Movies-TV

Not "The Net 2"

When I first saw the preview for Anti-Trust, I thought 2 things. 1) It was a not-so-disguised movie about Microsoft. 2) It was probably "The Net 2." It looked like another computer-based movie that would be as realistic as "Hackers," but with a more obvious plot. From the first 30 seconds of the preview you can pretty much tell that the open-source sidekick is marked for death and Bill Gates...I mean Gary Winston was a criminal mastermind who will do anything to get ahead in business. I'd happy to say that while the first half of the movie went without any surprises, there are enough plot twists in the 2nd half to keep you guessing who's on who's side. Tim Robbins and Ryan Philippe both give good performances, and nobody seems out of place talking about technology. It's not the best movie I've seen this year, but it definately blew away my expectations.

Bad Science Fiction, with help from SUN Microsystem

This movie starts out with some eerily savy dialog about the computer industry, and then it just collapses into a silly notion that [a company] is murdering students to steal their programs.

Not unsurprisingly, Microsoft's bitter enemy, SUN Microsystem was involved in the production of this movie, and their CEO Scott McNealy makes a cameo appearance, as do some other SUN employees. Now that is really silly!

Great flick!!!

I was genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed this film. Tim Robbins is excellent, as always. His uncanny Bill Gates like character will leave true computer geeks rolling in the aisles. Geeks will get the inside jokes of the film....but the script doesn't leave the computer illiterate hanging. I thought they did a good job of thoroughly explaining things to avoid confusion. Ryan Phillipe did a pretty good job...as did Claire Forlani. I gave this movie a vote of 9...I can't wait for it to come out on DVD.

Predictable, retread garbage. Rename it Anti-Original

Antitrust falls right into that category of films that aspire to make some great point while being uplifting yet falls completely flat. I don't hate the film, but it is missing key elements, such as suspense. There have been other attempts to make an engaging film about computers, such as Hackers and The Net. They all fall short. The improbable ending of both The Net and Antirust seem to be nearly identical. These movie endings suffer from one huge error in perception: People in the PC business having this over-indulgent self ego that assumes the general population lives it's life waiting to hear the latest news about PC's and software. I have worked for many companies and industries, and they all seem to suffer from an expanded view of their own self-importance, as does this film.The way they introduced plot lines was pathetic. Showing Milo, who is deathly allergic to Sesame Seeds, almost ingest one from a restaurant breadbasket crossed the line of stupidity. Only his 'girlfriend' prevented him from sure death. This makes one wonder how Milo could have survived as long as he did, braving the perils of Big Mac buns and Sesame Seed breadsticks, as they cloak themselves as, well.... Sesame Seed breadsticks and Big Mac buns.Antitrust also doesn't provide much suspense. The patterned and predictable plot twists are easily figured out long before they are revealed (come on, was anyone REALLY stunned when Yee Jee Tso was killed?), thereby destroying any real shock value. And here again we have yet another film/story where at the end, the bad guys are chasing the good guys to 'get the disk'. We need to have a moratorium on this Simple Simon plot line for about 20 years. Still, I pressed on. Maybe the ending would be the payoff, but no. The completely ridiculous ending where we have the head of company security, another supposed evil guy, turn around and be the good guy that enables Milo to bring down N.U.R.V CEO Gary Winston was laughable. And of course, the news coverage of the arrest of Gary Winston is more fevered than when Hinckley or Oswald was brought into custody. Gary Winston, played by Tim Robbins, is a cardboard cutout of the same character Robbins played in Arlington Road. But that fits perfectly here in Antitrust, which should be called 'Anticlimactic' or 'Anti-Original'.In the years to come, this film will likely be banished, to be shown only on your local third rate UHF channel.

Hackers had way more style

Somebody apparently decided to see if they could make a movie as good as Hackers. They even took several basic plot elements from Hackers. And they even spent some time at Slashdot learning why Microsoft is evil and hyping that tedious story. The Bill Gates analog character is this thin: replace the word "innovative" with the word "creative".But it didn't happen -- because the scriptwriters were instructed to stuff the movie full of devices older than James Bond. Worse, to play on your paranoia, they left out the humor. The movie is above average in one way: you can't be stupid if you want to keep up with how all the old devices are woven together. But then your careful attention is repaid with predictability at every step of the game.An old Holly wood story: talented cast turns in some wonderful performances, but can't overcome the uncreative scriptwriting. So, unlike Hackers, this is just another movie... trying to pry your bucks loose with fresh talent and up-to-date news pasted over the oldest cardboard in the business.

