TightWind is written by Kyle Baxter. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

The Republican Study Committee published an excellent paper criticizing current copyright law (PDF):

Today’s legal regime of copyright law is seen by many as a form of corporate welfare
that hurts innovation and hurts the consumer. It is a system that picks winners and losers,
and the losers are new industries that could generate new wealth and added value. We
frankly may have no idea how it actually hurts innovation, because we don’t know what
isn’t able to be produced as a result of our current system.

It’s cogently written and insightful. I highly recommend reading it.

Unfortunately, the RSC pulled the paper after only a day. Here’s their reason why:

“On issues where there are several different perspectives among our members, our policy briefs should reflect that. This policy brief presented one view among conservatives on U.S. copyright law,” said RSC spokesman Brian Straessle. “Due to an oversight in our review process, it did not account for the full range of perspectives among our members. It was removed from the website to address that concern.”

Perhaps. And if it re-appears soon along with arguments as to why our current copyright laws should be maintained, that will be fine. But if that isn’t the case, it’s shameful that the RSC pulled a smart paper.