[downer96]

This is an interesting new wrinkle for me, when it comes to intellectual property. In this case the benevolent anarchy of the old axiom "information wants to be free" rings less true.

This one feels dangerously close to the classic power struggle between underdog music artists and the rotten record labels that have a habit of steam-rolling over their creative sensibilities so they can bastardize an artistic work in the name of selling more spaghetti sauce.

This whole intellectual property thing has always, always, ALWAYS been about the individual's fight against the slippery oligarchy of private companies and corporations. It's almost impossible to paint a corporation as the poor, defenseless victim. The Beastie Boys, in this respect are more individualistic than the company.

In this case the Beastie Boys are not sell-outs. Their position rings truest.

It's funny to see this slight change in power differential augment the perception of the conflict. Does this mean that information wants to be free, if and only if it's being freed into the hands of a private individual and not a faceless profiteering company? Yeah, kind of.

Sorry, EFF. You are pretty much entirely wrong on this one.