Commenter Harry Lewis, on the Google Books settlement:

The proposed settlement includes a “most favored nation” provision. The parties agree that IF the Authors and Publishers ever come to terms with another party who is scanning books, Google has to get the same deal. That is an anti-competitive provision that will make it impossible for anyone else ever to underprice Google. If the Court adds its signature to the deal, it is sanctifying the creation of a monopoly.

Driven by despair, or perhaps fragile hope, my old classmate Sam Mikes responds with poetry:

The law condemns the man or woman
who steals the goose from off the common
but lets the greater villain loose
who steals the common from the goose.

One thing is clear: Brewster Kahle is going to need all the help he can get if he’s going to slug it out with Google. So what are our most prominent knights of the commons doing to assist us in our hour of need? I sauntered on over to Larry Lessig‘s place to see what he thought about the original settlement in October.

Oops, looks like Lessig’s in the tank.

Maybe the EFF… hmm, no. They’re a little more measured, but they don’t seem all fired up to go after Google either.

Being a Paladin of the law is tough work, I guess.