This plan would work incredibly well... in San Francisco where there are tens of access points accessible from any given place you might be. This would work horribly in the suburbs. Hell, it would work terribly in the residential areas of large cities where there would be enough density for this to work, but where people are too poor to have wifi (thus lowering the effective density of the mesh network).
Another good science fiction series which also discuss "the 1% problem" and human rejuvenation are the Lazarus Long novels by Heinlein, particularly Methuselah's Children and Time Enough for Love.
Print your photos as ads in a large newspaper. This will be archived by libraries, historical foundations, places like Google and Archive.org. It might not last forever, but it will last a whole lot longer than anything else. Some of the photos and information about my *own* family that was otherwise lost or forgotten was discovered via these means.
Of course, this isn't *practical* for large sets of data, but if it is super-important for long-term storage, you probably have no more data than will fit on one or two pages. It will cost a lot less than other means of *reliable* long-term storage with reasonable means of future-accessibility.
It mentions Overdrive when you click the link contained within the press release. This is also one of several published within the past year related to this new feature. The other press releases were more explicit about how this would be through a partnership with Overdrive.
I always make purchases when I visit B&N... I browse the selection, scan the ISBN with my phone, and have the book shipped free via Amazon Prime!
This isn't strictly true anymore, but it used to be. Today, most of my book purchases are directly with the publishers that will sell me DRM-free digital copies or from used bookstores. B&N has done very badly with their online store in identifying the format of books and if they contain DRM or not. (They're not all epub)
Furthermore, as much as I really wanted to like the original Nook - I tried, really - it was a failure, especially for working with DRM-free content. This drove me to the Kindle and now I'm unfortunately stuck in that ecosystem.
Where does this or any other article say that Overdrive isn't buying the books through payments to the publishers? Because this is through Overdrive and because of the description of the changes to Whispersync, I'm more inclined to think these books are provided from Overdrive themselves and Amazon has simply provided this already-existing library service to push their books to Kindles. Either way, the library of works available goes through Overdrive, not through Amazon. Overdrive has explicit, direct partnerships with the publishers of the content the serve.
Single-layer BD-R disks and 2TB SATA disks are currently matched at $0.04/GB. I will assume that the OP's data, which contains images, is already compressed sufficiently.
The BD-R disks have an unknown livespan and the OP's dataset would have to span 2-3 disks per project. The 2TB disks would hold multiple projects. There is an argument to be had that it is less expensive and more reliable to use the BD-R disks from the perspective of adding a single parity disk. The loss of any disk set would lose that project, not multiple projects. The data would be immediately offlined. As optical media tends not to fail by-disk, but by block, a filesystem like ZFS may be safest.
Contrast to the 2TB solution where you could use RAID-5, fill the array, & then offline for archival. For as long as the drives are online, there is an increased risk of failure. The loss of the array would lose multiple projects (~66 projects). Your individual drives are arguably more reliable, but you have fewer disks at a greater capacity, so the impact of a disk failure is much greater than with the more distributed BD-R model.
The benefits of hard disk storage here are ease-of-use and a better known MTBF. With fewer disks, it is easier & faster to online & verify your archives every so often. Even with ZFS-on-BDR, I'm not sure how well BDR disks will last over 10 years in a humidor, let alone on a random shelf.
I've tried Swype. I don't get it. I mean, I get how it works, I don't get why people like it. I want to type, I don't auto-completion or guessing. I don't want to switch context from typing to reading words from a list and then selecting them. It is slow and inefficient.
Plus, honestly, I think that Swype is particularly bad for me as a lefty. I don't think the tracking algorithm is righty-only, though it may be, I suspect that the greater issue is that in English, we read from left-right. Since a lefty's thumb covers the left-sided keys as they Swype, you really need to read the keyboard from right-left to operate as efficiently as a right-handed user. This results in a much steeper learning curve.
