Free for a Fee

Ugh. I’ve been ranting about this idea for a while, but now it’s actually come to pass. Thank the folks at RIAA, MPAA, the entertainment industry lobbyists, and their hired guns friends in Congress (ahem, Conyers, Berman, Leahy, Specter, et al) for this criminally inefficient use of government funds during a time of economic crisis. Even George Bush and the Department of Justice tried to avoid passing this one, but to no avail.

Gizmodo and CNet have the story.

Art Brodsky, Communications Director of Public Knowledge has the understated quote: “It would’ve been nice to have something to benefit the public and artists instead of big media companies.”

Sigh. Dream on.

intellectual property, da? (image from Gizmodo)