The 40th Year of Project Gutenberg (PG) started on July 4, 2010.  That’s right – they’ve been producing eBooks of public domain works since 1971, almost exclusively by volunteers.  They surpassed 37,500 titles last month.

Here’s a list of Project Gutenberg’s top downloads.

If you haven’t visited their website, do so.  If you like what you see, write to your representatives and let them know you strongly disagree with current copyright law & the extensions that have been implemented over the past 89 years.  At the current copyright term (not to mention the rate at which Congress keeps extending it), the “Public Domain” as we know it will cease to exist — everything will be basically locked up forever by copyright law.

Our culture — in literature, art, music & yes, even movies — has developed & evolved by building upon previous works.  Congress is slowly & surely removing all ability to “build” upon previous works with their continuing extensions & modifications to copyright law.  Sooner than we realize, there will be nothing available to legally “build upon” due to copyright law.

Project Gutenberg website

In a recent speech at Belmont University in Nashville, TN, the US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke (a.k.a. Uniform Foxtrot Delta Bravo) issued a blistering diatribe against music piracy.  He sided with the RIAA and urged internet service providers and content owners “to work collaboratively to combat intellectual property infringement online.”

Here’s what The Telegraph had to say (Digital piracy is ‘unadulterated theft’, says Obama administration)

For an EXCELLENT rebuttal on everything said by UFDB (Gary Locke), see Mike Masnick’s article over at Techdirt.

Amazing!  In only 3 days the director, Simon Klose, has raised the necessary $25,000 for creating this documentary.  They’re now up to $36,000 with 24 days left to go (TPB AFK KickStarter Project Page).

I’m grateful to know that there are 1247 other “fans” out there that feel the same way as I do about TPB.

Looking forward to the documentary!!!

• Techdirt Article
• TorrentFreak Article