True, free market economics is a win for everyone. However, this is not what we are experiencing with online publication of the records online. When is the last time you did a search in India? China? The Phillipines? You won't find the documented lives of their citizens offered for commercial exploitation outside their borders.

The records contained in the county courthouse was created to be an asset to the county. In many cases it is the greatest single asset owned by the county. What else has taken 150 years to build? Who should have a right to this asset besides the people of the community who built it and those who visit within their borders?

This isn't free market Scott. In a free market, each competitor much supply his own assets and raw materials. In this market, our documents are the raw materials, our heritage is the asset. Both are being squandered for the sake of cheap commercial exploitation by those outside the community. If you think $25 is cheap for a current owner search, how about $3300 for a complete title plant with 22 million records?

This is not a free market at work Scott. It is the commercial exploitation of the American people at it's worst.