IanKelley - 12:05 am on Dec 2, 2012 (gmt 0)

[...] but companies that make billions from user generated content, violate the spirit of copyright laws [...]

Alright, you're entitled to that view, but lets be clear, this statement refers to the bigger part of the modern internet, not just Google and Facebook.

User generated content is what the internet is made of. Long before companies were making billions from it, guys were creating social platforms and search engines and content aggregators for free because they thought it was fun.

That open, collaborative, spirit is what this kind of precedent threatens.