Still think the big corporations aren't out of control? Oh, sure, you can say that the telcos just wanted to help out, so it's important to let them off the hook for violating the law. But the real upshot for any corporation isn't patriotism -- it's the bottom line. If they do anything but the bottom line, their shareholders can sue them. So the telco immunity provisions in the spy law the House is heroically refusing to pass is just about the money.
Don't believe me? Well, the Washington Post tells us that now, Congress is working on legislation to make sure banks don't have to follow intellectual property law if it will cost them money. "They could save billions." Well, sure. They could save even more if they didn't have to give you your money when you asked for it -- perhaps we can look into that next.
The short version of the story is this: a little company in Texas called DataTreasury had a great idea to digitally scan and archive checks. And they patented that technology. Then banks realized it was a good idea -- so they started doing the same thing without bothering to pay DataTreasury their royalties. DataTreasury sued (natch), the banks tried to overturn the patent, and it was upheld. So the banks just went to Washington, cozied up to a guy named Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), and voilà! Mr. Sessions introduces legislation to let them off the hook. God knows their kids are probably at home without even beans to eat, at the outrageous rates DataTreasury is charging them to ... what's that? A penny a check? Oh.
Here's the key, with corporate thinking. The rules are only there to make sure they keep making money. They make the rules -- I didn't ask them to beef up intellectual property law. But when it becomes difficult for them to follow their own rules, the rules change.
OK, it's not getting my blood to boil like, say, the government killing a kid on the way to the hospital or something, but we have to find our outrage where we can.
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