Marginal Revolution: FDA Delay

Sad story of how the FDA logic works.

Interesting news from cNet. Feds were allowed to pass spyware through a third-party service (in violation of MySpace rules).

     FBI remotely installs spyware to trace bomb threat | Tech news blog - CNET News.com
The FBI used a novel type of remotely installed spyware last month to investigate who was e-mailing bomb threats to a high school near Olympia, Wash.

Federal agents obtained a court order on June 12 to send spyware called CIPAV to a MySpace account suspected of being used by the bomb threat hoaxster. Once implanted, the software was designed to report back to the FBI with the Internet Protocol address of the suspect’s computer, other information found on the PC and, notably, an ongoing log of the user’s outbound connections.

What is curious is that the FBI just didn’t get a subpeona for the user’s records from MySpace. Why a malicious tool was used when the courts already provide a means for acquiring data and information.

DeBeers is an interesting case study. When DeBeers controls a vast amount of the world’s diamond market it is funny how cocky they get. I’m watching “Diamond Road”, a show on Discovery Times. It is quite a study in the slow road of a diamond to market.

The show generally dwells on the two faces of the diamond market - the muddy fields of Sierra Leone and the high profile results going up for sale in New York (and various other places).

The one notable part in the first “episode” was that the producers did do their research and found out that diamonds, no different in composition and individuality, can be manufactured. I’m not talking about “moissanite”. I’m a talking about real diamonds. Gemesis can manufacture them - at even a price less than mining a real diamond. No blood, very little sweat and just a little bit of passion. Is it worth less because it is made by a man’s hand? If you didn’t know the difference - would it matter?