File Sharing — Harmful to Children and a Threat to National Security

jkrobin writes to mention that a recent report from the US Patent office calls peer-to-peer file sharing harmful to children and a threat to national security. "Interestingly, the report makes numerous references to RIAA and MPAA legal actions against file actions, as well as cites a 2005 Department of Homeland Security report that government workers had installed file-sharing programs that accessed classified information without their knowledge."

Comments

good thing it's 80 pages

[EllynGeek]

So we have a GOOD reason, for once, to comment without reading the article.

Re:good thing it's 80 pages

[vivaoporto]

You must be new here. I thought this being Slashdot was the good reason.

Re:good thing it's 80 pages

[SeaFox]

Wow, I feel lazy now. I didn't even check to see how many pages it was.

They're going for the high score!

[Rycross]

So they busted out the old terrorist chesnut and "Think of the children?" All they needed was to add something about immorality (implying Christian morality), and they would have had a perfect score.

Re:They're going for the high score!

[miskatonic alumnus]

Bird flu. Don't forget the bird flu.

Not only that.....

[Stanislav_J]

Also may cause dizziness, insomnia, psoraisis, and the Creeping Crimean Crud.

The cause of the fall of the Roman Empire? File sharing.

JFK's assassins? File sharers.

Besides, file sharing isn't mentioned in the Bible, so it must be forbidden by God.

Re:Not only that.....

[Haeleth]

Besides, file sharing isn't mentioned in the Bible, so it must be forbidden by God.

Well, there's all that stuff about "render unto seeders"... :P

(And the Feeding of the N-thousand, of course; if Jesus is going to go round making thousands of unauthorized copies of someone else's bread, he can hardly send you to hell for sharing a few tracks, now, can he?)

Chicken Little

[macdaddy357]

The sky is falling! The sky is falling!
Oh, and while we're at it, Wolf! Woooooooooooooolf!

Re:Paper -- also Harmful to Children etc.

[TaoPhoenix]

Recently, Paper has also been called into question.

If you take a heavy-stock piece of high quality paper, fold it into quarters, grasp the edges, and slam your arm down to force air through the middle flap, you can create a sound that will stop an airport in its tracks.

The Etch-A-Sketch brand has been revived and is being offered as a paper-replacement tool, but Microsoft has expressed doubt that the One Etch-a-Sketch Per Child program will work.

There's no patch for human stupidity

[cl191]

"Department of Homeland Security report that government workers had installed file-sharing programs that accessed classified information without their knowledge."
How about changing the title to: Human Stupidity-a Threat to National Security?

priceless

[cyberbob2351]

• Windows XP SP2 - $83
• Mac Tiger OSX - $129
• Half life 2 - $29.99
• 20Gb of music - ~$2000
• Getting all of the above with p2p - Free
• Murdering children and bringing to a halt the fabric of modern society - Priceless
• ?????
• Profit!

For this and everything else, there's Bittorrent

Re:Paper -- also Harmful to Children etc.

[cyberbob2351]

But we cannot get rid of paper, for paper beats rock, and rocks are the BIGGEST concern.

We need to abandon earth and become a space-faring civilization - otherwise our children's children will be plagued by potential weapons (rocks) to use against one another.

I call for a disbanding of the NRA (The national rock association)

When you pirate MP3s, you're downloading COMMUNISM

[Tackhead]

I can't believe this hasn't been posted yet.

The "When you pirate MP3s, you're downloading COMMUNISM!" poster dates back to 2000; it only took us seven years to go from wacky parody to grim reality.

Re:children

[rucs_hack]

your comment has been deemed harmful to children and kittens.

Do not leave your house, place your hands on the wall and wait, a mind correction team will be with you shortly...

Re:Hmm

[ArsonSmith]

Reminds me of when my brother got busted with pot. He lost his car and about $3k in fines and court costs. My parents blamed pot. Although pot didn't do that to him the government did. Pot only ever got us high.

Re:Stop the INSANITY!

[omeomi]

That's it! We can't wait any longer! We have to declare a WAR ON FILE SHARING. I mean, it's worked for everything else, right?

Re:Paper -- also Harmful to Children etc.

[omeomi]

But we cannot get rid of paper, for paper beats rock, and rocks are the BIGGEST concern.

Not true! You can bring a rock on an airplane, but try boarding with a pair of scissors...

Re:Stop the INSANITY!

[StarvingSE]

...Russians are drunk...

I'm Irish, you insensitive clod! How dare you give our national identity to the Russians!!!

Re:Stop the INSANITY!

[Kadin2048]

If it goes anything like the other "War On $FOO" that we've attempted, I'm all for it. It'll be free files for everybody!

IN SOVIET RUSSIA

[EvilSporkMan]

national security threatens you!