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G8 Summit Aims To Kill International Piracy 340

arcticstoat writes "Next week, the G8 summit will discuss proposals for new international piracy laws, which include border controls and cooperation from ISPs to identify pirates. The laws will also prevent ISPs from being liable for copyright infringement. If the G8 summit were to agree on these measures and enforce them through international cooperation, could they really cut down piracy, or would they be impractical to enforce?"
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G8 Summit Aims To Kill International Piracy

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  • Huh?! (Score:5, Funny)

    by c0l0 ( 826165 ) * on Thursday July 03, 2008 @12:15PM (#24046895) Homepage

    What the ....?! I thought G8 were working actively _AGAINST_ global warming, and now THIS?!

    Outrageous!

    • by querist ( 97166 ) on Thursday July 03, 2008 @12:23PM (#24047083) Homepage

      The parent post neglected to clarify the reference.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster#Pirates_and_global_warming [wikipedia.org]

      For those who believe in the Flying Spaghetti Monster, Pirates are considered divine beings and the decrease in the number of pirates in the word (acording to followers of the FSM) id the true cause of global warming. Ergo, this can be seen as religious persecution!

      This, of course, is a religious view which I will neither refute nor defend in this forum.

    • Re:Huh?! (Score:5, Funny)

      by Mordok-DestroyerOfWo ( 1000167 ) on Thursday July 03, 2008 @12:26PM (#24047139)
      Actually every time you download a song not only are you contributing to terrorism, communism, and kitten killing, the Earth actually heats up by a fraction of a degree. By fighting piracy the G8 are actually fighting global warming.
      • by aliquis ( 678370 )

        Aslong as we still don't buy their crap.

      • Re:Huh?! (Score:5, Funny)

        by gstoddart ( 321705 ) on Thursday July 03, 2008 @12:40PM (#24047427) Homepage

        Actually every time you download a song not only are you contributing to terrorism, communism, and kitten killing

        As a socially conscious person, is there a way I can download songs which only causes kitten killing? :-P

        Cheers

      • Well now, as long as there isn't a harm going to puppies, I guess that is something we all can live with.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by kdemetter ( 965669 )

        Actually every time you download a song not only are you contributing to terrorism, communism, and kitten killing, the Earth actually heats up by a fraction of a degree. By fighting piracy the G8 are actually fighting global warming.

        Next we will see a video of Bin Laden , threathening to share copies of some unreleased popular movie ( some bad cam version). That would surely disrupt the American economy

    • If I'm not mistaken, the correlation between piracy and global warming shows a decrease in piracy. This definition of piracy seems to be based on the cutlass-wielding, rum-quaffing, sea-faring type rather than the mock light saber-wielding, Red Bull-quaffing, never-see-light-of-day type, especialy as the latter type is at a much higher level than in previous times. But just to be on the safe side, Let's go bother Prophet Bobby with this. I'm sure he loves this stuff.
    • But we have already proven that global warming is caused by the historical decrease in pirates.

      The G8 should be encouraging more piracy in order to stop global warming.

  • by GameboyRMH ( 1153867 ) <gameboyrmh.gmail@com> on Thursday July 03, 2008 @12:15PM (#24046907) Journal

    Data pirates or ship-hijacking pirates? Oh data pirates. You'd think they'd deal with the other type first.

    • by spun ( 1352 ) <loverevolutionary@@@yahoo...com> on Thursday July 03, 2008 @12:27PM (#24047151) Journal

      Seriously. A lot of people don't realize just how many actual ship-hijacking pirates their really are. Parts of Africa, especially near Somalia, are rife with them, as are the Straits of Malacca.

      • by aliquis ( 678370 )

        And on Jackass when they travel from London to St Petersburg and back in a race they are talking about the ukrainan (?) "pirates" robbing the people in the race and stealing their cars.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Red Flayer ( 890720 )
      Why is that?

      Which "costs" more to the economies (read: businesses and campaign contributions) of the participating nations?

