Remember... all computer programs consist of nothing but various forms of reading data, writing data, and numerically processing the data. The idea of outlawing programs is scary to me... it's like outlawing words... or hammers. If it was merely illegal to use the program, I'd at least be a little less scared, but that still means it's perfectly legal to distribute it, which won't satisfy Mattel.

If I'm understanding this case correctly (and I'm not a lawyer), this means that Mattel can't yank back what already exists and is being distributed. If they want to regain the rights to cphack that were irrevocably distributed, they are going to have to get the program declared illegal, which A: would mean the original authors would have never had the right to distribute it, and thus can't grant people rights under the GPL, which means that while Mattel wouldn't own any rights to it either, they could pursue legal action against those who possess/distribute it, and B: would be one of the scarier things I've seen in a while.

The license was deliberately designed that way for philisophical reasons.

Now... consider the possibilities. Allow a third person to undetectably listen in by simply forwarding the phone stream to someone. Viruses that cause this to happen without you knowing it. Phone companies throwing a fit and trying to get it outlawed somehow.

No Controversy, yet: Cisco calls on Internet telephony: "Cisco is adding new technology tomorrow to an existing Internet-based voice networking strategy announced last fall called "Avvid" and is expecting "major rollouts" of its technology this year, according to executives. The technology is commonly referred to as voice-over-IP or Internet telephony, and Cisco hopes to spearhead the market for it. "

(Might I add that portrayals of massive rich gun companies are false... many are on the verge of bankruptcy, and there are certainly no 'rich' ones.)

I've been watching this site a while and find it really cool. It just hasn't covered anything I could link to yet. Hit the link for the rest of the commentary... I think it's amusing.

Overlawyered.com:

"'We want to do a Smith & Wesson-like thing with DoubleClick,' Michigan attorney general Jennifer Granholm said Thursday, referring to restrictions on Web data collection that she and attorneys general from New York, Connecticut, and Vermont have been negotiating with the biggest online ad-placement company."