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Music-swapping site Grokster to shut down under settlement
Breitbart.com ^ | November 7, 2005 | Unknown

Posted on 11/07/2005 1:34:43 PM PST by GreatOne

Grokster, the free music-swapping website that prompted a legal battle ending in the US Supreme Court, agreed to shut down its service under a settlement with the US music industry, industry officials said.

Grokster will shut down its peer-to-peer (P2P) network that had been accused of massive copyright violations, prompting a lawsuit that ended with the highest US court ruling that it contributed to piracy, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

"This settlement brings to a close an incredibly significant chapter in the story of digital music," said Mitch Bainwol, chairman and chief executive of the RIAA.

"This is a chapter that ends on a high note for the recording industry, the tech community and music fans and consumers everywhere. At the end of the day, this is about our ability to invest in new music. An online marketplace populated by legitimate services allows us to do just that."

The RIAA, which spearheaded the legal effort against P2P networks, said a consent agreement would be presented to court.

"The settlement includes a permanent injunction prohibiting infringement -- directly or indirectly -- of any of the plaintiffs' copyrighted works," said the RIAA in a joint statement with the National Music Publishers Association.

"This includes ceasing immediately distribution of the Grokster client application and ceasing to operate the Grokster system and software."

In June, US Supreme Court ruled networks such as Grokster may be held liable for infringement if they encourage people to make unauthorized copies of copyrighted songs, films or other content. This opened the door for the music industry to pursue damages.

"The owners and operators of Grokster -- like numerous other online services all across the globe -- heard nine US Supreme Court justices speak in a unanimous voice -- a voice that was heard loud and clear," Bainwol said.

"As the court articulated in no uncertain terms, there is a right way and a wrong way to conduct a business. This settlement makes clear that businesses are well aware when they are operating on the wrong side of that line."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: filesharing; greed; grokster; mpaa; music; p2p; riaa
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I think this whole case law is a pile of crap. Half of my music collection from college came from copying a friend's tape. Can I now be fined for that? I used to have several tapes made from simply recording off of local music stations. Can I now be fined for that? Half of the movies that I have on VHS tape(I have over 500) have been taped off AMC (before commericials), FXM, TMC, or even regular t.v. Can I get fined for this? (I should add that the other half of my collections came via Columbia House or BMG)

I could see the logic of the original Napster lawsuit, wherein the files were all stored at a central hub, and people were making money off of advertisements. But pure p2p software should not be touched, imho. I'm sure that the people who use these softwares would not be running out and buying the music/movies to begin with, so I find it hard to believe that the industries are losing that much money.

I'm not a downloader, as I've seen the inordinate amount of fines that have been imposed ($600,000), which are ridiculous. Those statutes are intended for those actually making a profit off of pirated movies/music, but these dopey judges have been convinced to use them for straight sharers. Not right.

1 posted on 11/07/2005 1:34:45 PM PST by GreatOne
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Comment #2 Removed by Moderator

To: GreatOne

As long as RIAA focuses on producing soundtracks for MPAA cr@p such as Brokeback Mountain, the recording and movie industries will consign themselves to oblivion.

<-----Gay cowboys who eat pudding...and favored to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards this year.

3 posted on 11/07/2005 1:40:11 PM PST by peyton randolph (Warning! It is illegal to fatwah a camel in all 50 states)
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To: GreatOne

The FBI is on its way, you TERRORIST!............


4 posted on 11/07/2005 1:41:03 PM PST by Red Badger (Whatever happened to formulas 1 through 408?.........)
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To: GreatOne
I wonder how long LimeWire has before they fold as well.

On a related note, is it illegal at any time to download songs just to listen to them on your computer or is it only illegal if you burn them to a CD?

5 posted on 11/07/2005 1:43:04 PM PST by Drew68
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To: GreatOne
I could see the logic of the original Napster lawsuit, wherein the files were all stored at a central hub

??? If I recall correctly, Napster was also P2P. I'm pretty sure I remember on-demand uploads as well as downloads.

As for the rest of your questions, I think the difference is analog vs. digital. The n,000,000th digital copy is as good as the original.

6 posted on 11/07/2005 1:44:00 PM PST by newgeezer (Just my opinion, of course. Your mileage may vary.)
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To: GreatOne
If file-sharing is illegal, so are libraries.

The media you own is for you alone yet not your own.