      If this were a summit of PacRim & SE Asian countries, you might have a point.
      • by Stellian ( 673475 ) on Thursday July 03, 2008 @02:36PM (#24049561)

        Ignoring for a moment you parenthesis, I fail to see how piracy impacts the economies of other-than-US states.
        When most of your software is produced abroad, and your indigenous culture sells much less than Hollywood to your own people, then why should you protect the mostly-US copyrights ?
        Take for example the new French anti-piracy, 3 strikes law. It's obvious that most movies and most software (Games, Windows, Office) transferred by the pirates is of US origin. I would go even further, and say that if the pirates would no longer pay for American bits, and Americans themselves won't pay for french bits, the result would be a net win for France, lowering the import/export deficit - more money left to develop France, and less in Ballmer's account.
        In this perspective, the initiative of Sarkozy strikes me as very treacherous towards the French people - why should the French government protect the US copyright more aggressive than US themselves ? Hey, I can understand a little tap on the back from the US, but Sarkozy should protect his voters from US, not herd them like cattle into paying for imports.

        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by Opportunist ( 166417 )

          Sarkozy's wife [wikipedia.org] is a singer, songwriter and model.

          Any questions remaining?

    • by sm62704 ( 957197 ) on Thursday July 03, 2008 @12:32PM (#24047269) Journal

      I don't know about your country's WTO members, but as an American I want all American WTO people tried for treason and put in front of a firing squad. And I want their companies' buildings leveled in the most hostile manner possible and their business licenses revoked.

      The WTO is anti-human. They need to be stopped by fair means or foul.

      It's disgusting that this comes before my country's Independance Day. My country's government is owned by foreigners and American traitors.

      Sorry for the ran but this really pisses me off.

      • ...their companies' buildings leveled in the most hostile manner possible and their business licenses revoked.

        ...their companies' buildings levelled, their business licenses revoked, and the traces ploughed over with salt.

        There. Fixed that for you. :)

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by sumdumass ( 711423 )

        You do realize that Treason in america is a specifically defined offense and there isn't anything that G8 members are doing that would meet that definition. It would also take a constitutional amendment to redefine Treason to include their actions that you find offensive.

        That being said, I think you will carry more legitimacy and perhaps convincing weight if you can show a real criminal statute that was actually broke that the rest of Americans could believe was broke. You may be correct in that they are ba

      • I don't know about your country's WTO members, but as an American I want all American WTO people tried for treason and put in front of a firing squad. And I want their companies' buildings leveled in the most hostile manner possible and their business licenses revoked.

        The WTO is anti-human. They need to be stopped by fair means or foul.

        It's disgusting that this comes before my country's Independance Day. My country's government is owned by foreigners and American traitors.

        Sorry for the ran but thi
    • Data pirates or ship-hijacking pirates? Oh data pirates. You'd think they'd deal with the other type first.

      Given that the Russian government allowed the Russian Business Network to openly conduct bank fraud out of an office in St Petersburg for several years, I would not hold your breath waiting for mere copyright enforcement. The RBN was only shut down after we released comprehensive details of their activities and the refusal of named Russian authorities to prosecute. But Putin's mob only shut them down

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by sconeu ( 64226 )

        <PEDANTIC>
        Polonium (Po), not Plutonium (Pu).
        </PEDANTIC>

      • It will end up with something like a treaty that mandates laws be passed to provide IP address information of suspected pirates if X amount of evidence is present and so on. It will also be a cross jurisdictional allowance that will let US or Russian law or whoever law be enforced in a country as long as they are similar enough to each other. Most of the G8 countries already have provisions like that relating to other laws to avoid the expense of extradition.

        These agreements typically go something like this

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by someone1234 ( 830754 )

      That would be dangerous. Soldiers would get hurt, you know. It is easier to cuff some music loving geeks.

  • by Archangel Michael ( 180766 ) on Thursday July 03, 2008 @12:16PM (#24046921) Journal

    ... is to hire NINJAS!

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by aliquis ( 678370 )

      And then what? Ninjas can't beat pirates.

      1. Decide to put an end to piracy.
      2. Hire ninjas.
      3. ???
      4. FAIL!

      • And then what? Ninjas can't beat pirates.

        1. Decide to put an end to piracy. 2. Hire ninjas. 3. ??? 4. FAIL!

        Dr. McNinja would beg to differ.

      • Astronauts v. Cavemen. Who would win? No weapons.

