That's the only good news this morning. Remember the PATRIOT act? Remember how it means the government can spy on your library usage? Remember how the House was going to try and vote to overturn it? The vote was a draw. Which means the clause stays. But wait, it gets better. At the official end of voting, the measure _passed_, but the Republicans, citing their position as the majority, kept voting going for 23 minutes longer than it should have. While not technically prohibitted, they used this time to "educate members", which to me implies, "remember that bill you were sponsoring? We'll kill it, and any other bill you get behind, unless you vote our way."
I wish I had been watching CSPAN though, and could have seen the democrats chanting "Shame, Shame" and "Democracy!". I think Hillary Clinton should have leapt up on a table, face painted blue and yelled, "FREEEEDOMMMM!"
Now, here's a good DMCA stupid. You're not allowed to fix your own tape drives. Because, you see, fixing your own tape drive is obviously digital piracy (much like using a third-party vendor's ink cartridge in your printers). *facepalm* It's getting to the point where you don't own the things you buy. You use them at the whim of large corporations that can press charges if you use thier products how you want to.