Finally, I work with Linux/Unix systems and the primary purposes of my Android device are to login to machines via SSH and to send emails. Both frequently contain Unix commands, Python source code, HTML, and other forms of non-English input that very often includes special characters. Most software keyboards fail miserably with these, and for this, Swype is particularly bad. Still, the size and layout of the default Galaxy Tab keyboard is surprisingly good, good enough that if not for being stuck on Android 2.2, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
I went from the HTC Dream (G1) to the Motorola Droid2 for the same reason as you: the keyboard. (I didn't go T-Mo G2 as I disliked the hinge) I've found myself wholly unable to use software keyboards. I thought the iPad was neat, but like the iPhone, decided it just wasn't for me. Not only did it have a horrible on-screen keyboard, but it was heavy to boot. Enter the Galaxy Tab...
Last week, I played with the Galaxy Tab for the first time and I must say: 7 inches is perfect for us hardware-keyboard holdouts. Yes, it is a software keyboard, but the width of the device and the size of the on-screen keys is absolutely perfect in portrait mode. I could type as well or better than I could on a hardware keyboard. Even special keys were handled quite well by the Tab's default keyboard, if I remember correctly. Related is that the smaller size equates to a smaller weight, which does help in typing.
I was finally a convert, or at least a potential one. Before, I didn't see myself buying a tablet due to the keyboard issue, or buying one and carrying a bluetooth keyboard (might as well have a netbook..) Now, however, I see myself having a 7" tablet - nothing smaller or larger, at least not if I'm paying for it.
Just because performance is better, doesn't mean that data integrity is lower. Data integrity is great with ZFS, too.
Everything is checksummed, in ZFS and these are checked on every read. In a multi-disk pool, ZFS will automatically detect and auto-heal corruption. It goes above and beyond what a normal RAID-1 would do, for instance, while also supporting this on a RAID5-like configuration.
Epic fail
Perhaps why you haven't heard good things about ZFS reliability is because there were many cases of early adopters losing their pools - their data. Largely, these issues were due to lost log devices. Prior to version 19, you could lose your entire pool and data through the loss of a log device. Using separate log devices, however, was not the default configuration and the documentation on this feature was clear of this limitation (and suggested mirrors of log devices). Following best practices, or using the defaults, and not doing the ZFS equivalent of "rm -rf", your integrity should be fine.
Needs change
Really none of the major features in ZFS can be easily reimplemented or worked around. Needs change. Data gets bigger. Virtualization happens. For instance, some of the needs of virtualized environments can only be solved by ZFS or its more expensive brethren, and ZFS still does better than a good number of its more expensive alternatives.
The closest readily-available alternative to ZFS would be a logical volume manager and none of the DAS options really come close at all. I stress the importance of snapshots and backups because these are things that have become increasingly difficult to perform with the size of today's data and the relatively slow growth of disk and network performance. I've seen traditional setups and workarounds, they usually end up with throwing lots of money into additional disks, arrays, and controllers; or 12+ hours of daily backups; or really high-level filesystem operations that don't work in many environments such as with TimeMachine on the Mac, or with an incremental rsync. The latter isn't practical in many environments, such as virtualization where VMs are given individual block devices or loopback files; ZFS works block-level.
If you have hundreds of thousands of dollars to sink into a commercially available SAN filer, then you might have a case that ZFS has no place. However, for those that do not want to throw that much money into a solution, ZFS is far superior to the alternatives. Yet, this thread was supposed to be about desktops and small servers, not large enterprise deployments -- and that is the thing, ZFS brings enterprise features to the small office. Because needs change, those features are becoming increasingly important.
Ever hear of TimeMachine on MacOS? Well, ZFS provides a similar feature to roll back changes, without the hassle of actually backing up your system. There is even a pretty Gnome UI. Of course, ZFS simplifies performing the backups, too.
Oh, did I forget to mention that despite the complexity of ZFS, the performance is stellar? Yes, it vastly out-performs traditional filesystems. Of course, that is compared to UFS on Solaris, but then again, that filesystem is on par with or faster than EXT3 (faster with logging, on par otherwise)
I remember having a professors look at me oddly for including a large bibliographies with my papers. They'd even say, "I only needed X number of cited references".
My reply, of course, was that it was necessary to specify my references, lest it would be plagiarism.
Although I shouldn't be, I continue to be surprised by how persistent plagiarism is, how *used* to it professors are, and how horribly terrible people are at writing.
