10.06.07
George W. Bush, Enemy of Freedom
Slashdot linked to a news.com article that quoted a Bush administration official as saying:
Cases such as this remind us strong enforcement is a significant part of the effort to eliminate piracy, and that we have an effective legal system in the U.S. that enables rights holders to protect their intellectual property
And, indeed, this case does lead to a very obvious conclusion: Jammie Thomas should’ve gone to the store and stolen the CDs off the shelf instead, since, if memory serves, she would’ve been on the hook for up to $1,000 per CD, rather than ending up being stuck with over $9,000 per song.
Oh, and my title is a bit over-the-top, but when there’s research claiming that fair use is worth more to the economy than copyright, and the Bush Administration prefers an expansive view of copyright, I have to conclude that Bush is less interested in having a thriving, expanding, vibrant economy than he is in protecting his friends in the content industries, and thus must be an “enemy of freedom”, to borrow a Bush-ism.