You know: the circular one. Via Slashdot:
Despite having had some time to get their act together, Obama’s Department of Justice has filed yet another brief defending the RIAA’s outlandish statutory damages theory — that someone who downloaded an mp3 with a 99-cent retail value, causing a maximum possible damages of 35 cents, is liable for from $750 to $150,000 for each such file downloaded, in SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum.
Not that anybody should have believed that errant nonsense in the first place, of course: expecting a Democrat to favor less government in anything is more or less the Platonic Ideal of an oxymoron. They’re not really permissive of other people’s customs or viewpoints, you know. It’s just that a couple of the customs and viewpoints that they’re ferociously attempting to impose happen to overlap with some of those of the libertarians’.
Just the messenger, folks. Just the messenger.
Moe Lane
PS Via Instapundit, and Glenn is hitting this theme himself today.
The icon of libertarians, Ayn Rand, also admired courageous pebble-droppers, the nails standing above the boardwalk that ruling elite might trip over. They challenged the established and accepted way things were done. Creative, imaginative and courageous individuals follow a dream resulting in a better way of living that she wrote about. She believed she was OK and others, as individuals, were OK as well. Herds were led by the few who would limit individuals and take from those who have to share with those who have not. They and their leaders are not OK. Those violently opposing Rand want to retain the Old World ideals of a few elite ruling the many, as promoted by the Obama forces. See Save Pebble Droppers & Prosperity on Amazon and claysamerica.com
Hopefully 2010 will continue to be a very disappointing year for Pelosi, Feinstein, Boxer, Feigngold and (sadly) Hatch for corrupting the copyright laws in favor of mega-corporations like SONY, TWCNN etc, all in return for the piddling sinecure of $1MM a year each from the RIAA and from the MIAA. Copyrights (once a more-than-sufficient maximum of 56 years) valid for life of author plus 175 years? Declaration of Independence and the Bible next to be copyright-only when they next “update” the law? Not too many ordinary folks benefit from that one.
For those concerned about “pirates” preventing the RIAA or MIAA from passing on rights payments to artists, don’t lose any sleep. As Gloria Estefan and so many others have found out, the only way to get rights payments from the true pirates like RIAA & MIAA is to take them to court. Google any artist +RIAA and see for yourself.