In some states, walking down the street with a tape recorder would be illegal. I know that Pennsylvania is one such state. We have very strict wiretapping laws, arguably the most strict in the union. Google operates in our state and may have to answer to a number of felony charges.
I have the odd problem of being home, but not owning a car. This results in naive drivers which never knock or ring the bell, they just leave a "sorry you weren't home" notice. If I'm home, I won't sign a waiver, since there is no reason for them to leave expensive packages outside. Yay for suburban sprawl!
I'm aware of "passing", and I had thought to make such a point, but decided instead to make the point that I had. Certainly, in such a scenario one would have to (and they had) reinvent themselves.
This is certainly a human rights issue, but it is not a disability issue. Neither am I saying it is necessarily a legal issue, it is an issue of popular opinion. Parents, educators, employers need to understand that they should not try to make a left-handed child "pass". The left-handed should not need to adapt to ways unnatural for them, as for many left-handed, using tools in their right hands is as unpleasant a thought as engaging in homosexuality (or for homosexuals, I presume, heterosexuality).
Perhaps what is needed mostly is something akin to the NAACP for the left-handed, perhaps that is the NALHP, although it is hard to say based on their very broken website. Quite simply, there needs to be a change in thoughts and opinions, the negative responses I've garnered have only fueled my desire for change.
I'm left-handed and appalled at the general attitude of my fellow 10-percenters. I view being left-handed as a natural and entirely normally human behavior. There is no reason that we must adapt, but rather, we must refuse to be discriminated against. While it might sound silly to revolt about scissors, computer mice, knives, and other household items, it is a legitimate human rights concern. Left-handed children should not be denied an equal education because their school provides "ergonomic" mice or has not provided a method to easily change the mappings of buttons. Neither should those children need to learn how to use a mouse with their right hand, the way that their grandparents were forced to learn to write with their right hands, as that was seen as the "proper way". I see not why it is now frowned upon to force a left-handed child into right-handed writing, when forcing right-handed computing onto children is celebrated. I see not why proverbially left-handed Uncle Toms claim that left-handed people that assert themselves are stupid, that left-handed people should simply adapt. We need not adjust ourselves, we are but what we are, why need we change to the comfort of others, when we should be comfortable with ourselves? If had we in 1861 the technology to change one's color, would we encourage blacks to become white? Would that have been just? No, it would not have been just, but prejudiced and discriminatory. Why, then, do we expect left-handed people to become right-handed and call that an unprejudiced and indiscriminate act?
Left-handed people, if at work or school, there are no left-handed scissors and you must use right-handed scissors, use them -- in your left hand. Show the bruises to your teachers, to your employers, impress upon them the need for ambidextrous tools. Use that computer mouse in your left hand, switch the mouse buttons, and when a right-handed person attempts to use that workstation, ask, "How do you think *I* feel when I sit at your workstation?". Defend yourself, assert yourself, and introduce change.
This is why I suggested a DNS-based URL shortening service. Of course, visually, the URL is the same, but resolution to the destination is dead-simple, easily implemented, and even easily resolved *manually* by users with nslookup or dig. It is also federated and cacheable. I implemented this, wrote an IETF proposal, an implementation, and decided to buy and set up 6o.to which is currently active, although not terribly popular.
Prior to the DMCA, sites like Youtube would have been directly responsible for the content posted on their site, rather than being identified as infringement by a user of their site. You can thank the DMCA for having a commercially viable web. In theory, takedown notices are better than injunctions for both parties, although in practice, the relative ease of sending a takedown notice contributes greatly to its abuse and works strongly against site operators. The DMCA isn't entirely evil or controversial, the controversial part is the anti-circumvention clause.
The small companies also benefit greatly from copyright, trademarks, and patents. Perhaps more so than than the big corporates benefit. Of course, those that don't create any content, the proverbial "Joe Sixpack" doesn't benefit at all, unless you perceive the availability of goods and services, and employment as "benefits".
International copyright is bound by WTO treaties and other international law. The USA acknowledges international copyrights. The DMCA may have controversial portions, but much of it is good, providing means and method of having infringing data removed from the internet and requires certain compliance by intermediary parties (i.e. hosting companies) of infringing content. Note that by invoking the DMCA, they are clearly using US law, not UK law which would clearly not apply to data or services hosted by a US company on US soil, even if the content was created in the UK.
