This evening, I went to hear Richard Stallman speak about copyright. He made two really excellent points: 1) enforcement of copyright law preventing individuals from sharing copies with other individuals can only be done in the context of a police state; and 2) the current copyright system serves only the interests of the big media companies, and not the artists. I'm not as sure as he is that I know what the proper solution is to our current copyright problem, but he has the problem diagnosed pretty dead-on.

Washington Post: Va. GOP Official Indicted on Wiretapping Charges. The fact that VA GOP Executive Director Ed Matricardi was indicted for listening in on a confidential conference call with the Governor is not surprising. What is surprising is the total lack of criticism he has received from other GOP officials until today. Now the GOP is spinning fast, but during the past two weeks, no Republican would even say what he did was wrong, let alone criminal.