7 posted on 11/07/2005 1:44:17 PM PST by JohnnyZ ("She was appointed by a conservative. That ought to have been enough for us." -- NotBrilliant)
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To: GreatOne

I might have some sympathy for the recording industry if they hadn't tricked some of their stars into signing away all rights to their music....


8 posted on 11/07/2005 1:45:49 PM PST by NRA1995 (When liberals speak I hear the Vonage music playing.....woo-hoo, woo-hoo-hoo....)
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To: Drew68
On a related note, is it illegal at any time to download songs just to listen to them

Of course it is (except when the provider -- e.g. Yahoo! Music videos -- has a deal with the copyright owner).

9 posted on 11/07/2005 1:46:08 PM PST by newgeezer (Just my opinion, of course. Your mileage may vary.)
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To: GreatOne
It no longer matters. With huge disk drives now on PCs, and large capacity mp3 players, the internet is no longer needed. Kids will just hook up their laptops together and share anything the other doesn't already have. Within a short time, due to the "six degrees of separation" rule, all worthwhile music will diffuse through the population.

There just ISN'T enough worthwhile music being generated to fill an 80GB hard drive

Movies will be next

10 posted on 11/07/2005 1:47:04 PM PST by SauronOfMordor (I do what the voices in lazamataz's head tell me to)
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To: Drew68

The strategy that the RIAA is taking implies that the former is true, that even downloading is illegal. Suing grandfathers whose grandson downloaded music seems to be their tactic.


11 posted on 11/07/2005 1:47:17 PM PST by Dan Nunn (http://marklevinfan.com/Audio/WhyAreWeAtWar.wma)
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To: GreatOne

I guess we should not borrow our friends' music either. Should we listen if we didn't pay for it?


12 posted on 11/07/2005 1:47:31 PM PST by tutstar (OurFlorida.true.ws)
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To: JohnnyZ
If file-sharing is illegal, so are libraries.

Circulating is fine. Copying is illegal.

13 posted on 11/07/2005 1:48:18 PM PST by newgeezer (Just my opinion, of course. Your mileage may vary.)
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To: GreatOne

This could be a good thing for the indie artist. But then it could also be a bad thing if the RIAA would want to stop us from offering our own music for free.



14 posted on 11/07/2005 1:48:44 PM PST by GloriaJane (http://music.download.com/gloriajane "Seems Like Our Press Has Turned Against Our Country")
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To: peyton randolph
Gay cowboys who eat pudding...

LOL! They REALLY do that in the film?!

15 posted on 11/07/2005 1:50:08 PM PST by Windsong (FighterPilot)
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To: GreatOne

The music they're producing now sucks so bad it's not worth paying for it. The rights of the old music I steal are not owned by the musicians, so I don't care if they don't get my money. I can copy any music I want by running it through analog, and it looses no quality. Digital --> oversampled analog --> digital. They have over priced their product, and they have reduced it's quality -- they've screwed themselves. Ha.


16 posted on 11/07/2005 1:50:36 PM PST by Born to Conserve
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To: SauronOfMordor
There just ISN'T enough worthwhile music being generated to fill an 80GB hard drive

Youre joking, right? I have a second 250 gig filled with mp3s from USenet of my fav genres (celtic, jazz, new age, game soundtracks, military, movie soundtracks, rock, etc).

And wonderfully encrypted/decrypted with a click of a mouse, via DriveCrypt Plus!

17 posted on 11/07/2005 1:53:00 PM PST by Windsong (FighterPilot)
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To: Dan Nunn

True but there is still free music sites like download.com and soundclick.com where indie artists offer their music to the public free.


18 posted on 11/07/2005 1:53:12 PM PST by GloriaJane (http://music.download.com/gloriajane "Seems Like Our Press Has Turned Against Our Country")
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To: newgeezer
Circulating is fine. Copying is illegal.

Same difference really. You could have an online lending library circulating hundreds of legally purchased copies of songs and movies, as long as no two people are listening to the same copy at the same time.

19 posted on 11/07/2005 1:55:46 PM PST by JohnnyZ ("She was appointed by a conservative. That ought to have been enough for us." -- NotBrilliant)
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To: GloriaJane

Absolutely correct. If you are into independent artists, you will find a lot of free music out there that is 100% legal to download.


20 posted on 11/07/2005 1:56:16 PM PST by Dan Nunn (http://marklevinfan.com/Audio/WhyAreWeAtWar.wma)
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