As for examples, I know of many happening in the other direction, as the US is a bit more "lawsuit happy" than the rest of the world... Allofmp3.com was an interesting example as while Russia was party to WTO treaties, the site was still legal according to Russian law. Ultimately, when pressured, Russia changed their law to be more friendly to their WTO allies and the site was shut down. Had the Russians already had such laws on the books, the RIAA, a US-based organization, would've been able to immediately bring suit against allofmp3.com according to international law.
So essentially... international law means that copyrights are unified within WTO-participating countries, but domestic law applies where-ever the law is broken, the law of the country under which the copyright is registered is NOT applied, afaik.
It is possible that I got some or all of this wrong, because, again, IANAL!
In many parts of the US, it is impossible to walk anywhere in a safe manner. Do you argue that people must instead drive everywhere? Where I live, the three closest bus stops all require walking along busy, shoulder-less roads. Many of the employees of a nearby strip mall walk along these dangerous roads on a daily basis. I occasionally do so as well, when I wish to travel into the city. Shortly beyond this, less than a mile, is an area of small-town charm with sidewalks, stores, bars, and cafes. However, it is impossible to reach that golden area without either trespass or a short, but incredibly dangerous, walk along a highway.
When I take my bike to the park, which lies about 1 mile in the opposite direction from my house (relative to the town), I must again ride on shoulder-less, congested roads, and through a one-lane underpass (on a two-way road). Is it safe? Probably not. Will I continue to do it? Yes. I won't stop living, and I'm not planning to move any time soon.
As silly as it might sound, I choose my home based on these aspects, because for where I live, these described conditions are nearly the best-case scenario for pedestrian traffic. To be any closer to sidewalks, I would have had to pay four times as much for my home, and it wouldn't be significantly better than it is for me now.
Slashdot Mirror
This plan would work incredibly well... in San Francisco where there are tens of access points accessible from any given place you might be. This would work horribly in the suburbs. Hell, it would work terribly in the residential areas of large cities where there would be enough density for this to work, but where people are too poor to have wifi (thus lowering the effective density of the mesh network).
Another good science fiction series which also discuss "the 1% problem" and human rejuvenation are the Lazarus Long novels by Heinlein, particularly Methuselah's Children and Time Enough for Love.
Print your photos as ads in a large newspaper. This will be archived by libraries, historical foundations, places like Google and Archive.org. It might not last forever, but it will last a whole lot longer than anything else. Some of the photos and information about my *own* family that was otherwise lost or forgotten was discovered via these means.
Of course, this isn't *practical* for large sets of data, but if it is super-important for long-term storage, you probably have no more data than will fit on one or two pages. It will cost a lot less than other means of *reliable* long-term storage with reasonable means of future-accessibility.
It mentions Overdrive when you click the link contained within the press release. This is also one of several published within the past year related to this new feature. The other press releases were more explicit about how this would be through a partnership with Overdrive.
I always make purchases when I visit B&N... I browse the selection, scan the ISBN with my phone, and have the book shipped free via Amazon Prime!
This isn't strictly true anymore, but it used to be. Today, most of my book purchases are directly with the publishers that will sell me DRM-free digital copies or from used bookstores. B&N has done very badly with their online store in identifying the format of books and if they contain DRM or not. (They're not all epub)
Furthermore, as much as I really wanted to like the original Nook - I tried, really - it was a failure, especially for working with DRM-free content. This drove me to the Kindle and now I'm unfortunately stuck in that ecosystem.
Where does this or any other article say that Overdrive isn't buying the books through payments to the publishers? Because this is through Overdrive and because of the description of the changes to Whispersync, I'm more inclined to think these books are provided from Overdrive themselves and Amazon has simply provided this already-existing library service to push their books to Kindles. Either way, the library of works available goes through Overdrive, not through Amazon. Overdrive has explicit, direct partnerships with the publishers of the content the serve.
Single-layer BD-R disks and 2TB SATA disks are currently matched at $0.04/GB. I will assume that the OP's data, which contains images, is already compressed sufficiently.
