"The position that information released into the body of human knowledge is 'free as the air to common use' is not an empty aphorism or a transient policy preference. It is a commitment expressed in the First Amendment speech and press clauses. Its institutional implementation is the public domain. Judges and legislators faced with decisions that will lead to further enclosure of the public domain must recognize the constitutional dimensions of their decisions. They must proceed with the caution warranted whenever a government official is asked to restrict the freedom of many people to use information and to communicate it to each other."

--Yochai Benkler, "'Free as the Air to Common Use:' First Amendment Constraints on Enclosure of the Public Domain", New York University Law Review, Volume 74 (May, 1999), pages 354-445, at 445.