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Court Urged to Hear File-Sharing Case

Posted by michael on from the oh-lord-hear-my-plea dept.

gollum123 writes "AP reports that: A disparate group made up of dozens of state attorneys general, labor unions, retailers, professional sports leagues and others urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to hear a claim brought by the recording and film industries against two Internet file-sharing firms. In legal briefs filed with the court, the petitioners stressed the justices should take the entertainment companies' case and finally resolve conflicting lower court rulings on file-sharing, said Steven Marks, general counsel for the Recording Industry Association of America."

2 of 12 comments (clear)

  1. As Long As... by mbrinkm · · Score: 2, Interesting
    I would prefer that the Supreme Court take it.

    I believe the Court would find in favor of Grokster and StreamCast - that creating / developing / selling / distributing a product that may be used to commit a crime is legal AS LONG AS the person / company is not actively conding the crime.

    Similar to the Betamax decision, but bring it into the digital age and put it to rest.

    --
    "Don't worry about people stealing an idea. If it's original, you will have to ram it down their throats." --Howard Aike
    1. Re:As Long As... by ravenspear · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It could be a good thing, as long as the Court can see through the RIAA fud that has been poured out for years now about how file sharing is destroying their product and stealing their revenue. The SC justices are fairly wise though, and given the intelligent discernment of the lower courts I think that they could do a good job on the case. It might shut up the entertainment cartel for a longer period and actually force them to reexamine the quality of their product as the true nature of their declining revenues.