Gutenberg's movable type wiped out the entire scribe industry. Was that bad? Were there more books in the world when each copy had to be handwritten or are there more now that they can be printed? Are more books bad?
Exactly. We are in an information revolution, and an information cartel is attempting to empty our pockets for the "privilege" of derailing said revolution.
Look at the people that sued this place. Their information is available through Infotrac and various other public library Net portals, but it's not complete, and there's no way to ascertain that it's not complete, unless you happen to know it.
No, but it probably created the first need for copyright law. After reading all of the posts here, I am convinced that a lot of people think that 'information' just happens and is free for the taking. Anyone involved in the production of creative products, unless they want to work for free, needs to wake up. This thread has been an eye-opener to me.