        I say cavemen. They were built to survive brutal conditions. But then astronauts would have physical fitness and nutrition--perhaps stronger bones. And knowledge of anatomy. But does that really make a difference in a scrappy fight?

        (Shoutout to Angel and the Buffyverse.)

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by sumdumass ( 711423 )

        I think you got it wrong,

        1: convince people to become nijas.
        2: convince government's they can defeat pirates and lease the nijas to them.
        3: ??? *&@(*@(@*))
        4: profit!

  • Arrr.... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Illbay ( 700081 ) on Thursday July 03, 2008 @12:16PM (#24046935) Journal
    ...ya been sayin' that for nigh on four hunner' years, matey, and ya ain't rid o' us yet, ya lily-livered, wine-bibbin' landlubbers!

    Th' day ya sees th' last o' the jolly roger'll be the end o' yer own civilization, ya pack o' milquetoast swabbies!

    Arrr...!

  • I'm so happy that (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Dunbal ( 464142 ) on Thursday July 03, 2008 @12:17PM (#24046953)

    Piracy is taking precedence over energy conservation, alternative energy, weapons proliferation, violent crime, inflation, commodity prices and a couple permanent wars. Hooray. Let's choose an IMPORTANT topic for this year's G8 meeting. After all, quadrillions of dollars are being lost and billions of people are put out of work every day/starve to death because little Johnny watched a Britney Spears video on Youtube!

    To the world's politicians: WHAT THE FUCK??? SERIOUSLY!

    • Re:I'm so happy that (Score:5, Informative)

      by dwiget001 ( 1073738 ) on Thursday July 03, 2008 @12:26PM (#24047129)
      Well, from the G8 viewpoint, you are missing the bigger picture. By keeping "the masses" entertained *and* making them pay through the nose for that entertainment, "the masses* could not possibly have the time or wherewithal to do something effective to counter the outright wholesale removal and denial of their rights. So, from the G8 point of view, all of this will help keep society stable running as the G8 intends.
      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by russ1337 ( 938915 )
        but how about the G8 ease other side of Copyright by allowing the old stuff into public domain within a reasonable timeframe.
        • by Danse ( 1026 ) on Thursday July 03, 2008 @02:18PM (#24049251)

          but how about the G8 ease other side of Copyright by allowing the old stuff into public domain within a reasonable timeframe.

          How would that help facilitate the continued transfer of wealth from the middle and lower classes to the amazingly wealthy ruling class? See, you haven't thought through what you're asking for.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by hibji ( 966961 )
      I honestly thought that the story was about real piracy, you know, the kind that captures other boats and stuff. I would think real piracy would be at least a big a problem as the other piracy.
    • Re:I'm so happy that (Score:5, Informative)

      by Red Flayer ( 890720 ) on Thursday July 03, 2008 @12:40PM (#24047429) Journal
      Do a little background reading, please.

      The G8 is focused on economic activity, so discussion of the wars is pretty much right out.

      Inflation is not a global problem, so why should countries not having inflation problems make it a primary matter on the agenda?

      The agenda for the summit is defined by the host country (whose representative is the president for the year).

      Also note that global climate change is being addressed by the G8+5, and was a major topic last year.

      Finally, the G8 is not meeting for a week just to discuss IP and piracy. There are many other items on the agenda.

      You should proceed to get your panties unbunched, and then bother to find out what the complete agenda is.

      I agree that there are items of far bigger concern, but you should note that the G8 summit typically focuses on economic issues, not on things like war or violent crime -- though they are often linked to economics.
    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by oldhack ( 1037484 )
      G8 is now a club of wealthy Western countries, no more the club of major economic powers (i.e. economic equivalent of UN Security Council). No China, no India, no Brazil, no OPEC, and Russia only grudgingly. It would naturally represent the narrower interests of its members (or, you know, the parties that bought out the governments of the member countries). Sorry for stating the obvious. It's remarkable to see the world order changing before our own eyes.
    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by fyoder ( 857358 )

      To the world's politicians: WHAT THE FUCK??? SERIOUSLY!

      World's politicians to Dunbal: SHOW US THE MONEY!

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Vectronic ( 1221470 )

      You aren't looking at it right (as in from their perspective)...

      The government(s) make money off of the rest, but they don't make any money off of piracy...

