaty--the World Intellectual Property Organization treaty, signed by more than 80 countries in October 1996--extending copyright protections to digital works, such as digitized movies, software, and the contents of Web sites. Each country must pass enabling legislation for the treaty if its existing laws don't already cover the treaty's provisions.
In its original version the U.S. bill would have criminalized the manufacture of any device that could be used to circumvent copyright--for example, software to decrypt an encrypted movie--but this provision has been opposed by hardware and software makers who don't want to be responsible for every possible use to which their products could be put. They have proposed criminalizing the act of copyright violation rather than the manufacture of the equipment, but the motion picture industry and recording industries oppose this strategy as being too difficult to enforce.
"We don't want to ban VCRs," Valenti said. "The only folks who have cause for concern are the makers of black boxes, which are nothing more than stealing machines." The film industry fears unleashing the ability to copy movies on DVD, since such technology could produce unlimited copies with no degradation in quality, removing any intrinsic incentive to purchase a commercial DVD rather than a pirated one.
Valenti cut his remarks short so that he could fly to Washington to attend congressional meeting involving the WIPO legislation, saying that when he accepted the invitation to speak several months ago, he didn't know the bill would be revised the same day.
Valenti wasn't exactly preaching to the converted, however. In a panel discussion put together to fill the rest of his speaking time, speakers pointed out that the Motion Picture Association of America's approach to the WIPO legislation could make it a criminal offense to commit such everyday acts as setting a Web browser to refuse cookies, if they were being used as part of a copyright protection scheme. Moreover, even manufacturing a browser that is able to refuse cookies would become a crime.
"Jack doesn't want these laws to be so sweeping, but Washington doesn't always get it right," said Jason Catlett, founder of Junkbusters, a company dedicated to stopping the spread of Internet junk mail.
"I run a Web site, and I think that people who violate copyrights should all go to hell, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions," said David Fiedler, editor of the Mecklermedia site Webdeveloper.com. "This legislation might make your computer illegal because if programmed correctly it could be used to circumvent copyright." He also pointed out that the Motion Picture Association of America had in fact sought to ban VCRs and video rental when they were first introduced.

[December 12, 1996]http://www.cme.org/press2.html
"The age-based system that Valenti's group is proposing is inadequate and will not be helpful to parents," explained Kathryn Montgomery, CME President. "The ratings group has chosen to ignore the recommendations of academic experts, parents, child advocacy groups, and professional organizations to develop a usable ratings system that can work with the V-chip," Montgomery added. "Instead, they have purposely devised a system that will not tell parents whether a program contains violence, sex, or offensive language."

[April 25, 1966]http://www. resignation.com/historicaldocs/letters/04251966_va lenti.html
The economic commitments to my growing family cause me to regretfully submit my resignation as Special Assistant to the President, effective May 15.
(reply:) Dear Jack:
It has been a very long day.

[Tuesday, 19 May, 1998]http://www.chl.ca/Cannes98/may19_pirac y.html
CANNES, France -- The film industry is making progress in its war against piracy, but digital copying is posing a new and "cancerous problem," the head of the U.S. film association said Tuesday.
Recent raids, including the seizure of 8 million videos in Hong Kong, show progress is being made against pirates who cost the U.S. industry up to $5 billion a year, said Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America.
...
"In digital, the 1,000th copy is pure and pristine as the first copy. So digital presents a cancerous problem," Valenti said.
His trade group is spending about $50 million annually to fight piracy, including employing ex-FBI agents to bolster other countries' efforts.
"What we're trying to do in China is get market access," he said. Hollywood is limited to 10 films a year in the world's most populous nation.
Valenti said he'll try again with a trip in the fall.
The carrot for the Chinese?
"We'd like to invest with Chinese partners in state-of-the-art cinema," he said. "We are looking forward to a partnership relationship with China."

[September 28, 1995]http://ww w.economicclub.org/Pages/archive-old/abstracts/arc h-valenti0.htm
Currently, a good many public officials have certified that the so-called "popular culture"-defined as movies, television, and musical recordings-is the prime villain in what they perceive to be the clanging of the last ding-dong of doom for this society, the source bed of much of our ills. TV is a powerful medium, but there are deadly combustibles in the community, more noxious than any movie or TV program, and violence has been on the decline in movies and television for the past decade. A restoration of the homely" standards by which ordinary Americans have so long and through so much turmoil sustained their values, maintained their families, and guarded their country--not rating systems and censorship--is the only means for solving American social ills.

[02/07/96]http://www.house.gov/judiciary/461.htm
But what we do know is this binary numbers future is coming. It will have large impact, as well as both sublime and dislocating effect, on millions of Americans. It is the mandate of the Congress to peer beyond the veil, to make sensible and required judgments about how to make absolutely sure that America's grandest trade asset, its intellectual property, is protected in an era of technology so magical it verges on fantasy.
...
This committee knows full well the broad global sweep of American intellectual property which in 1994 produced over $45 billion in international sales, and is that rarity, a producer of surplus balance of trade, a phrase seldom heard in the corridors of the Congress. These creative works are the jewels in America's trade crown. To protect these delicate products in cyberspace is of transcendent importance. For if you cannot protect what you own, you own nothing.

[03/26/99]http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/14 _1/199903/t4151392.htm
President Kim Dae-jung yesterday told visiting U.S. commerce secretary that Korea will maintain the controversial screen quota system which limits imports of foreign movies into Korea, in defiance of U.S. demands for film market liberalization.
...
He made the remark as Jack Valenti, head of the American Film Producers Association, suggested that Seoul scrap the system, saying Korea is the only Asian country which maintains a quota.

I also spotted this article about a "Hacker's Lab" that allows crackers to work their way up to something like a "black belt" in cracking, by undertaking a series of canned cracks. It might be cool, might be lame, but it's kind of funny.

Here's a Zip-drive player that I found last Friday. I'm not sure how well Zip's play in portable use, except when they're stationary.