Check out Sun's new corporate strategy detailed in a pie-chart.

Sun CEO McNealy resigns

Last week, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, a Republican, gave a speech saying that data retention by Internet service providers is an "issue that must be addressed." Child pornography investigations have been "hampered" because data may be routinely deleted, Gonzales warned.

Now, in a demonstration of bipartisan unity, a Democratic member of the Congressional Internet Caucus is preparing to introduce an amendment--perhaps during a U.S. House of Representatives floor vote next week--that would make such data deletion illegal.

Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette's proposal (click for PDF) says that any Internet service that "enables users to access content" must permanently retain records that would permit police to identify each user. The records could not be discarded until at least one year after the user's account was closed.

Congress may consider mandatory ISP snooping

Coop showed me the prototypes for his new limited-edition Hot Wheels cars a few weeks ago, and I damn near drowned in my own drool.

Man these things are cool!

Boing Boing: Two new Hot Wheels cars designed by Coop

In a new twist on phishing, fraudsters are sending out e-mail that attempt to trick people into sharing personal information over the phone. More of this to come...

Phishers try a phone hook

Out here in the Valley (Silicon Valley, that is) we're well known for cookin' up a mean tech company. But our real legacy is our schwag--the t-shirts, ballcaps, notepads, stickers, keychains, and other booty blaring the slogans that create new industries (and sometimes landfill, sorry to say). Until now, these world-class collectibles have only been available to the elite few who make it to conventions and insider parties. Now you can have a little piece of the valley without the $3000 rent and two hour commute.

Valleyschwag: Join the Party!

There is a lively debate going on within MemeStreams on Illegal Immigration. First, thank you. One of the oft criticisms of MemeStreams is that its dominated by liberal perspectives. There is no architechtural reason for this. MemeStreams is supposed to be a place where people from different perspectives debate issues. Its not supposed to be dominated by one side of the fence. I'm glad to see an array of perspectives being offered in this debate, on an issue that is most near and dear to conservative hearts.

Having said all of that, I'm going to weigh in, and I'm going to say a bunch of stuff that is apt to make some of you angry. This is a touchy issue. Be prepared.

I'm a legal immigrant and a naturalized citizen of the U.S.. Most legal immigrants hate illegal immigrants. I don't. There are three things that separate my perspective on this from most people.

1. I think the Berlin wall was a great scar across the face of Europe, and a symbol of our collective primitiveness. I don't like governments drawing lines in the sand and shooting people who try to cross them. I don't like other walls for similar reasons. I think the wall in Isreal represents a great failure to communicate. I think a wall in the southern states would reflect poorly on America. Its an authoritarian reaction rooted in fear. To me it represents weakness rather than strength.

2. I think many Americans feel a sense of entitlement to the greatness of America. They wrap up our country's accomplishments, sprinkle on a bunch of stuff we didn't accomplish, pin it on their chest, and claim personal responsibility for it. They beleive that they are personally great because they are Americans and America is great. They don't want to share their oyster with others.

My grandfathers faught in World War II. I'm simultaneously proud of their accomplishments, grateful for their sacrifices, and in awe of their bravery. But I didn't do this, and I don't deserve any of their glory. The freedom they helped secure was not just for Canadians, but for the entire world. Its a freedom I still get to experience living now in America, and a freedom that my present countrymen's grandparents also faught for. But that freedom is not a privledge or an entitlement. It is not a property that we may own or that we may deny to others. It is a debt we owe to them, which we can only repay through our own accomplishments.

I don't feel personally responsible for anything that I didn't personally accomplish. The idea that other people can become Americans or live in America doesn't bother me. I don't think it makes them any better than if they weren't Americans. In part, perhaps, because I don't think Americans are inherently better than anyone else. Americans aren't great because America is a great country. It works the other way around. America is a great country because there are many great Americans. I tend to judge other people on their own merit rather than on the co... [ Read More (0.8k in body) ]

FOXNews.com - Immigrants Stage a Patriotic Protest

The man sued the City of Chicago and the police for coercing false testimony and hiding that fact. In this appeal, the lawyers for the police tried to argue that the result of the trial 30 years ago was binding on the wrongfully convicted man under collateral estoppel principles, which Judge Evans rightly dismisses as “an absurd argument, for any number of reasons.” The lawyers then tried to argue that the wrongfully convicted man had waived his claim by not bringing it 30 years ago, a claim that Judge Evans describes as ”too ridiculous to merit comment.”

Think we never convict innocent people? Read this.

OrinKerr.com » Judge Evans to Lawyers for Police: Argument “Too Ridiculous to Merit Comment”

The Consumer Electronics Association created this terrific new ad, which will run in two Capitol Hill publications today.

In response to a bill which among other things would ban MP3 streaming for webcasters playing commercial music.

Some sanity in the IP debate.

A disturbing photoessay of children born with birth defects as a result of Chernobyl, which was 20 years ago today.

Chernobyl Legacy

Join Leader Pelosi and become a Citizen Co-Sponsor of the Markey Net Neutrality Amendment

So, what do you guys think about this?

I wouldn't use an ISP that tried to degrade my service to a website I use in hope of collecting a ransom, and I would be seriously frustrated if I couldn't offer MemeStreams to people on certain networks because their ISPs wanted to charge me to access them. I know that most people don't have a lot of choice in their ISP anymore, so saying "I'll pick a different provider" isn't always an option.

However, there seems to be an arguement afoot about whether this is pro or anti competitive (although a lot of those arguements are being made on the basis of generalizations rather then on the specifics of this situation). Furthermore, I think this law gets tricky when certain things like blocking outbound SMTP come up...

I'm not sure where I stand...

Sign the petition for the Net Neutrality Amendment to the COPE Act