      - More energy consumption, means the government makes more money off of taxing the energies.

      - War, and thus weaponry, is the most profitable thing for any government, weapons manufacturing (fuel, planes, bullets, bombs, a day * x days), the support of the citizens, and afterwards you get to plant your flag, round up some slaves, and make even more money.

      • The government(s) make money off of the rest, but they don't make any money off of piracy....
        - Piracy, they haven't figured out how to profit from this yet

        Sorry but governments are world-class experts at figuring out how to make money from anything. They figured out how to make money from piracy hundreds of years ago...ever heard of privateers [wikipedia.org]?

    • End copyright. All this goes away if we abolish copyright.
  • by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Thursday July 03, 2008 @12:17PM (#24046959)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by conark ( 871314 )
      the government is absolutely useless. in fact, governments in general are useless these days. the only thing governments have are military power. they don't serve anyone except the special interest that keep them in power. the saddest part is that people continue to obey an invisible force dictated through fear rather than reasoning. besides, i don't see what this G8 is going to accomplish. more politicians holding hands, publicly agreeing on some non-issues and then spreading more fear and getting mo
  • Typo in Title (Score:5, Insightful)

    by dynamo ( 6127 ) on Thursday July 03, 2008 @12:18PM (#24046983) Journal

    The title of this story should read: "G8 Summit Aims To Kill International Privacy".

    • Re:Typo in Title (Score:5, Insightful)

      by sm62704 ( 957197 ) on Thursday July 03, 2008 @12:43PM (#24047495) Journal

      I think it should read "G8 Summit Aims To Kill independant music labels and film studios". I guess Star Wreck [wikipedia.org] really rattled Hollywood. Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning was incrediby well done and hilarious.

      "My" representatives don't even represent my country, let alone me. They represent the foreigners who own the entertainment industries.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      That's good, I would also accept: "G8 Summit Aims to Stop International Copyright Infringement" since they're not actually talking about piracy.
    • No the title is correct, it is just that their aim is bad. If they were aiming at international privacy it would probably be safe.
  • Arrh! (Score:3, Funny)

    by Quiet_Desperation ( 858215 ) on Thursday July 03, 2008 @12:20PM (#24047027)

    Avast! By the Neptune's testicles! Man the torrents, me mateys! From Fiddlers Green to Davey Jone's Locker, we'll do battle with these scurvy land lubbers! Climb the mizzen masts and get the black flag a flappin' in the Nor'Easter and WE BE IN DERE INTERTOOBS STEALIN' DERE COPYRITES!

    Whoops. Lapsed from Pirate to LOLCAT there. Me heartys. KTHX! [wordpress.com]

  • The G8 used to consist of the 8 largest economies in the world. Now it is mostly just a group of good-old-boys who wish they were still relevant on the world economic stage.

    The fact that none of China, India, or Brazil are included in the G8 and yet Italy and France are illustrate this perfectly.

    • China, India, and Brazil are rising powers, but they haven't achieved the same level of importance yet. Also, the per-capita GDPs of China, India, and Brazil are still below that of other industrialized nations.

    • by Xest ( 935314 ) on Thursday July 03, 2008 @01:26PM (#24048285)

      You don't seem to particularly understand the importance of nations like Italy and France. As with Britain they're nations with extremely long histories that leave them to this day with a footing in many parts of the world. Their influence is incredibly strong internationally and it's this influence that keeps them strong economically, they're nations that simply wont sink in power because there's always nations willing to support them, trade with them and hold them up, often because of strong historical ties.

      France particularly is strong in many other ways also, it's a member of the UN security council for one, has a lot of sway in the EU as does Italy- the EU is by far the worlds largest economy by GDP and many other measures.

      These just aren't nations that are irrelevant, nor will they likely ever will be for decades or probably even centuries to come. I'm not saying this as a European with some arrogant feeling of self-importance (in fact, I'm British so I'm actually legally obliged to hate the French anyway ;)) but because these nations have so much power over international organisations and systems. They have the power to persuade the UN to push sanctions upon nations that dare consider trying to move away from the laws these nations produce for example and hence there's little that can topple them. Hell, a sizeable portion of the world depends on France and Italy for their defence, sure they could source equipment elsewhere but it'd take years and in the meantime they'd have zero support or ammo for their existing hardware.

