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Australia : A Step in the Right Direction

The Australian Federal Government dismissed a proposal for "...mandatory filtering of the internet to stop child pornography" says an article titled, No to filtering: Coonan, on the Australian news site news.com.au. Instead, they've chosen to spend the money on alerting parents to the dangers of the internet. From the article :

"Communications Minister Helen Coonan said the government had recently reviewed ways of preventing child pornography, including a British-style national internet filtering system but rejected it. Senator Coonan said the study had found such a filter would cost around $45 million a year initially and $33 million a year in later years. She said it also had the potential to choke the internet and drive up costs for consumers and small business."

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SteamWatch Offers Forum for Displeased Customers

Valve made it possible to buy its latest, hit video game, via an online distribution tool called Steam. On the surface it sounds cool. Never needing to keep track of install discs does sound tempting. But the problem is that after purchasing the game, you're forced to register through Steam, even if you aren't going to play online.

SteamWatch has opened a forum to discuss the pros and cons of Valves online distribution software Steam 'due to constant deletion of complaint threads in the official Steam forum', as the site states.

Section 3.F of the Steam EULA states:

F. Third Party Sites.
Steam may provide links to other third party sites. Some of these sites may charge separate fees, which are not included in any Subscription or other fees that you may pay to Valve. Steam may also provide access to third-party vendors, who provide content, goods and/or services on Steam or the Internet. Any separate charges or obligations you incur in your dealings with these third parties are your responsibility.

Another section of the EULA states:

VALVE DOES NOT GUARANTEE CONTINOUS, ERROR-FREE, VIRUS-FREE OR SECURE OPERATION AND ACCESS TO STEAM, THE STEAM SOFTWARE, YOUR ACCOUNT AND YOUR SUBSCRIPTIONS(S). YOU ASSUME THE ENTIRE RISK WITH RESPECT TO THE PERFORMANCE AND RESULTS OF THE STEAM SOFTWARE IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR HARDWARE.

This is a quote from a post on the SteamWatch forum:

When I purchased Half-Life in 1998, I agreed to the contract inside the box (EULA) and never agreed to a forced changing of that contract. When the WON system died and you forced Steam onto your user base, many do not realize that they were also forced to agree to Steams EULA in order to retain functionality of a game they had already purchased under a contract earlier. Now if I want to play Half-Life online, I am forced to agree to a contract (Steam) that I do not agree to. Your company has stolen functionality from a game that I have already paid for.

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Ontario Requires ID to Buy Violent Video Games

In this article on GlobeTechnology.com CsiDano writes,

"The Ontario goverment[sic] has finally taken action and made a tangible move to make it harder for kids to acquire violent video games by requiring an ID to be presented with all game purchases." "Normally, only feature films would carry an R rating in Ontario. But Consumer Minister Jim Watson says it's time game retailers played by the same rules. They'll face penalties for letting kids under the age of 18 access adult games. Ontario is not alone in its crackdown. Manitoba and Nova Scotia have also taken steps to make it harder for minors to access violent video games."

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Stoplight to Punish Suburban Drivers

As reported in the San Francisco Chronicle in this article :

"In a move unprecedented in the Bay Area, the city's traffic engineers have created a traffic signal with attitude. It senses when a speeder is approaching and metes out swift punishment."

This is what one town resident had to say:

""It's kind of big-brotherish, but sometimes it's the price we pay for safety," said JoAnne Brewer, 49, who walked her golden retriever past the new signal Tuesday morning and predicted it would be a success."

This woman is the epitome of everything that is wrong in this country.

Here's the stoplight measuring someone's speed

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Mileage tax proposed for state's drivers

The state of Michigan has come up with a new way to tax us. As reported from the OCRegister.com in this news story:

"The plan, which still requires legislative approval there, would put a $100 global- positioning-system device in every new car in Oregon. The device would beam drivers' in-state mileage to a satellite, which would then send the information to the service station where the driver is refueling so the proper tax can be levied at the pump."

Here's a picture of the planned GPS technology

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