Supreme Court may decide Monday on Grokster case

GristyMcFisty used our news submit to tell us that there is still no
decision in the Grokster case in the United States. This is a critical decision for filesharing to say the least. If the Supreme Court sides against the software authors, they are going to be fair game for damages from the music and movie industry. Right now, since the applications have a legal purpose besides the illegal sharing of copyrighted works via the Internet, the end user is the one that is responsible for their own actions. In other words, they are looked upon as abusers of the product and therefore subject to litigation. Of course, the copyright holders would like to see these type softwares eliminated altogether, so they're going after the companies that distribute and create such works. I'm afraid for at least the near future, they'll need some good luck with this complaint.

In addition, the Supreme Court is just about to call it quits for the summer and it remains to be seen if they will even render a decion on this issue before breaking.

The US Supreme Court has declined to issue a ruling on the MGM v. Grokster case today, as it had been expected to do. There is one week left in the Court"s schedule this season, so it is likely that there will either be an answer next Monday, or none this session. At issue is whether P2P network operators Grokster and StreamCast should be held liable for users" copyright infringement. Since they do not host or control the data on the networks, it has been hoped that the Supremes will let them off the hook for the actions of others.

If they
do decide, there's a very good chance that this case will at least temporarily be in favor of filesharing. This is due to the belief that the legal aspect of the software has such a potential, that killing it at this point would surely be a mistake. Historically, new ideas, even those with questionable uses, have been given time to prove themselves in the marketplace. One example that comes to mind is the VCR. Initially, it's primary function was time shifting and commercial skipping. It faced a legal battle and won, the famous Betamax case. Then over the next several years, a new legitimate market emerged, video rentals.

We can rest assured, this repreive, if given to filesharing, will be only a temporary one and we must see some beneficial patterns develop soon, or it could get messy in the long run. Also, another factor that is not known is what percentage of abuse will be tolerated long term. This legal issue could be with us for some time.

Source: The Register