An entertaining cyber thriller.

Software writer Milo (Ryan Phillippe) leaves his buddies from a Start-Up Computer Company. He goes to a Mutli-Million Software Company, his boss is a Bill Gates like Personality (Tim Robbins) but when Milo`s friend is murder and a Conspiracy starts in the Mutli-Million Software Company and His Boss is not what he seems.

Directed by Peter Howitt (Silding Doors) brings an entertaining Suspense-Thriller. It was a Box Office Flop in the winter of 2001. This is a underrated film. DVD`s has an strong anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) transfer and an clear Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. DVD Extras are:An running commentary track by Peter Howitt and Editor:Zach Staenberg. Deleted Scenes with/without Commentary. Alterative Ending with/without Commentary and More Extras. One of the Best Cyber-Thrillers since The Net. Super 35. Grade:B+.

Great movie, especially if you're into computers!

I recently got to see this one, not expecting to much, but man was I surprised! Antitrust is about young programer Milo (Ryan Phillipe) who gets an offer from the computer leading firm NURV, whose CEO Gary Winston (Tim Robbins) needs him for finishing a big project until deadline. So he and his girlfriend Alice (Claire Forlani) move there and he is treated with lots of respect, makes big money, gets a nice car...and finds out that NURV doesn't alway play by the rules. From there on, you can call it Thriller! A very well written story with a lot of references to the real world and a big Redmond based software company, with good leading roles, nice and surprising twists, and some action. I can only recommend you watch this movie if you get a chance, its well worth it!

A tech Rocky: yet another story of "little guy wins in the end"

Mostly entertaining film about tech crime, made all that more convincing by Tim Robbin's talent to quietly but in sinister fashion convince us that he was the filmmaker's incarnation of the "evil doer of the tech empire" that we all know and love to hate. It was not cloaked much, like, Portland was used as the NW silicon valley not Se$$le, and you knew right away exactly who they wanted you to reference as the Big Bad Guy. Here are some clues for the slow....first name....ducks have them; second name....in your yard you open them and walk through. No, not web-foot doors. Think! Be creative!I liked this film for its entertainment value, but I could easily see its errors and giant departures from the truth even as I appreciated the ideas and possibilities shown(the best part of it all). That said, it performed the broad(no pun)strokes well of a story of a garage start-up tech company and the very organized and dedicated attempt to steal precious and valuable tech from the Very Little Guys by The Very Big Guy Who Must Rule All, No Matter How Small. It also showed us the very obvious reality that theft and violent crime can and does enter any work place where there is a chance for someone to be globally powerful and, oh yes, lest I forget, make obscene money, not to mention squash the competition into molecular bits smaller than the talcum powder in latex gloves.It went like this: Never trust anyone...done. Only the bigs are bad....done. Only the little guys are good....done. Crime does not pay(in the end)....done. Tech is a wildly exciting field....done. Everything great in tech happens right now, no waiting.....done. All the neatest equipment to be able to do anything is at your fingertips....done. Have all the clichés been covered yet? "Show me some creativity" and come up with some more of your own. They were endless. And, it ended exactly the way you knew it would.

What was SUN Microsystem's involvement?

A terrible movie as everyone has said. What made me laugh was the cameo appearance by Scott McNealy, giving an award to one of the murdered programmers in front of a wall of SUN logos. McNealy is the CEO of SUN Microsystem, a company that practically defines itself by its hatred of Microsoft. They have been instrumental in filing antitrust complaints against Microsoft. So, were they silly enough to think this bad movie would add fuel to that fire?There's no public record I see of SUN's involvement, but clearly the makers of this movie know Scott McNealy. An interesting mystery.

"There is an explosion in a closet in Building 12"

