[Rodney King]

That would be fair enough IF it were their work. Since we paid for it though taxes and since it affects our everyday life, and since these companies often have tax-paid contracts to maintain these databases for the several States and FedGov, then we should have access to this information either at no further cost to us or a very nominal fee per year. Like $1.00 or so.

That is silly. It is their work. They are repackaging it and brining it to the customer, at a cost. What you are saying is that Red Hat should not be allowed to resell Linux, because if you really want to you should get it for free.

Why do you think that Westlaw should have to digitize, package, electornically store, and provide a network for you to access that info for free?

[dcwusmc]

I thought I was clear enough: To the extent that their work product is paid for by tax money, there should be no other charge for its use by the public, who pays the tax bill. If they do not have a tax-paid contract to digitize and store that information, they are free to charge what they will.