Grokster Loses
In yet another landmark decision, the Supreme Court has ruled against Grokster. Now, upon first examination, I thought this was a very bad thing. However, reading the Groklaw article on the ruling has put some of my fears to rest.
In fact, the Sony decision isn’t infringed upon. From the decision:
We hold that one who distributes a device with the object of promotion 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 by third parties.
Basically what sets this case apart is the fact that Grokster was marketing specifically for illegal activities. It wasn’t just turning a blind eye; it was assisting in the act.
[...] HomeP2P is legal, best IT workplaces, outsource everything, and more… Jun 28 2005 - 8:41am Where Did Our Love Go? sang The Supremes. P2P is legal, sang The Supreme Court, despite reports to the contrary. Frank Hayes called those reports bland blather, and points to the Groklaw discussion, where we find interesting comments such as "Doesn’t strike a blow at P2P," "P2P is my radio station," "Musicians get 8¢ per CD." Ken Mingis thinks this will improve iTunes’ revenue. Precision Blogger points out that the ruling puts non-US technology companies at an advantage. Derik DeLong says Grokster assisted in the act of piracy and that it, "Wasn’t just turning a blind eye." Ex-roadie Dave Stevens studies the decision and thinks it’s "Exceptionally vague, well balanced and fair," [huh?] summing up with: What’s happened here is that the market and the distribution paradigm have evolved and the content producers weren’t able to exploit it like they have in similar transistions [sic] in the industry. For example, vinyl LP to cassette to CD in the music biz and video cassette to DVD in the movie biz. Instead of changing tactics and trying to drive new business models, content producers chose to litigate and force consumers into models they no longer wished to use. Layoffs down: morale up notes Mitch Betts. In a separate post, he describes some unusual perks, including Quicken’s "In-house rock band to liven up meetings." Ovaltiney Martin Brown recites east, west, home’s best. Adam Dyer wonders which companies weren’t represented. Check out the full report. [...]