That's baloney. For many centuries singers and bards were a primary entertainment, bringer of news, and preservers of history. How do you think the tales of Homer were propagated? Human history is primarily an oral history preserved through song. Why? Rhyme is more easily remembered. Certainly the modern music industry is a predicate of the industrial revolution. People, and consumers still value fixed recordings of performances; however, digital recordings are a divisible good, and do not feel they are stealing when they copy a song or album. Someone else will pay the costs. It is simply another "Tragedy of the Commons." Especially when there is the "evil" record company executive who is exploiting the artist, anyhow.

"General Atomics" Sounds like a company from a 1950's Robert Heinlein novel.

Could you imagine that they run the rover over the American flag, then go back and forward a couple times, and for an encore, they wipe out the first steps. Then some Congress critter says, "Why there ought to be a law!"

In five years, Wikipedia will likely become the most authoritative source for all basic information. It really is becoming one of the most amazing cooperative human endeavors when you consider it's scope and scale on even the most mundane and obscure topics.

Erosion has probably already destroyed the first footsteps on the Moon.

There are an awful lot of assumptions made in astronomical measurements. Numbers that are bandied about have huge margins for error based on a series of interdependent assumptions. Not only is this estimated to be 12 billion light years distant; obviously, this event occurred in the distant past near the beginning of the Universe itself.