Ars Technica’s Nate Anderson, “Howell Verdict: RIAA wins $40,850 P2P judgment”:

Howell is ordered to pay $350 in court costs — an incredible bargain when set against a whopping $40,500 in statutory damages. In addition, he will pay 2.12 percent interest on the unpaid balance until the entire amount is paid off; in essence, Howell has just taken out a pricey new car loan, except that instead of a car, he gets a big pile of nothing to park in his driveway.

I like this one. The jist of it is: “This thing over here is kind of like a car, except unlike it in every meaningful way.” It’s the self-effacing car analogy.

Also, be on the lookout for car analogies in the Spore DRM conflagration. Nothing, and I mean nothing, brings out the automotive analogists like DRM. This comment on a 1UP story about the controversy is a strong example:

If you had to call Ford every time you got an oil change to reactivate your car, nobody would buy Ford cars. So, why is this ok?

For some reason, when a make of car is mentioned in a blog commenter’s car analogy, 90 percent of the time it’s Ford. Why don’t any tech commentators ever make clumsy comparisons to a Saab, or a Pontiac? This must drive the GM marketing people CRAZY.