PRICE OF FREE SPEACH?

I hate to sound paranoid. However, since January 1, I have had my printer/fax/copier. my internet, my phone, my water, all ceased to function without notice. While some of this is probably the result of deferred maintenance, it seems to be more 'bad luck' than can normally be expected.

While I am still able, I want to complement Wikipedia, Mozilla, and others for demonstrating a world without the internet. 

Those that are fighting for sane copyright protection laws need to realize that the time may come when Disney can no longer protect Mickey Mouse from parody. Those of us who collected underground comics during the 60s and 70s know why Disney may be very worried about this.

We should be able to find some way to protect Mickey without passing draconian laws like the Millennium Copyright Act. Protecting writers and artists for 99 years and inventors for 14 years seems manifestly unfair. (My # of years may be off as my research is not highspeed right now.)

We are all buying the same content over and over again in different formats. I have Star Wars movies in 4 different formats, I think. 

My arthritis is forcing me to give up real books for ebooks. So I am rebuying all of the books again. Most books are the same price in ebook, even though they do not have to be printed, shipped, etc. 

These issues are real issues, faced by the 99% every day. Both Silicon Valley and Hollywood should take the time to see things from the consumer point of view. They also badly need to talk to each other.

Theft of intellectual property is a serious problem that needs to be solved. It will NOT be solved without involving ALL of the stakeholders. It is also possible that it can not be solved by any one country, but requires an international solution.