The BD-R disks have an unknown livespan and the OP's dataset would have to span 2-3 disks per project. The 2TB disks would hold multiple projects. There is an argument to be had that it is less expensive and more reliable to use the BD-R disks from the perspective of adding a single parity disk. The loss of any disk set would lose that project, not multiple projects. The data would be immediately offlined. As optical media tends not to fail by-disk, but by block, a filesystem like ZFS may be safest.
Contrast to the 2TB solution where you could use RAID-5, fill the array, & then offline for archival. For as long as the drives are online, there is an increased risk of failure. The loss of the array would lose multiple projects (~66 projects). Your individual drives are arguably more reliable, but you have fewer disks at a greater capacity, so the impact of a disk failure is much greater than with the more distributed BD-R model.
The benefits of hard disk storage here are ease-of-use and a better known MTBF. With fewer disks, it is easier & faster to online & verify your archives every so often. Even with ZFS-on-BDR, I'm not sure how well BDR disks will last over 10 years in a humidor, let alone on a random shelf.
Twice as many frames means that if you view it at the standard 24 frames per second, the movie will be twice as long!
I've tried Swype. I don't get it. I mean, I get how it works, I don't get why people like it. I want to type, I don't auto-completion or guessing. I don't want to switch context from typing to reading words from a list and then selecting them. It is slow and inefficient.
Plus, honestly, I think that Swype is particularly bad for me as a lefty. I don't think the tracking algorithm is righty-only, though it may be, I suspect that the greater issue is that in English, we read from left-right. Since a lefty's thumb covers the left-sided keys as they Swype, you really need to read the keyboard from right-left to operate as efficiently as a right-handed user. This results in a much steeper learning curve.
Finally, I work with Linux/Unix systems and the primary purposes of my Android device are to login to machines via SSH and to send emails. Both frequently contain Unix commands, Python source code, HTML, and other forms of non-English input that very often includes special characters. Most software keyboards fail miserably with these, and for this, Swype is particularly bad. Still, the size and layout of the default Galaxy Tab keyboard is surprisingly good, good enough that if not for being stuck on Android 2.2, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
I went from the HTC Dream (G1) to the Motorola Droid2 for the same reason as you: the keyboard. (I didn't go T-Mo G2 as I disliked the hinge) I've found myself wholly unable to use software keyboards. I thought the iPad was neat, but like the iPhone, decided it just wasn't for me. Not only did it have a horrible on-screen keyboard, but it was heavy to boot. Enter the Galaxy Tab...
Last week, I played with the Galaxy Tab for the first time and I must say: 7 inches is perfect for us hardware-keyboard holdouts. Yes, it is a software keyboard, but the width of the device and the size of the on-screen keys is absolutely perfect in portrait mode. I could type as well or better than I could on a hardware keyboard. Even special keys were handled quite well by the Tab's default keyboard, if I remember correctly. Related is that the smaller size equates to a smaller weight, which does help in typing.
I was finally a convert, or at least a potential one. Before, I didn't see myself buying a tablet due to the keyboard issue, or buying one and carrying a bluetooth keyboard (might as well have a netbook..) Now, however, I see myself having a 7" tablet - nothing smaller or larger, at least not if I'm paying for it.
Reliability
Just because performance is better, doesn't mean that data integrity is lower. Data integrity is great with ZFS, too.
Everything is checksummed, in ZFS and these are checked on every read. In a multi-disk pool, ZFS will automatically detect and auto-heal corruption. It goes above and beyond what a normal RAID-1 would do, for instance, while also supporting this on a RAID5-like configuration.
Epic fail
Perhaps why you haven't heard good things about ZFS reliability is because there were many cases of early adopters losing their pools - their data. Largely, these issues were due to lost log devices. Prior to version 19, you could lose your entire pool and data through the loss of a log device. Using separate log devices, however, was not the default configuration and the documentation on this feature was clear of this limitation (and suggested mirrors of log devices). Following best practices, or using the defaults, and not doing the ZFS equivalent of "rm -rf", your integrity should be fine.
Needs change
Really none of the major features in ZFS can be easily reimplemented or worked around. Needs change. Data gets bigger. Virtualization happens. For instance, some of the needs of virtualized environments can only be solved by ZFS or its more expensive brethren, and ZFS still does better than a good number of its more expensive alternatives.