"Antitrust" is a movie that should have been Made-for-TV, which somehow got Tim Robbins and a Theatrical Release."Antitrust" was clearly inspired by the Department of Justice series of suits against Microsoft for repeatedly abusing its monopoly power. The Corporate thriller, done well, can be riveting; "Wall Street" and "The Firm". But despite the title of this movie, it's not really about Anti-trust at all. It's actually a low grade crime drama.Tim Robbins makes a great Bill Gates. But rather than scheming and bribing his way into power, Gary Winston (Robbins) simply gets his goons to spy on independent programmers then kills them to steal their code. This doesn't really make sense. Since he's spying on them, why doesn't he just copy it on the quiet? Or buy them out? Or patent their idea and threaten them with a lawsuit? Or make a 'friendly' call to their financiers? Or otherwise threaten, cajole or seduce them?That could have made a great corporate thriller. Instead we get a series of stupidly conceived murders with Robbins as a poor man's Bond Villain. With the exception of Milo's girlfriend (Claire Forlani), the characters in this movie are remarkably one-dimensional. We never learn anything about the person of Hero Milo (Matt Damon-lookalike Ryan Phillippe) other than the fact he works on a computer. He's remarkably unimpassioned about what unfolds around him. He yells occasionally, but for the most part takes all the twists and turns and betrayals around him with an unrealistic cool-headedness.The plot does manage to sneak in a few surprises, but most of the time Milo never has to try. He lumbers from scene to scene with the mystery conveniently unraveling before him. For example, in one scene he 'hacks' into a computer and learns of a mystery operative named ND47. (At a company of geeks and hackers, best not to keep all your incriminating evidence on computer.) He then walks into the office of a Department of Justice Officer. On the wall is a college basketball photo of him wearing the jersey 'ND47'. Unflinching, Milo makes some silly excuse which ND47 stupidly buys, then walks out the door. It all falls together like that. You get the feeling if Milo just sat in a room the rest of the cast would queue outside the door, knock in turn to explain to him what is going on.Most of the actors seem decent, but simply walk through their parts. We never get the feeling of any plausible motivations behind any of their characters. Robbins is a good actor, but we never learn why he "has to win" so badly. There's plenty of unused material in inspiration Bill Gates' biography that could have given depth to Robbin's performance. Ryan Phillippe as Milo delivers too stilted a performance; He looks worried, but he doesn't *act* worried. Rachael Leigh Cook as Lisa doesn't even flinch when Milo confronts her with her Stepfather's abuse. She responds as if he was ordering an orange juice. But rather than condemn the actors, I'll fault the direction which should have picked this up.Yee Jee Tso plays Milo's Startup Partner, Teddy Chin. When Milo walks out on him to accept a job offer from Robbins, Yee Jee Tso gives a good performance as the jilted partner. But the script has him getting over it far too quickly. Surely we could have had a lovely heated feud over this?This is meant to be a movie for geeks. They did make some attempt to bring in contentious issues like 'free love' open source versus 'robber baron' proprietary software and digital slander. But these are flip monologues which are said, never argued and quickly forgotten.It makes technical references, but these won't fool anyone who has ever programmed. The technobabble is pure hogwash; "It's not in the box. It's in the band." In one scene an excited Robbins shows Milo his source code. Milo grins "the compression on this is awesome." Robbins taps the screen and beams with pride. But the code he's tapping is comparing a string with the word "GET". This guy doesn't even seem to know about string libraries. Compression? Hardly. They could have at least shown us GZIP.This is a movie with decent actors and a good premise let down by poor direction, a half-baked story and bad screenplay.Some years ago I had a friend with a Security Startup, who threatened to blow the whistle on the poor security at banks. The banks made a friendly call to some police officers who, quite legally, visited his partner and threatened him with extortion if they went public. His partner crapped himself, the banks stole the technology, and offered business to every law firm he tried to hire. When Real Life is more interesting than movies, the movie makers are doing something wrong.Rating: 1 out of 4 stars (barely watchable).PS. "There is an explosion in a closet in Building 12" has to be the worst delivery of a line in the film.

