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Ubisoft announced a January promotion in which those who purchase any version of Prince of Persia will get a free copy of Splinter Cell for the same platform.

Here's something to look forward to in 2004: Ubisoft has announced that, during the month of January, those who buy its highly acclaimed action adventure game, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, will get a free copy of its highly acclaimed stealth action game, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, as a bonus. The deal, which will be available "at all major retailers" according to Ubisoft, covers the PC, Xbox, GameCube, and PlayStation 2 versions of Prince of Persia; depending on which version gamers choose, they'll get the respective version of Splinter Cell. Specific details on how the bonus game will be redeemed were not available, and presumably, those who've already purchased Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time will not be eligible for the free offer. However, those holding off on picking up copies of both games will be in luck.

News source: GameSpot

When additional changes were passed by Congress last Thanksgiving, only a few scattered outlets - like Wired News and oddly - Adult Video News - paying attention. While the original Patriot act allows the FBI to request data from your ISP with no court order or judicial oversight, these new changes, tucked away in the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004, broaden those powers further. The provisions expand the definition of "financial institution" and "financial transaction", allowing the FBI to monitor everything from Pawn Shops to your ISP with more authority.

Opponents claim that the already weakened system of checks and balances is being eroded futher, and the Fourth Amendment (protection against unreasonable searches and seizures) faces a serious threat. Supporters claim the changes are necessary to track the money funding terrorist operations and prevent further attacks. In between these two groups are usually those who don't care either way, since they're "not doing anything wrong".

The debate between these groups was overshadowed (intentionally or otherwise) by three days of Saddam capture video and elaborate (and fully 3D) explorations of the hole Iraq's one-time leader crawled out of. As usual with American media, all other news is often buried during major events - something all politicians have learned to use to their advantage to minimize controversy.

A few weeks later finds the changes being noticed by a few. This San Antonio Current article takes a look at the recent changes, and discussion is ripe over at Dave Farber's Interesting People mailing list (explore the thread index to see multiple and opposing opinions).