The closest readily-available alternative to ZFS would be a logical volume manager and none of the DAS options really come close at all. I stress the importance of snapshots and backups because these are things that have become increasingly difficult to perform with the size of today's data and the relatively slow growth of disk and network performance. I've seen traditional setups and workarounds, they usually end up with throwing lots of money into additional disks, arrays, and controllers; or 12+ hours of daily backups; or really high-level filesystem operations that don't work in many environments such as with TimeMachine on the Mac, or with an incremental rsync. The latter isn't practical in many environments, such as virtualization where VMs are given individual block devices or loopback files; ZFS works block-level.
If you have hundreds of thousands of dollars to sink into a commercially available SAN filer, then you might have a case that ZFS has no place. However, for those that do not want to throw that much money into a solution, ZFS is far superior to the alternatives. Yet, this thread was supposed to be about desktops and small servers, not large enterprise deployments -- and that is the thing, ZFS brings enterprise features to the small office. Because needs change, those features are becoming increasingly important.
Ever hear of TimeMachine on MacOS? Well, ZFS provides a similar feature to roll back changes, without the hassle of actually backing up your system. There is even a pretty Gnome UI. Of course, ZFS simplifies performing the backups, too.
Oh, did I forget to mention that despite the complexity of ZFS, the performance is stellar? Yes, it vastly out-performs traditional filesystems. Of course, that is compared to UFS on Solaris, but then again, that filesystem is on par with or faster than EXT3 (faster with logging, on par otherwise)
I remember having a professors look at me oddly for including a large bibliographies with my papers. They'd even say, "I only needed X number of cited references".
My reply, of course, was that it was necessary to specify my references, lest it would be plagiarism.
Although I shouldn't be, I continue to be surprised by how persistent plagiarism is, how *used* to it professors are, and how horribly terrible people are at writing.
Mars is a Harsh Mistress, isn't she? reference
In some states, walking down the street with a tape recorder would be illegal. I know that Pennsylvania is one such state. We have very strict wiretapping laws, arguably the most strict in the union. Google operates in our state and may have to answer to a number of felony charges.
If we didn't launch, then perhaps: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunboat_diplomacy ?
There has been talk that Lion may not support 32-bit CPUs anymore, which will force a discontinuation of support for the earliest Intel Macs.
I have the odd problem of being home, but not owning a car. This results in naive drivers which never knock or ring the bell, they just leave a "sorry you weren't home" notice. If I'm home, I won't sign a waiver, since there is no reason for them to leave expensive packages outside. Yay for suburban sprawl!
I'm aware of "passing", and I had thought to make such a point, but decided instead to make the point that I had. Certainly, in such a scenario one would have to (and they had) reinvent themselves.
This is certainly a human rights issue, but it is not a disability issue. Neither am I saying it is necessarily a legal issue, it is an issue of popular opinion. Parents, educators, employers need to understand that they should not try to make a left-handed child "pass". The left-handed should not need to adapt to ways unnatural for them, as for many left-handed, using tools in their right hands is as unpleasant a thought as engaging in homosexuality (or for homosexuals, I presume, heterosexuality).
Perhaps what is needed mostly is something akin to the NAACP for the left-handed, perhaps that is the NALHP, although it is hard to say based on their very broken website. Quite simply, there needs to be a change in thoughts and opinions, the negative responses I've garnered have only fueled my desire for change.
Just because something doesn't matter to you, doesn't mean that it doesn't matter.
I'm left-handed and appalled at the general attitude of my fellow 10-percenters. I view being left-handed as a natural and entirely normally human behavior. There is no reason that we must adapt, but rather, we must refuse to be discriminated against. While it might sound silly to revolt about scissors, computer mice, knives, and other household items, it is a legitimate human rights concern. Left-handed children should not be denied an equal education because their school provides "ergonomic" mice or has not provided a method to easily change the mappings of buttons. Neither should those children need to learn how to use a mouse with their right hand, the way that their grandparents were forced to learn to write with their right hands, as that was seen as the "proper way". I see not why it is now frowned upon to force a left-handed child into right-handed writing, when forcing right-handed computing onto children is celebrated. I see not why proverbially left-handed Uncle Toms claim that left-handed people that assert themselves are stupid, that left-handed people should simply adapt. We need not adjust ourselves, we are but what we are, why need we change to the comfort of others, when we should be comfortable with ourselves? If had we in 1861 the technology to change one's color, would we encourage blacks to become white? Would that have been just? No, it would not have been just, but prejudiced and discriminatory. Why, then, do we expect left-handed people to become right-handed and call that an unprejudiced and indiscriminate act?
