[DMCA-Activists] Supreme Court Accepts MGM vs. Grokster

[Seth Johnson]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: pho: Supreme Court to hear MGM v. Grokster
Date: Fri, 10 Dec 2004 10:50:43 -0800
From: "James S. Tyre" <address@hidden>
To: address@hidden

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Scotus-File-Sharing.html?oref=login&pagewanted=print&position=

December 10, 2004
High Court to Hear File - Sharing Dispute
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 1:20 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court agreed Friday to consider
whether two  Internet file-sharing services may be held
responsible for their customers'  online swapping of copyrighted
songs and movies.

Justices will review a lower ruling in favor of Grokster Ltd.
and  StreamCast Networks Inc., which came as a blow to recording
companies and  movie studios seeking to stop the illegal
distribution of their works.

The file-sharing is ``inflicting catastrophic, multibillion
dollar harm on  petitioners that cannot be redressed through
lawsuits against the millions  of direct infringers using those
services,'' the appeal by  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and other
entertainment companies says.

Grokster and StreamCast, in their filings, disagree: ``Once the
software  has been downloaded by users, (we) have no involvement
in, nor ability to  control, what it is used for.''

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled in
August that  file-sharing services were not responsible because
they don't have central  servers pointing users to copyright
material.

It reasoned that the firms simply provide software that lets
individual  users share information over the Internet, regardless
of whether that  shared information is copyrighted.

The big-money fight has drawn the support of dozens of companies
in the  entertainment industry as well as attorneys general in 40
states, who fear  the file-sharing software will encourage
illegal activity, stem the growth  of small artists and lead to
lost jobs and sales tax revenue.

Civil libertarians, meanwhile, have warned a defeat for Grokster
and  StreamCast could force technology companies such as
Microsoft Corp. to  delay or kill innovative products that give
consumers more control.

``History has shown that time and market forces often provide
equilibrium  in balancing interests, whether the new technology
be a player piano, a  copier, a tape recorder, a video recorder,
a personal computer, a karaoke  machine, or an MP3 player,'' the
9th Circuit stated. ``Thus, it is prudent  for courts to exercise
caution.''

If the lower ruling is upheld, the entertainment industry would
have to  take the more costly and less popular route of going
directly after  millions of online file-swappers believed to
distribute songs and movies  illegally.

Recording companies have already sued more than 3,400 such users;
at least  600 of the cases were eventually settled for roughly
$3,000 each.

The case is Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios v. Grokster, 04-480.
Arguments are  expected in the spring, with a ruling by July.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
James S. Tyre                              
mailto:address@hidden
Law Offices of James S. Tyre         
310-839-4114/310-839-4602(fax)
10736 Jefferson Blvd., #512               Culver City, CA
90230-4969
Co-founder, The Censorware Project            
http://censorware.net

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