Vint Cerf is about as classy as they come. He's a captivating speaker -- his was easily the best talk I've ever attended. He can talk about incredibly high level, complicated concepts (in my case, it was "internet in space"; in this case, "SOPA") in a way that makes them easy to digest for people who would normally be woefully under-qualified to comprehend the concepts.
I'm incredibly glad he has the backing of a company that can put him before the government.
I chuckled at the snarky Microsoft comment "I can see where Google photoshopped out the strings..."
It is interesting to live in the times where the world is grappling with something our grandchildren may see as obvious. On the one hand we have "Intellectual Property Interests" who are trying to extract every penny out of their "assets" while on the other hand we have the rest of us who are more and more irritated at being squeezed. The tension in key legislators between the folks who vote for them and the folks who pay for their elections is almost palpable.
Google, being bushwhacked by these people, is nicely not taking that sitting down. Its nice to see, but so far it has been like watching a court room lawyer and a bright high school student debate what is 'right' and 'wrong.' Fortunately they are a well funded high school student and they generally learn from their mistakes.
As the music labels die off, we can watch them to understand how it might go for others in their shoes, I am sure the book publishers are paying close attention. Your grandkids will read about this time in history and economics text books that is for sure.
I'm incredibly glad he has the backing of a company that can put him before the government.