Left-handed people, if at work or school, there are no left-handed scissors and you must use right-handed scissors, use them -- in your left hand. Show the bruises to your teachers, to your employers, impress upon them the need for ambidextrous tools. Use that computer mouse in your left hand, switch the mouse buttons, and when a right-handed person attempts to use that workstation, ask, "How do you think *I* feel when I sit at your workstation?". Defend yourself, assert yourself, and introduce change.
This is why I suggested a DNS-based URL shortening service. Of course, visually, the URL is the same, but resolution to the destination is dead-simple, easily implemented, and even easily resolved *manually* by users with nslookup or dig. It is also federated and cacheable. I implemented this, wrote an IETF proposal, an implementation, and decided to buy and set up 6o.to which is currently active, although not terribly popular.
I agree with Jeff,
Prior to the DMCA, sites like Youtube would have been directly responsible for the content posted on their site, rather than being identified as infringement by a user of their site. You can thank the DMCA for having a commercially viable web. In theory, takedown notices are better than injunctions for both parties, although in practice, the relative ease of sending a takedown notice contributes greatly to its abuse and works strongly against site operators. The DMCA isn't entirely evil or controversial, the controversial part is the anti-circumvention clause.
The small companies also benefit greatly from copyright, trademarks, and patents. Perhaps more so than than the big corporates benefit. Of course, those that don't create any content, the proverbial "Joe Sixpack" doesn't benefit at all, unless you perceive the availability of goods and services, and employment as "benefits".
IANAL, but afaik...
International copyright is bound by WTO treaties and other international law. The USA acknowledges international copyrights. The DMCA may have controversial portions, but much of it is good, providing means and method of having infringing data removed from the internet and requires certain compliance by intermediary parties (i.e. hosting companies) of infringing content. Note that by invoking the DMCA, they are clearly using US law, not UK law which would clearly not apply to data or services hosted by a US company on US soil, even if the content was created in the UK.
As for examples, I know of many happening in the other direction, as the US is a bit more "lawsuit happy" than the rest of the world... Allofmp3.com was an interesting example as while Russia was party to WTO treaties, the site was still legal according to Russian law. Ultimately, when pressured, Russia changed their law to be more friendly to their WTO allies and the site was shut down. Had the Russians already had such laws on the books, the RIAA, a US-based organization, would've been able to immediately bring suit against allofmp3.com according to international law.
So essentially... international law means that copyrights are unified within WTO-participating countries, but domestic law applies where-ever the law is broken, the law of the country under which the copyright is registered is NOT applied, afaik.
It is possible that I got some or all of this wrong, because, again, IANAL!
In many parts of the US, it is impossible to walk anywhere in a safe manner. Do you argue that people must instead drive everywhere? Where I live, the three closest bus stops all require walking along busy, shoulder-less roads. Many of the employees of a nearby strip mall walk along these dangerous roads on a daily basis. I occasionally do so as well, when I wish to travel into the city. Shortly beyond this, less than a mile, is an area of small-town charm with sidewalks, stores, bars, and cafes. However, it is impossible to reach that golden area without either trespass or a short, but incredibly dangerous, walk along a highway.
When I take my bike to the park, which lies about 1 mile in the opposite direction from my house (relative to the town), I must again ride on shoulder-less, congested roads, and through a one-lane underpass (on a two-way road). Is it safe? Probably not. Will I continue to do it? Yes. I won't stop living, and I'm not planning to move any time soon.
As silly as it might sound, I choose my home based on these aspects, because for where I live, these described conditions are nearly the best-case scenario for pedestrian traffic. To be any closer to sidewalks, I would have had to pay four times as much for my home, and it wouldn't be significantly better than it is for me now.