Phillippe, Robbins Save This One

Like an earth with two moons, the world in which we live has evolved toward a schizophrenic level of dual realities, one sensory based, tangible; the other a reality of the mind that can be found in the dimension we know as cyberspace. And maintaining the latter has become big business in the former: Providing software that changes the parameters of that reality on a daily-- even hourly-- basis. It's a big, and moreover, a binary industry, a business in which (according to this film) you are either a `one' or a `zero,' and it's therefore imperative to stay ahead of the competition at any cost. Which is exactly the position explored by director Peter Howitt in `AntiTrust,' a thriller that puts something of a paranoid perspective on the world born of the microchip. Based in the Pacific Northwest, N.U.R.V. (Never Underestimate Radical Vision), the empire of software magnate Gary Winston (Tim Robbins), is on the verge of achieving a quantum leap forward in the realm of global communications. Their `Synapse' satellite system, once operational, will make global communications through any medium a reality. All they need is one more all important piece of the puzzle to implement it, and toward that end Winston has recruited Milo Hoffman (Ryan Phillippe), a young computer genius, one of maybe twenty programmers in the world who can accomplish the task before the targeted date set by Winston to launch Synapse. The carrot on the stick that Winston dangles in front of Milo is too tempting to refuse, so Milo abandons his plan of starting up his own company, in which he would have been partners with his best friend, Teddy (Yee Jee Tso), to accept the position-- and the challenge-- at N.U.R.V.
Very quickly, however, this apparently perfect world into which Milo has entered begins to implode on him, beginning with the tragic death of Teddy, apparently the victim of what looks to be a racially motivated hate crime.
But then something happens which causes Milo to question the truth about Teddy's murder, as well as the methods Gary Winston employs to keep N.U.R.V. at the top of the charts. And he is determined to find the answers at any cost; whatever it takes, he will know the truth before it's over. With this film, Howitt succeeds in putting a fresh face on the concept of the `computer nerd,' and though overall it may be a bit to slick for it's own good, he does provide some thrills with it and manages to maintain enough tension and suspense throughout to keep it interesting. As pure entertainment it works, but it's not one into which you want to delve too deeply; just sit back and enjoy the ride. If you do insist on looking closely, you'll discover a plot that is something of a cut-and-paste job, into which an element is injected purely to move the story in a certain direction, and it does, but at the cost of compromising the film's credibility somewhat. There is an `All is not what it seems' aspect to it that is fairly obvious from the outset, but Howitt fails to mine it's potential to the fullest, and it leaves you wondering how much better this would've been in the hands of a Hitchcock or Mamet (and, granted, that's pretty exclusive territory). Howitt does well enough, but he's still playing at `Triple A' level, not quite ready for the `Show.' What he does have going for him are the performances of his personable and very watchable stars, Robbins and Phillippe. The character of Gary Winston is Bill Gates, roman a clef, and is well served by Robbins' portrayal of what could be called Gates' fictional evil twin. Robbins sells the character with his natural, charismatic personality and makes the image of Winston as a leader and motivator believable. And he adds some nice, personal touches-- his penchant for potato chips, for example-- that fleshes out the character and gives you the whole package rather than just a surface-will-suffice representation. Though with a completely different character, Robbins has been down this road before, in `Arlington Road,' and now, in creating Winston, proves beyond any doubt his adeptness at playing to the dark side and making it real. Phillippe, too, gives an engaging performance as Milo, lending an air of introspection to his character that really brings him to life. It's an earnest portrayal and very well presented. Phillippe has a genuine quality that makes him stand out, even as he did as part of the ensemble cast of `Playing By Heart,' in 1998, in which he shared the screen with the likes of Sean Connery, Angelina Jolie, Dennis Quaid and Ellen Burstyn. His performance here, in fact-- along with Robbins-- is a big part of what makes this film so agreeable. He's a fine young actor who has already demonstrated he has what it takes to carry a film on his own, and he's definitely one to keep an eye on as his career develops. As Alice, the woman in Milo's life, Claire Forlani looks elegant and has an ingratiating quality that draws the eye to her, and her character, though less than detailed, is believable. Rachael Leigh Cook, on the other hand, is attractive, but her character, Lisa, lacks definition, and what you get is something of a `Cliff's Notes' version of who she is. With both characters, Howitt seems to have had trouble getting a handle on how best to present them, especially Cook, who ultimately serves as little more than window dressing. The supporting cast includes Douglas McFerran (Bob), Richard Roundtree (Barton), Tygh Runyan (Banks) and Tyler Labine (doing a Jack Black take on his character, Redmond). `AntiTrust' may not equal the paranoia induced by `Enemy of the State,' but it does raise some questions about where technology is taking us, and more importantly, who is in the driver's seat.
It's a cautionary tale, good for some thrills; but again, just don't look too deep. 6/10.

Good and Evil in the computer industry

I'm sure you're all fimiliar with the story line from other reviews, so I'll skip it, and go right into the issues.

The acting is superb, mainly because the actors and actresses are good ones. The stroy line is loosely based on events of the past few years in the computer industry. All this is great. But when the movie tries to protray the argument between the 'open source' / high priced software, the 'open source' good guys win. But somehow the 'high priced' software guys made a better case - putting some of the earnings back into development sounds a lot better than the 'knowledge belongs to mankind' ideology of the open source camp in the movie...