      It's probably worth also noting that France and Britain have been working to get China, India, Mexico, Brazil and South Africa in on the act for a little while now too, so as with most organisations irrelevance isn't relevant when change is possible as it is with the G8. China has been in on the G8 meets for a few years now anyway, there are only a few issues covered by the G8 from which it's excluded.

    • by laura20 ( 21566 ) on Thursday July 03, 2008 @04:32PM (#24051199) Homepage

      The G8 used to consist of the 8 largest economies in the world. Now it is mostly just a group of good-old-boys who wish they were still relevant on the world economic stage.

      Members of the G8: US, Japan, Germany, UK, France, Italy, Canada, Russia.

      Respective ranks in world GDP [worldbank.org]: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11. Total GDP: two thirds of the world.

      Some has-beens.

  • Apples and oranges (Score:5, Interesting)

    by pla ( 258480 ) on Thursday July 03, 2008 @12:22PM (#24047043) Journal
    If the G8 summit were to agree on these measures and enforce them through international cooperation, could they really cut down piracy, or would they be impractical to enforce?

    Not a matter of impractical... You have a stegosaurus trying to step on all those pesky little rats that recently appeared on the scene.

    The stegosaurus can do whatever it wants, and the rats can't stop it. The rats, however, will last far longer than the dinosaurs.
  • by RichMan ( 8097 ) on Thursday July 03, 2008 @12:24PM (#24047093)

    Something that causes the loss of actual lives and goods. But nope the lords of IP must be served.

    http://www.voanews.com/uspolicy/2008-05-15-voa5.cfm [voanews.com]
    "The United States is very concerned about the increasing number of acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea, especially off the Somali coast," according to the U.S. Department of State. Piracy and armed robbery have disrupted trade in east Africa and threatened the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the Somali people.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piracy [wikipedia.org]

    • "The United States is very concerned about the increasing number of acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea, especially off the Somali coast," according to the U.S. Department of State. Piracy and armed robbery have disrupted trade in east Africa and threatened the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the Somali people.

      You forgot to include this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Failed_state [wikipedia.org]

      The only difference between Somalia and [all the other failed states] is that Somalia has one of the longest coasts in Africa, which makes it hard to police, even for a stable government. Perhaps more importantly though, this failed State sits between the Mediterranean Sea (the Suez Canal) and the Indian Ocean. If Somalia wasn't in the way of such a vital shipping corridor, they wouldn't get nearly as much attention from Western Gover

  • The laws will also prevent ISPs from being liable for copyright infringement.

    ... How do I become an ISP and get away with this muuuuuurrrrrdeeerrrrr.....

  • In fact, assuming a deal is struck, these types of coordinated actions from organizations like the G8 will lead to a more "unified" body of world law.

    These joint actions will form a basis for future world cooperation (whatever form that will take).
  • I wonder... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by clang_jangle ( 975789 ) * on Thursday July 03, 2008 @12:31PM (#24047255) Journal
    ...what will Big Media do if they do manage to "conquer piracy" and they still don't sell more crappy content than they do now? I know I rarely bother to "pirate" any of the crap they think is so hot, there is so much niche, antique, and "unavailable" stuff that I prefer now. Lots of it really is free on the archive [archive.org], among other places.
  • I hear they have real life pirates there to fight, boats and parrots and everything.

  • the internet is useful because it provides two way communication. if you make the internet a one way system, you basically have nothing more than a fancy form of television. you also therefore strip the internet of all meaning and value that you can think up examples of yourself: email, chat, interactive content, forms, etc.

    so as soon as you accept the fact that the internet remains a two way medium, you begin to understand that the gig is up. policing the traffic that flows from one node to the next is an arms race. every single thing that those who wish to police traffic can do, can be routed around, obfuscated through, etc.

    in other words, the gig is up, the effort is futile. piracy is permanent. all you can hope to do with your efforts is breed more hardy pirating applications. hardly what you seek to do

    so the thing for a proper world leader to do is accept the inevitable, and recreate the legal structre surrounding intellectual property to accomodate the new technological reality we find ourselves in. the new technological reality we find ourselves in has simply antiquated copyright and other aspects of intellectual property as we know it, circa 1985

    or wage war against technological progress. your choice

    • by cdrguru ( 88047 )

      Unfortunately, what the leaders of the Western world are looking at is moving all material production to low-labor-cost countries and building their entire economies based on IP. So what you are advocating is reversing this entire trend. Not sure if this is gonna fly...

