Slashdot Mirror
Supreme Court Rules against Grokster
furry_wookie writes "A few minutes ago, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled unaniumously against Grokster today. This ruling means that developers of software violate federal copyright law when they provide computer users with the means to share music and movie files downloaded from the Internet. More info about the case here." That's not an entirely accurate statement -- what The Supremes said is that "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 using the device, regardless of the device's lawful uses." The promotion is the key part of that statement.
Update: 06/27 18:00 GMT by T : Reader SilentBob4 points out this interview with EFF attorney Wendy Seltzer on the decision.
"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 using the device, regardless of the device's lawful uses.""
... is liable for the resulting acts of killing by third parties using the gun, regardless of the gun's lawful uses.
One who distributes a gun with the object of promoting its use to kill
Comparing it to Windows will be a moot point, since El Dorado is going to have a 40% larger code base than XP.
I was just using firearms as an example. I realize that doing bodily harm is illegal. But I guess so is distributing copyrighted materials.
I mean you could probably kill someone with a mouse trap. Is the mouse trap company liable?
I could also use a pen and paper to copy the lyrics and musical notes to a song down on a sheet of paper, then photocopy them and give them away to everyone I know. Are the pencil and paper companies liable?
I don't use Grokster. Does it say anywhere on their website or in their EULA that the program can be used to distribute COPYRIGHTED material?