looks like we have some more public-domain heroes.

jared benedict bought a copy of all the topological maps
from the u.s.g.s -- which are in the public domain, but
were _not_ all conveniently located in one single place --
and "held them for ransom" until he raised the $1600
he'd spent to purchase 'em, from volunteer contributions.

"pay up or the map gets it", read the cute ransom note.
(as far as i can tell, it looks like it took him just one day.)

now he's sending the maps off to the internet archive,
where they can be housed under a common interface,
which might well prompt a flurry of derivative uses...

so here's a big cheer for each of the people who donated
some ransom money to free the maps, and three cheers to
jared for spearheading this collaborative venture!        :+)

>   http://redjar.org = jared's home site
>   http://libre.redjar.org/maps/ = one page on the project
>   http://ransom.redjar.org/original_page.html = f.a.q.
>   http://ransom.redjar.org/ = the list of contributors

-bowerbird