Star Wars for the most part i've associated with being able to learn about new things. In the early days the 'Making of' specials were a way to learn about film making. The alien races and droids opened up real world counterparts like NASA. LFL seemed to be an open company which wanted people to learn not just about how the films were made but also how that related to other aspects of society.

In college (early 90s) that began to shift, as the cease & desists started on online SW fan sites, and continued until eventually people went to jail for RotS. (the raids were carried out on SW's anniversary in 2005. if you want a symbolic demise date, there it is.) Corporate culture, from LFL to the MPAA to the United States Congress felt it was more important to have the FBI/ICE focus less on missing person cases and more on corporate concerns.

Luckily fan cultures sprouted or i'd be out of the SW game. Project from the fan films, to Deleted Magic and Secret History show to me how more open access to information can lead to better things.