Moore Approves Fahrenheit 9/11 Downloads

_The Sunday Herald_ reports that Michael Moore has expressed his approval of Fahrenheit 9/11 “being downloaded”:http://www.sundayherald.com/43167 through file-sharing networks. [Thanks to Slashdot for this one.]

“I don’t agree with the copyright laws and I don’t have a problem with people downloading the movie and sharing it with people as long as they’re not trying to make a profit off my labour. I would oppose that,” he said.
“I do well enough already and I made this film because I want the world, to change. The more people who see it the better, so I’m happy this is happening.”

I’m cheered by this, especially coming as it does on Independence Day. I think copyright law has gotten seriously off-track, and if a creator wants to allow free distribution, then he or she should be allowed to do that. It’s too bad my net connection is so damn slow that I can’t download it. But Fahrenheit 9/11 has hit Baghdad in the pirated DVD stalls that line the lobbies of hotels and the concrete barriers along the Green Zone. I’m curious as to what the reaction among the Iraqis might be to the film. I know there was some discussion of it at the Embassy shindig tonight.
The party itself was subpar. It was very hot, there wasn’t enough water and I got a bit of heat stroke, I think. All I know is that now I feel a bit sick and very worn out. Wish I could tell you more about the party, but it’s off the record… and frankly, there wasn’t much to tell, anyway. The one bit of excitement was the an IED/car bomb scare at the gates of the Republican Palace just as our group arrived to enter. Instead of getting to eat, we were kept waiting outside in the parking lot with no shade or water for an hour, maybe longer. The temperature, even at 7 p.m. was about 115 degrees. We kept being pushed back by Marines. I never got a definitive answer as to whether there was any real danger from an explosive device or not, but there serious action on this. I suspect there was something there, which means it was probably an inside job. The palace is deep in the Green Zone and security is tight enough that insurgents can’t just walk in. But who knows? We never got a straight answer.