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By David Rothman

John EdwardsFirst, let get one thing straight. It’s okay for people to be rich–that’s not the issue. But could John Edwards’ roomy $6 million mansion in Georgetown be one reason why he has been so aggressively mute about Draconian copyright laws, the scourge of e-book lovers?

“Recently, to get the house ready for sale,” the Washington Post reports, “the Edwardses shipped hundreds of books to their home in Raleigh and cleared out clutter.” Hundreds? Edwards could have stored thousands. Somewhere in Edwards’ One America, however, no small number of people lack room for as large a collection. E-books, especially the free public domain variety, could help. Could Edwards, however, despite his textile town origins, be identifying less these days with the poor than with millionaire members of the Entertainment-Copyright Complex on issues such as copyright-term extension?

Meanwhile, in case you’re wondering where the money from the sale of the D.C. house will go, check out both the Post article and Uncle John’s Cabin in the Amerian Spectator. Edwards is building another house on 100 acres in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the city where his UNC anti-poverty center is located–the one that so far apparently has yet to hire its first staffer.

Reminder: No Rightwing conspiracies here. Hey, I’m a lifelong liberal Democrat who last November voted for Kerry-Edwards. I really regard the copyright-law issue as a litmus test of Edwards’ character. Why is he so populist on drug prices and much else, but so curiously silent on copyright issues affecting key campaign donors? As a fellow UNC alum who likes Edwards’ stand on many other matters, I’m picking on him because I expect more of the man than of other candidates. He’s welcome to replicate the Biltmore Estate or whatever on his 100 acres in “The Southern Part of Heaven.” I just want him to extend his populism to copyright issues.

 
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