Free flow of information?

Hey people. I'm starting this thread in relation to this:
http://dis.4chan.org/read/newpol/1293992141/1-40

 I think the flow of information is a MASSIVE issue that is not beeing discussed enough.

So, do you think the flow of information should be totaly unrestricted? Or do you believe there should be laws that protect people from malicious use.

Personaly I would like to see fully unrestricted flow of information one day, but i think that a sudden change in the way we currently manage it could be catastrophical. I believe an good order of abolishing restrictions would be to

a) abolish all copiright and intelectual property laws.
b) make all bank transactions available online
c) enforce transparency in bussinesses and states by forcing them to release all info they manage - including all their financial info.
d) allow some 20 years for the world to digest itself

Please feel free to attack my point of view and add your own. Scepticism is a bless...

One problem with abolishing the copyright entirely is that a lot of people would lose the incentive to publish anything.  It takes a lot of time to create content.  Most movies take over a year from writing and casting to release day.  Novels might take 6 months or more.  Video games (at least the large releases) can take 2 years from concept to completion. 

If these products were essentially free at the moment of release, no one would spend the kind of time and money needed to produce these things.  Studio time ain't cheap, nor is the hardware needed to produce games, movies and music.  Without the possiblity of a payoff, it's all loss.

I do see how something that is public and part of public culture shouldn't be copyrighted.  I don't think it would be resonable to copyright common cultural ideas.  Making people pay every time they want to sing happy birthday is stupid.  So is trying to copyright Paul Bunyon, Casey at the Bat, or things like that. 

personally, I'd limit copyright to 5 years.  That way people would still get their payday, but eventually the information would be free.