Oh, Those Crazy French!

"While the world moans and groans about the French and their attitude of cultural superiority, you sometimes have to give them credit, often in hindsight, for their ability to see through all the BS out there...

...the French are also skeptical about the whole movie-piracy phenomenon. Why should illegally downloading the equivalent of a $19 disc result in a $250,000 fine and 5 years in prison? Shoplifting a $100 item from a store—which is tangible and real—has fewer consequences. Does this make any sense to anyone? The French don't think so...

...the American tendency to prioritize poorly seems to be thematic. It took yet another new twist when a get-tough stance against Wi-Fi poaching cropped up in Illinois...

...In this case, there was a guy parked in his car outside someone's house, apparently downloading his e-mail or who knows what. The network had no security, so he partook...

...this much I can say: Law enforcement should not be wasting the taxpayers' money looking inside every car where they see some guy sitting reading a newspaper, in hopes of finding a Wi-Fi poacher."



Also interesting: google's book database.