Grokster loses... huge setback for the digital media world...
Check out the link here:
http://money.cnn.com/2005/06/27/technology/grokster/
Quote:
the Supreme Court concluded that companies that encourage the illegal use of their peer-to-peer software can be held accountable for any copyright infringement that occurs.
Now this sounds reasonable right? But the implications of this ruling are fucking huge. Say I'm Joe Blow small business owner who operates a business in the digital media space. My product or service has many legitimate uses and users, but some people choose to use my product or service to break copyright law. Now the RIAA/MPAA/[insert evil protectionist association here] can use their billions in capital and resources to sue me, Joe Blow. Even though I didn't "encourage" the illegal use of my product or service, they can tie me up in court for ages debating that point.
This is the same as saying "Hey gun companies are evil because some people choose to use their products to break the law" or "Car companies deserve to be shut down because some guy used his Ford to run over his neighbor in cold blood"
WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH AMERICA??????