Posted on 06/27/2005 9:34:03 AM PDT by Bush2000
Supreme Court Rules Against File Swapping update The Supreme Court handed movie studios and record labels a sweeping victory against file-swapping, ruling Monday that peer-to-peer companies such as Grokster could be held responsible for the copyright piracy on their networks. In a unanimous decision, the justices ruled companies that build businesses with the active intent of encouraging copyright infringement should be held liable for their customers' illegal actions.
"We hold that one who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright, as shown by clear expression or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement, is liable for the resulting acts of infringement," Justice David Souter wrote in the majority opinion.
The decision comes as a surprisingly strong victory for copyright companies and stands to reshape an Internet landscape in which the presence of widespread file swapping has become commonplace.
Monday's ruling will give the recording industry and movie studios immediate ammunition to file lawsuits against other file-trading companies. It could also be a boon for legal music services such as Apple Computer's iTunes, which could see their strongest competitor--freely downloadable songs--driven further underground.
Timeline
The evolution of file swapping Four generations of file swapping have laid the groundwork for the Supreme Court decision. The justices were reviewing a pair of lower court decisions in which both courts said that file-swapping companies such as Grokster were not liable for the copyright infringement of people using their software. The nation's top court heard oral arguments on the case in late March. With the potential to rewrite the Supreme Court's 1984 Sony Betamax ruling that made VCRs--and by extension any technology with "substantial noninfringing use"--legal to sell, the decision has been closely watched across Silicon Valley.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.com ...
Unanimous decision. I guess they consulted that 'Thou Shall Not Steal' Commandment.
They can all file bankruptcy, start new companies and start all over. Music-swapping won't end because of this ruling.
Maybe firms that provide file swapping services should argue that using/disseminating others private property will fuel economic redevelopment via increased local tax revenues. Then stealing...err...using eminent domain to acquire...these files would be perfectly legit.
They forgot that amendment when they decided who has dominion over real estate.
That's an illegal mingling of Church and State.
But since these file-swapping programs can (and are) used for leagl purposes, isn't that kinda like going after GM for manufacturing bank robbery getaway cars???
No lie. This is the most selectively-moral, anti-freedom Court in the history of America.
And what's interesting is that the Republican Party and the Republican President aren't reaming them for it. In fact, The Other Big Government Party is mum and probably fine with it.
That's not a bad idea.
Silence gives assent.
There is no longer a party that represents the American citizen.
This is going to put a severe cramp on the folks who deploy P2P networks. BitTorrent, Grokster, Kazaa, Gnutella, Morpheus, Limewire, etc. They're all going to be held responsibile for copyright violations on their networks. And keep in mind, those violations have reached the point of criminality, so the FBI (which previously had a wait and see attitude, pending this case) can now get involved in prosecuting these folks. So filing bankrupty and putting up a new shingle isn't going to help them.
This has nothing to do with stealing. This ruling is like saying you can sue a gun manufacturer because guns can potentially kill people.
Of course there is, but the two Big Government Parties aren't it.
Oh I know. I was being facetious.
Of course not. For example, the usenet groups are still going strong. Not that I have any firsthand experience with them, of course. ;~D
Think about segregation, and you may want to rephrase that.
Hmmmm. So it's okay to steal a house, but not a song. Got it.
Neither do I - just my opinion. I would never download music.:)
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