      In some ways, the best thing that could happen would be a declared hot war with China and Islamic countries. With a naval blockade preventing any trade with them. This would cut the oil imports off and the free flow of goods from China, S

  • by faloi ( 738831 ) on Thursday July 03, 2008 @12:42PM (#24047485)
    There's no way they can fail to stop piracy!
  • *blinks* (Score:5, Funny)

    by dreamchaser ( 49529 ) on Thursday July 03, 2008 @12:47PM (#24047567) Homepage Journal

    My first glance at the page saw 'G8 Summons Ants to kill International Piracy'.

    It would be about as effective as anything else they are going to do. I for one welcome our International Ant Overlords.

  • Now that Google and other companies are planning to use the Columbia River dams by locating here for cheaper power, its going to put even more stress on the government to keep those dams going. Basically they are contributing to the extinction of the species- salmon

  • Considering the practices of Bell Canada these days I'm sure they would happier than pigs in shit to help out the anti-piracy initiative. They're already one of the front runners in the campaign.
  • What does an ISP have to do with the highjacking of ships? That's the kind of piracy the G8 should be working on.
  • by Anonymous Coward

    Speeding is one of the easiest crimes in the world to prosecute. Find a hiding spot and pull the trigger - POW the speeder is fined. Lets see exactly how well is that working. Same thing for drugs, prostitution, gambling etc. Now I know that no one here speeds, does drugs, hires prostitutes or gambles. Funny how effective those laws are. This one would be just as blazingly effective.

    PS My image (carder) made me think of another one - underage drinking

  • Priorities (Score:2, Troll)

    by nurb432 ( 527695 )

    I'm so glad we have our priorities straight.

    We are at war, the world economy is bout to tank.. but we are going to go after those darned music copiers.

    Geesh.

  • First Canada gets C-61, this is where ACTA now takes the stage.

  • Adopt Canada's method in South Park, stick them on a floating chunk of arctic ice and:

    Prime Minister Abootman: "Eh! What do you think you're doing?!"
    Terrence: "We're setting you adrift, idiot."
  • by ClarisseMcClellan ( 1286192 ) on Thursday July 03, 2008 @01:39PM (#24048555)

    I am glad that the war against the G8 is now in the front cyber-lawn and so many people are saying WTF? Seems that a lot of folks here don't think *they* have a chance. Let's see if attitudes change when the storm-troopers kick down doors of student dorms to search and destroy the wifi routers...

    This has been on the go in secret for a while. At the G8 they just rubber stamp the done deal. The wikileaks article is quite scary (RTFA) but what is weird is that you have to go to Wikileaks and download dodgy TIFF files to find out about it. Where's the democracy in that?

    Bring on the stormtroopers. I am going to see how many peers, seeds and leeches drop off over the next month. Just fear alone might shut down P2P viability. Let's see... Virgin media subscribers are going to tidy up their act, Google/Youtube is going to get cleared up and now this. All the news is in cyber-space today, shame the real economy has fallen off of a very large cliff...

    How do we setup a P2P network that goes wi-fi to wi-fi with no need for ISP's, governments and snitches? It's time for web 3.0...

  • by Ungrounded Lightning ( 62228 ) on Thursday July 03, 2008 @11:34PM (#24055091) Journal

    If G8 wants to get involved in something financial and internet related they should start by killing off international identity theft rings.

    This is a MUCH larger dollar amount than even the claims of the content conglomerates. It also hits a broader range of businesses - primarily the financial institutions, which are already in enough trouble from the housing bubble bust.

    Taking down a handfull of the biggest identity theft rings would drastically cut these losses. This would do a lot to stabilize the world economy - without appreciably shifting the world power balance or hurting any particular country (unless it was acting as a safe haven for one of the rings and participating in its ill-gotten gains).

"If there isn't a population problem, why is the government putting cancer in the cigarettes?" -- the elder Steptoe, c. 1970

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