I'm OK with this concept of flat fees in principle, but most implementations (like blank-media tax) have a bad side effect. They assume that only media companies produce items of interest. We need to make the means for individual creation and DISTRIBUTION is left open and available.

IMHO the biggest problem with the 1992 DHRA bill was it's built-in assumption (through mandated SCM copy-protection) that individuals never create their own works of art. To this day every time I want to create an audio recording I have to use something other than DHRA effected equipment (such as DAT).

As an aside, that is why the Fritz law is not going to go anywhere (or if it does, why it won't last). While only a few people create audio recordings on a regular basis, almost everyone I know creates lots of photographs every year. The CDBTPA (or bills like it) mistakenly try to treat every photograph and word document like they were big studio movie creations. This co-mingling of media creation really shows the true breadth of what the publishers are paying Fritz to get -- control over mass distribution.