own: what do I know about elevators, anyway? I trust RMS and the FSF in providing at least a plausible argument as to why I should care about this case. (Mind you, I would then make my own judgement about the issue, but I know I would never give it any attention without a public denunciation such as those coming from the FSF). If I am not alone in using RMS's rants this way, that means that for some the FSF has the same value of an advocacy group: they may over-reach most of the time but are useful in bringing to light cases that would otherwise escape public attention. And of course, since we are talking about proprietary software, we are facing an industry that does not want you to know all the possible harm from their products. The point I think is missing in Eric's OP is that it is not so straightforward to assess "possible harm" in a world of close-source software. Watchdog groups are fanatical by definition, but being fanatically obsessed seems to be a prerequisite for effectively carrying out a through evaluation of such a complex, wide, fast-changing system such as the current IT industry. A lot of Republicans, I think, just think they're getting their own back for how Bush was treated. Try going back four or eight years and applying that to Bush and the Democrats rather than Obama and the Republicans. Seriously, the left can be extremely hypocritical when it comes to