Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Supreme Court Rules Against Grokster

Hollywood scored a major victory yesterday on the news that the Supreme Court has found that file swapping services can be held liable for copyright infringements. The Supreme Court found that MGM Studios could sue Grokster and StreamCast Networks, developer of the Morpheus file swapping software. In an opinion written by Justice Souter, the court said that a one who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright is liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties. The ruling clears the way for a trial in the lower courts. The victory is expected to spur even faster adoption of legal audio and video download services such as Apple's iTunes, Los Angeles-based Napster's music download service, and Yahoo's Los Angeles based music download services.