The terms of Microsoft’s End User License Agreement (EULA) for its upcoming Vista operating system raises the conflict between two fundamental principles of contract law. The first, and more familiar, is that parties to a contract can generally agree to just about anything, as long as what they agree to doesn’t violate the law and isn’t “unconscionable”.

The second principle is that the law generally disfavors the remedy of “self-help”. That is to say that, if there is a violation of the terms of a contract, you usually have to go to court, prove the violation, and then you are entitled to damages or other relief.

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It’s like the FBI’s most wanted list for spam

Spamhaus, an international non-profit organization whose mission is to track the Internet’s Spam Gangs, has released list of the top 10 spam offenders of the year.

Of all Internet Service Providers (ISP) in the world, Verizon Business is the number one offender on the list with almost triple the number of current known spam issues as its competitor SBC Communications.

Given that the most spammy ISPs are American, then it should come as no surprise that the United States leads all other countries with 1,983 current known spam issues. The next country in line is China with 304 known issues.

The worst spammers, however, are a different geographic picture, with the top (dis)honor going to Alex Blood of the Ukraine. Out of the top 10 spammers list, more than half were from Eastern Europe. The U.S. made the list twice at spots third and tenth.

Here is the Top 10 list.

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BRITISH people are now more spied upon by their political leaders than any other population in the free world, according to an official report.

The linkage of databases and surveillance systems mean people are now having their movements tracked, habits profiled and photograph taken hundreds of times a day. The findings, in a report compiled on behalf of Richard Thomas, the information commissioner, raised concerns that Britain is “waking up in a surveillance society”.

Thomas said: “Many of these schemes are public sector driven, and the individual has no choice over whether or not to take part. People are being scrutinized and having their lives tracked, and are not even aware of it.

“They don’t know, for instance, that a record is kept of every Internet site they visit. They don’t realize that when identity cards come in, there will be a record of their movements and every time they have engaged with any public service.”

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And if you want to know something even more scarier than that,then go to Daily Mail and reat this.

This list is a little out of date now that Mark Foley (R-Florida) has left the building in disgrace. But for those of you that think Foley is “just one bad apple”, check the history. Republican pedophilia is nothing new.

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The question has risen to prominence over the past week, after a New York Times reporter phoned "Thelma Arnold, a 62-year-old widow who lives in Lilburn, Georgia" and revealed that he knew altogether too much about her.

Read the rest on the Guardian.co.uk

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