I ain't no fortunate son

[cyrano]

So I realize we're coming up on an election, which is why we're suddenly actually concerned with airport security. But is there any other reason for the recent release of 9/11 911 tapes? I've been poking at articles and I haven't seen anything--did somebody make a FOI act request? Did the 9/11 Comission release them into public domain just now, almost five years later?
I'm certain there's some sort of 'last hurdle just cleared' but I can't find out what it was, and wonder if anybody else knows.