OK thriller with built-in teen appeal

ANTITRUST Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Panavision)Sound formats: DTS / SDDSBrit director (and former sitcom actor) Peter Howitt pits adolescent cybergeeks against corporate bulldogs in this OK thriller, in which computer programmer Ryan Phillippe (the best-looking 'nerd' on the planet) is recruited by industry giant Tim Robbins (stealing the show in a thinly disguised impersonation of Bill Gates) to help with the design of a revolutionary software process that will transform the global communications network. It soon becomes apparent, however, that Robbins' business practices are less than ethical, allowing him to get the jump on anyone whose research threatens to scupper the development of his much-prized software, with lethal consequences for anyone who gets in his way. Phillippe's suspicions are aroused when Robbins steals data from one of our hero's former geek buddies (Yee Jee Tso) who's just been murdered by person or persons unknown, and Phillippe is betrayed by all and sundry whilst attempting to expose this hideous injustice to the world.Howitt and his production team manage to keep the pot boiling throughout, rendering cinematic what might otherwise have fallen flat, and while some of the film's major plot twists are more predictable than others, Howard Franklin's script manages to pull more than a few surprises out of the hat before events reach their inevitable conclusion. Robbins towers over proceedings as the charismatic villain corrupted by power and ambition, while Phillippe plays the role of defiant whizkid with just the right amount of naivety and gravitas, particularly as the scale of Robbins' deceit becomes apparent near the end of the movie. Co-stars include Rachael Leigh Cook, Claire Forlani and Richard Roundtree, while David Clennon makes an unbilled cameo appearance. Thankfully, despite its subject matter, the film remains accessible throughout, even for those whose world doesn't revolve around the contents of their computer terminals. Minor stuff, but highly watchable, and done to a turn.

Anyone thirsty for Pepsi?

Fairly average movie, takes plots from a couple of others. Interesting how they made Tim look like Bill Gates but the most annoying thing was the pepsi plugs. How much money did pepsi shell out in this movie for advertising. I mean every single shot that calls for someone to drink something, it always happens to be pepsi.

Entertaining, Conspiracy Thriller

Ryan Phillippe and Tim Robbins star in this technological conspiracy thriller that seems to eerily touch close to home with todays events. A Bill Gates type computer genius (Robbins) with a company that has dominated the software market, NERVE, is being pressured by the U.S department of justice on anti-trust laws. The company now seeks new employees, new employees with the skill and creative instinct to put out its new communications software to make millions. Phillippes is a computer geek that works in his garage and gets hired to join the company, but soon finds out its darker motive. A good film, exciting, beleivable.

best movie I've seen in a while

According to the Antitrust web site, the movie opened on Jan. 12, so I don't know why it's in the cheap theaters after only a month. Antitrust is the best movie I've seen for over a month. The plot really thickens, and a different ending always seems around the bend.The movie starts out with a bunch of programmers trying to be famous. One of them leaves, and the rest go their seperate ways. The company Milo (Ryan Philippe) is now working for keeps coming up with new ideas and programs, and after his friend's death he becomes suspicious. Seems simple enough, doesn't it? But just wait for the plot to become a tangled web of lies.Everything in the movie was great. The influence of the company, and the identity of its spies is fantastic. The ending of the movie is wonderful. I never expected the ending to turn out the way it did. I think that at one point I could actually feel my heart pounding from the excitement, I don't think that ever happened with Alien.I can understand that some might view Antitrust and not like it. Ok, so the acting was not the best, and the chips were annoying. But, the plot of the movie, I feel, overruled these things for this movie (it doesn't in some).

Best Movie Ive seen in a good while

How can all you people say this is the worst movie you have ever seen? I couldnt believe how much I liked this movie, it is now one of my top 5 movies of all time. If anybody is in to computers or are into business, this is a great movie.

Shoulda went to work for Dell, dude

Although this was a been there/done that film I still found it to be exciting and interesting. Robbins was good as the evil genius who stood to gain billions with his new software and would stop at nothing to put it on the market. Predictable all the way, but still contained a few minor surprises and, hey, all the geektalk was cool.

Laughably bad

This is a movie my friends and I will be laughing about for months. Unfortunately, it's not a comedy. From the start the dialog only serves as feeder for jeers from the crowd (and the one I saw it with was ready to service). I was shocked that Tim Robbins, someone I always considered smart and edgy in his script selection, would appear in this drivel. Ryan Phillippe and Racheal Lee Cook do not look like computer geeks, even though the fact that they are is shoved down our throats at least three dozen times. And Clare Forlani should be playing Phillipe's older sister or teacher or Tim Robbins' trophy wife, not her role as Phillipe's girlfriend. There's a good sequence about halfway through with little speaking and lots of creeping around and spying. However that only lasts about twenty minutes and then its back to windy melodramatic speeches and poor acting. And then... The dumbest climax ever! Without giving too much away lets just say Tim Robbins develops the most convenient (and briefest) case of clairvoyance in film history. Not to mention the entire theatre was laughing. Rent Sneakers and save some money.

