I think this system would be a great b.s. detector. If a copyright owner insists that a product shouldn't be in the public domain because it is still commercially viable, well, then, sucker, pony up to publish it. If, however, there's no commercial value, then wouldn't it be better off in the public domain than inaccessible and, ultimately, forgotten altogether?

For all intents and purposes, the bulk of 20 year old software (and even 10 year old software) has been abandoned. It's languishing in limbo. I'm tired of the "gray areas" and so on; liberate this stuff that no copyright owner cares about so we can get on with retrogaming!

If a prof doesn't publish he or she may be denied tenure; we call it "publish or perish." I'd like to adapt this for copyright holders--"publish or perish," that is, the copyright perishes and it becomes free for all.

BTW, these are basically ideas from the wonderful book Free Culture. Pick it up if you get a chance; it's even available free online.