Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments in Grokster Case

By George Agathos
Photo and Technology Editor

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday heard oral arguments in the copyright infringement case against Grokster. The outcome of the case will likely set precedent that will determine the future of a contentious issue in the p2p (peer to peer) controversy: Are p2p software developers and network owners liable for the illegal activity on their systems?

The case is to be decided by a court packed with, if we are blunt, old people, but nonetheless very intelligent old people. The main argument, however, hinges on whether the current case has precedent itself from the 1980's ruling in the famed Betamax case, in which the makers of VCRs and other recording devices were found to be not liable for the potential illegal uses of their products.

Regardless of how the ruling goes, it would not mean a whole lot to the filesharing community. At the core if the arguements is not the issue of filesharing itself, but rather that of technological innovation. Even though ruling in favor of Grokster would be a step foward for the filesharing community, it would do nothing regarding the lawsuits that have been filed against thousands of internet users. In fact, the broader issue of filesharing has not even been touched legally aside from various technicalities that temporarily prevented the subpoenaing of internet users' identities from internet service providers.

The case is also not yet in a trial phase and still could be sent back to a lower court. These arguments constitute the latest additions to a vast collection of briefs submitted to the court by advocacy groups and experts alike. The Bush administration submitted a brief in favor of MGM in the case. 

Note: The parties involved in the case constitute more than just MGM and Grokster.  On MGM's side are over two dozen of the largest entertainment companies, and, in addition to Grokster, the makers of Morpheus and KaZaA are also on the receiving end of the suit.

Related Articles:
File-sharing Case Worries Independent Artists

Related Links:
Supreme Court Docket (List of documents filed for the case and their parties)
Electronic Frontier Foundation (A history of the case's progress through the judicial system)