Human Knowledge Belongs to the World

Tim Robbins must've been attracted to this project by the aroma of anti-corporate-hegemony / subvert-the-dominant-paradigm. Ah, but underneath the power-corrupts message (how many hyphenated terms can I use ?), the message, as well as the last line of the movie, is, "Human knowledge belongs to the world !" (cue triumphant music, freeze-frame on fresh-faced grinning rebel heroes basking in paparazzi approbation). And fake news reporters wrap up the story lines. That's convenient. Seriously. It really is a great convenience - I'm not griping.I mean, the plot "twists" and tense thriller moments are actually paced well - not that they're any surprise, but nice tight editing. The script is weak (example line: "When you kill people, they DIE.")It's always a challenge to have tense thriller moments comprised of people typing on laptops, staring at a screen with pained expressions and saying:*Click, click* "There... " *click, click, wait for 'Loading' bar* "C'mon, C'MON ! " "Get me those IP addresses !" "But..." "JUST DO IT !"So the villain, a handsome Bill Gates with hired goons, is foiled when every worldwide broadcast is interrupted with incriminating video of him declaring, "The people of this town are morons ! I will get no comeuppance !", and then Victoria Jackson embraces Weird Al and Michael Richards celebrates and... oh, wait, that's UHF. Or was it Dabney Coleman ? I seem to recall some movie where Dabney Coleman was the bad guy and he got broadcast saying nasty things. No, wait, it was that Eddie Murphy movie, and it was that senator, and somehow Joe Don Baker was involved... Well, anyway, this movie goes all-out with this well-worn device, using all the prerequisite reaction shots: passers-by on a sidewalk stopping to watch a shop window TV - cut to mom and pop in their rocking chairs, sitting by the old B&W with the 6 inch screen - cut to the crowded barroom staring gape-mouthed at a screen... Same shot sequence as the opening of "Anchorman," in fact. Except add in stock helicopter flyovers of Times Square, the Ginza, etc., the big screens making the big payback even big big bigger.What a nice idea. The basic assumption is that wider dispersal means more believable - the broadcast is SO big, so worldwide, that no amount of spin could fix it. Why, if it were just a local TV interruption, Mr. Big Bad could spin it away, no problem - but it interrupted Leno. In Japan ! I like the idea of media as a weapon. "Aha, you have a gun in my face, but the tables have turned cause I got BAD PUBLICITY on you !"And it has to be something that will get the bad guy arrested - in real life, any corporate monster is going to be much more afraid of shareholders dumping stock than any actual jail time.Anyway, so, the moral of the story, besides "when you kill people, they die," is: Human Knowledge Belongs to the World !So those programmers were murdered for their code, then the hero declares that he's "given back the code" to the dead programmers by releasing it to the public - so, somehow, making the source code they wrote available for download appeases their revenge-minded spirits ? Are the restless earth-bound ghosts that tech-savvy ? This movie actually tries to make a moral stance out of what amounts to industrial espionage and property theft, aka the very real problem of software piracy, by referencing the Open-Source movement. Hey, I'm all for open-source software - but it's not the SAME as pirated software. Not the same at all.What are we saying, that intellectual property isn't real ? That it doesn't deserve to be protected, but just to be released to the wild ? Well, then, why should programmers work at all ? It's just a simple-minded movie ending, I know - a Robin Hood story, or read in other political terms, a socialist fable. But this robbing from the rich to give to the poor happens instantly and effortlessly. It's not swiping a sack of gold and then stopping door-to-door and handing it out. Buy the domain name, set up a server, and revenge is SWEET ! So, in fact, this denies that there's any value to the property at all. Human knowledge belongs to the world - thanks, programmers, thanks content-creators, now don't be selfish, don't be greedy, just fork it over. Your work belongs to everyone. The world's benefit is your reward. Our heartiest thanks !Anyway, if I were a programmer, my job would be cut and outsourced to India, and I'd quit the business and go to culinary school to learn to bake. Yeah - Let them steal CAKE - let 'em just TRY ! Mwah-ha-ha.