Hollywood: P2P Is Not About Technology

[KingFish]

The entertainment industry urged the U.S. Supreme Court Monday afternoon not to give the companies developing peer-to-peer (P2P) music file swapping software a "perpetual free pass" to engage in "mind-boggling" copyright infringement.

In a 67-page brief filed in advance of the March 29 Supreme Court oral arguments in MGM vs. Grokster, attorneys for the music and movie studios claim Grokster exploits "this massive infringement for profit, and petitioners are suffering extreme harms as a consequence."

Hollywood wants the high court to reverse a district court ruling and a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco decision that say file-swapping companies such as Grokster, Morpheus and Kazaa are not liable for the infringement of their users.

The Supreme Court in December agreed to hear the case that challenges the court's landmark 1984 Sony Betamax decision. In the two lower court decisions, judges exonerated Grokster and its parent company, StreamCast, of secondary copyright liability based on the Betamax decision.
Source: Internet News (http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3464081)

[Sputnik]

seems open and shut to me.... but then again, they can always reverse decisions can't they?

[kanezfan]

They should also ban close down gun manufacturers because they provide a way to kill people. They should go ahead and allow the person suing McDonald's because McD's was the reason that person got so fat. They should let us sue every car company for making vehicles of death too. What else, oh, let's sue Procter and Gamble for making cleaning supplies, after all I can die if I drink kitchen cleaner, it's their fault. When I think about it, they should sue to shut down all ISPs everywhere because they are the most direct cause of file sharing aren't they? I mean without an ISP, you're not sharing much unless it's on a floppy/CDR right?

This is so idiotic. I hope in time that enough file sharing goes on to kill both the RIAA and the MPAA. For our government to be stepping in to resolve this is such a waste of time.