06/27/05

In a major victory for the entertainment industry, the Supreme Court this morning ruled that file-sharing companies could be held liable when people use their products to download copyrighted movies and music from the Internet. The unanimous decision said there was enough evidence of unlawful intent for the case of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer vs. Grokster to be sent back to lower court for a trial. The high court appeared to agree with the entertainment industry’s argument that the peer-to-peer file-sharing services were actively inducing users to engage in piracy. 'We hold that one who distributes a device with the object of promoting 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,' Justice David H. Souter wrote for the court...

http://tinyurl.com/cbn5y

from San Francisco Chronicle


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp