I arrived in London this morning and found a couple things worth writing.  One effects me quite personally and the other not at all, but in both cases I think we can learn a thing or two to apply to the USA:

1. I was detained for 3 hours for various forms of questioning.  It’s always impresses me how thorough the chaps in England are, and this time they stumbled on a law that is a tad too protective for my liking.  I am here in the UK to help a company that is based in both America and the UK.  This company is doing some work with a government agency in the UK and asked me to lend a hand.  The problem is, that depending on how you look at it, my work here may be a tad too specific.  In the end, immigration agreed to let me through, but they almost lost the opportunity to have one of their finest institutions receive consulting expertise from two quality experts.
2. There’s another ridiculously protectionist law that’s sitting in Parliament right now.  The bill would require ISPs to send threatening letters to customers who download pirated material.  Once caught a third time, the ISPs would be obligated to release the person’s information to content owners so they could sue.  The bill (as one recording artist on the news put it) “suggests that the best way to save the record industry is to outlaw records.”
3. I happened to flip on the television as I walked in the door to my room and caught the news party mentioned above.  It was very impressive.  It lasted 15 minutes and truly covered both sides of the issue.  It interviewed many of the relevant popular music artists, ISPs, record companies and more.  Of course the only reason I watched it is because there are so few British channels and I couldn’t find a Law and Order rerun.  Now I’m wondering if the British might have a healthier (if less entertaining) approach to television.

Back to normal posts tomorrow, but I wanted to share these few stories.