Dark matter is sapient in origin? It's a disturbing theory, one about as popular with the general public as the smartest Neanderthal's warnings that H. sapiens were poised to take over the earth must have been in his day. Perhaps the evolution of "gray goo" into "computronium" signals a slowly increasing respect for technology.
This solution also lays to rest the vexing problem known as the Fermi paradox, a.k.a. where the hell are all the aliens? The answer is everywhere--dark matter marks the tombstones of intelligent civilizations.
Police regularly create sting operations targeting drug users, johns, and pedophiles. There are no actual victims in these cases, unless you count undercover officers posing as decoys. Hence we are already punishing people for imaginary crimes. The only reason police don't use such tactics against other classes criminals (say, murderers) is that it's just not feasible. (Not that I see how any of this relates to video piracy.)
The argument that spyware is OK because users have given their consent is a load of BS. Who actually wants a barrage of pop-up ads? Vendors like WhenU typically distribute their software through pop-up windows that ask if users want to install some time/date function without mentioning a deluge of pop-up windows. I suspect most of WhenU's "clients," like me, inadvertently installed their software adware by hitting the return key. And as we all know, adware is damn near impossible to remove once installed.
In New York state, a man can be charged with rape even if he is having consensual sex with a woman and she asks him to stop but he does not. The courts recognize the right of the woman to revoke her consent.
Computer users deserve the same protection.
Slashdot Mirror
Dark matter is sapient in origin? It's a disturbing theory, one about as popular with the general public as the smartest Neanderthal's warnings that H. sapiens were poised to take over the earth must have been in his day. Perhaps the evolution of "gray goo" into "computronium" signals a slowly increasing respect for technology.
This solution also lays to rest the vexing problem known as the Fermi paradox, a.k.a. where the hell are all the aliens? The answer is everywhere--dark matter marks the tombstones of intelligent civilizations.
We're all just food.
It's turtles all the way down.
Now, where can I find the scientists working on a reality-hacking machine?
Police regularly create sting operations targeting drug users, johns, and pedophiles. There are no actual victims in these cases, unless you count undercover officers posing as decoys. Hence we are already punishing people for imaginary crimes. The only reason police don't use such tactics against other classes criminals (say, murderers) is that it's just not feasible. (Not that I see how any of this relates to video piracy.)
The argument that spyware is OK because users have given their consent is a load of BS. Who actually wants a barrage of pop-up ads? Vendors like WhenU typically distribute their software through pop-up windows that ask if users want to install some time/date function without mentioning a deluge of pop-up windows. I suspect most of WhenU's "clients," like me, inadvertently installed their software adware by hitting the return key. And as we all know, adware is damn near impossible to remove once installed. In New York state, a man can be charged with rape even if he is having consensual sex with a woman and she asks him to stop but he does not. The courts recognize the right of the woman to revoke her consent. Computer users deserve the same protection.