Bundled rootkits and spyware are just the latest valid reason to stop buying music CDs from big labels, but they still don’t trump the primary: No better value than free. But ignoring that, here’s another: Record companies want to make not-for-profit remixes of music illegal. We’re as up in armchairs about that as anybody, but we still think our first colon-infested sentence has more punch, because free trumps all.

Here’s some free remixes of the Green Day’s ‘American Idiot’ album, available for free download today, ‘Gray Tuesday.’ Apparently, by downloading you’re helping to support the right of artists to remix songs, but we prefer to think of it as support our own right to steal stuff on the internet.

While we’re on the subject, we know of a much better Green Day protest, when our friend Kash cracked the GreenDay.com bulletin board system and hijacked it as ‘Kash’s Punk Rock Message Farm.’ That was moderately punk. Even better was that the Green Day fans, who had pretty much been left to their own devices during a lull in the band’s popularity, were only to happy to see someone finally take interest in their existence. Punk fans love to be noticed.

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.