well i think you can say "ill kill ya" (and mean it) to a policeman and not have a problem, its under "threatening behvaiour" which is an open to intepretation law, so if he was having a bad day he might do something about it, but the majority of the time they hear that kinda thing all day long so its not acted upon. I seen plenty of drunks get away with that before [img]tongue.gif[/img] (special dispensation for beer probably [img]tongue.gif[/img] )

Despite the questionable credibility of the source, there is a scary thing to notice that is afoot here.

We are losing our right to privacy.

While championing our arms and our right to say what we damned well please, we are forgetting that everyday we lose more privacy. The gov't isn't taking it. No, we're parsing it out in small pieces every time we are cookied, tallied, scanned, spammed, linked, popped-upon, and routed.

Corporate America is insanely interested in amassing information about us to market its wares and the internet has created a never-before-seen combination: users oblivious to being watched and monitored, plus programs that can do the monitoring and watching of millions of bits of information per second, plus inexpensiveness of implementing the system.

Orwell will not be the model our loss of privacy follows. The government won't take it - the Corps will pay us next to nothing to walk away from it in bits and pieces.

Then we'll have no defense when the gov't wants to come in our bedrooms. :(

dont worry clinton came into peoples bedrooms for a while i think ;) oh thats not the same kinda thing is it [img]tongue.gif[/img]

sad thing is, you see in films of the future where big corporations rule the world, i can see that happening, atm the corporations know so much about people from marketing information, they have massive financial clout, and have bought up huge areas of land, they are extremly powerful, just imagine bill gates as the next world leader [img]tongue.gif[/img]

<font color=lime>T.L. That has been happening for decades dude, nothing "new" there. </font>

Lets test it out!! What would happen if you sent a gibberish email that just contained the key words they were looking for. something like this:

I wonder if the men in suits would come and take you out of work?? If anyone else wants to test it let me know. We can send each other gibberish and then just sit back and wait for the feds to show up.

Precisely why I made this thread. But i disagree about the Corporations doing it. If thas the case the Gov. ENABLES them to do it with the passing of its laws. Either way, Its the Gov that permits it.

Simple fact of the matter is that since WW2 the Gov. has had a thing about espionage. Now its just directing its focus inward instead of toward Russia (Formerly the USSR) or China or whereever. They have the perfect excuse to monitor everything everyone in the entire world does. Terrorism.

Grungi, its illegal to make threats against anyone in the state of Texas. Not just threatening to kill them but even threatening physical violence. ITs bee nthat way for over 20 years that I know of, probably much longer. My brother was charged for "Making terrorist threats against my brother-in-laws younger brother because that creep molested our neice. My brother told him "I'm gonna F*CK you up!!" The puke called the cops on him and they charged him. That was 20 years ago this year. My brother didnt even say "I'm gonna kill you!!!" Charges were later dropped, but still.........

Dragon Lord, you would be absolutely correct. I saw part of the film you are talking about.

And as for part 2 of your post, yes Ive read in numerous places that MS, the FBI and Intel are all pushing for this chip. Seems like an UNFAIR BUSINESS PRACTICE. Didnt Microsft just get nailed on an anti-trust lawsuit for its business practices?

Theyre going to try to tell me not only will I not be permitted to upgrade my video card AFTER I buy system, but they are going to control WHAT I do with my system and be able to SPY on me through a product that I was FORCED to pay for????

MY A$$!!!!! I'll die before I let them do that to me. I understand the piracy thing. Dont have a problem with that. But what I do with MY system is MY business. All the games I own were legally purchased. None of my hardware was stolen and was likwise legally purchased. My video card cost $485 and if I choose to go out and spend another $1500 on a new one thats MY business.

Big brother is here and hes hiding behind the name Government, Microsoft, and Intel to name a few.

jahanna i tried it but cos im uk noone came round though im probably on some tagged list somewhere as a possible "blank" (terrorist, criminal, madman? [img]tongue.gif[/img] )

but seriously if your trying something like that, you'll probably find the message will be picked up but then sent to an actual person who will discard it as obviously bait, if you really want to get someones attention then post an email to someone discussing exactly how your going to kill bush, but be warned you could get arrested for it......

Earthdog, the chips are already on most new computer, and are just waiting for Microsoft Palladium to kick in, their new thing after .net

it will essentially screw you if you, oh say buy a game, then play it on your computer, then purchase a new comp, or significantly alter your factory configuration, ie upgrade several components.

music cd's, games, files, etc will only work on the system they were originally used on, basically deating the entire concept of a network.

my solution is to switch to linux when Micrshaft begins pushing this software on the public, if enough people do, games manufacturers, software companies, etc will have to respond to the new market.

Earthdog, it's really not so much the government. The government is VERY limited regarding privacy - at least in the US. In fact, your rights of privacy against the gov't are MUCH stronger than against other people. Remember, outgoing mail and email is NOT private - mostly because the corporations have been monitoring it for years (as MagiK noted).

In short - privacy is a right you have to protect and you must be alert to not waive. For instance, there is no right to privacy in what you say to someone in a restaurant - so the Corps, the Gov, or whoever can easedrop - even with electronic equipment. So, combining the ways in which you can waive your right to privacy with the inclination we have these days to waive it anyway (as this thread is a fine example), it is simply a right in danger of dying.

Moreover, the gov't sees this problem and (in the US) has fought hard recently to secure our rights of privacy - ESPECIALLY where financial info is concerned. A couple of years ago it passed the Gramm Leach Bliley Financial Remodernization Act. Now, no one's likely heard of that on this board, but I'm sure you've all noticed the "privacy statements" you get from companies you work with regarding financial info (credit cards, banks, etc). Oh, someone mentioned an ATM. As a result of the aforementioned law, the bank cannot use ATM info or sell it to 3rd parties, etc - thanks to at least a little action by the gov't.

In the end, there is no way I fear the gov't will read my email as much as I fear my boss or some company will read my email.