Free Republic

"Esteemed Comrades of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs! Today we ask you to review your files for any communications you may have had with unreliable elements who are critical of our Party and our leader. If you have had contact with journalists, researchers, or other subversives, we ask you to report these interactions in full to the senior comrades responsible for the important work of ideological vigilance. Also, please also indicate if you have encountered any suspicious use of the following terms…" That’s not actually how Acting Undersecretary of State Darren Beattie communicated his request for information - snip =,...

ROME — In a blow to Italy's ongoing campaign against digital piracy, a high level Italian court has ruled that the unauthorized downloading of copyrighted movies, music and video games is not a crime if the downloader does not profit from the action. In 2005, a court in Turin sentenced two men to jail time and issued them several hundred euros in fines for taking control of a computer server at the Turin Polytechnic Institute and using it to store and distribute various copies of video games, films and CDs. Last week, an Italian Supreme Court judge overturned the sentence...