Surprising it isn't any more, but it is still striking how recklessly one-sided and opinionated the goverment can be regarding one particular business. We dont officially know whether this relatively small business is _really_ that überimportant for the country, or did the business owners simply find a way to puppeteer the goverment to claim that it is überimportant. The circumstances strongly resemble the story of french 17th century button makers and their fight against innovation:

"Two of the most extreme examples of the suppression of innovation in France occurred shortly after the death of Colbert during the lengthy reign of Louis XIV. Button-making in France had been controlled by various guilds, depending on the material used, the most important part belonging to the cord and button makers' guild, who made cord buttons by hand. By the 1690s, tailors and dealers launched the innovation of weaving buttons from the material used in the garment. The outrage of the inefficient hand-button-makers brought the state leaping to their defense.

In the late 1690s, fines were imposed on the production, sale, and even the wearing of the new buttons, and the fines were continually increased. The local guild wardens even obtained the right to search people's houses and to arrest anyone in the street who wore the evil and illegal buttons. In a few years, however, the state and the hand-button-makers had to give up the fight, since everyone in France was using the new buttons." [1]

and

"The question has come up whether a guild master of the weaving industry should be allowed to try an innovation in his product. The verdict: 'If a cloth weaver intends to process a piece according to his own invention, he must not set it on the loom, but should obtain permission from the judges of the town to employ the number and length of threads that he desires, after the question has been considered by four of the oldest merchants and four of the oldest weavers of the guild.' One can imagine how many suggestions for change were tolerated.

Shortly after the matter of cloth weaving has been disposed of, the button makers guild raises a cry of outrage; the tailors are beginning to make buttons out of cloth, an unheard-of thing. The government, indignant that an innovation should threaten a settled industry, imposes a fine on the cloth-button makers. But the wardens of the button guild are not yet satisfied. They demand the right to search people's homes and wardrobes and fine and even arrest them on the streets if they are seen wearing these subversive goods." [2]

Sources:

[1] http://mises.org/daily/4315

[2] http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20070110/004225.shtml

The surprising part is that the RIAA is involved in setting copyright law. The surprising part is that the government was working with the RIAA to hide the outcome from public scrutiny.

Because they said the 6 strike plan was "voluntary" on the part of the ISP's, and the Government more than likely forced their hands to accept the deal.