Reclaiming The Digital Frontier

RECLAIMING THE DIGITAL FRONTIER
[SOURCE: TomPaine.com, AUTHOR: Art Brodsky, Public Knowledge]
[Commentary] The next time you plunk down your $10 for a movie ticket, think for a minute about where the money goes. Millions go to the movie stars, directors and producers. Tens of thousands go to the people who work on the movie. But a lot of that money also helps to pay for lawyers whose job is to limit what consumers can see and do with materials they have the right to use. The big media companies can get away with it because they played a large role in writing the laws under which they sue innovators and hurt consumers, and they have a knack for finding friendly courts to enforce them. Common sense, nor other laws, need not be applied. If the media company lawyers are determined to earn their money by playing defense, by trying to justify these egregious violations of fair use and public comment rather than by preying on innocent people who in all probability would be better thought of as fans rather than as someone to be sued.
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/04/02/reclaiming_the_digital_frontier.php