File-Sharing Still Thrives After Ruling

Iria · Jun 30, 2006, 09:06 PM

Source: ABC News
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LOS ANGELES Jun 30, 2006 (AP)— File-swapping software seemed in peril a year ago when the U.S. Supreme Court gave the entertainment industry a legal bullet: Its ruling reopened the door for lawsuits over programs used to share music, movies and other copyright files.

The Supreme Court, reversing lower court rulings, said developers of such programs could indeed be held liable for unauthorized sharing by their users if the technology companies were somehow encouraging customers to steal music and movies.

Andrew Lack, then chief executive at Sony BMG Music Entertainment, predicted at the time: "We will no longer have to compete with thieves in the night whose businesses are built on larceny."

Yet a year later, peer-to-peer, or P2P, sharing continues to thrive, with firms behind favorite applications such as eDonkey, LimeWire, Morpheus and Kazaa, among others, still in business.

Jun 30, 2006, 09:06 PM	#1
Iria DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7,275 Rep Power: 89	File-Sharing Still Thrives After Ruling Source: ABC News ___________ LOS ANGELES Jun 30, 2006 (AP)— File-swapping software seemed in peril a year ago when the U.S. Supreme Court gave the entertainment industry a legal bullet: Its ruling reopened the door for lawsuits over programs used to share music, movies and other copyright files. The Supreme Court, reversing lower court rulings, said developers of such programs could indeed be held liable for unauthorized sharing by their users if the technology companies were somehow encouraging customers to steal music and movies. Andrew Lack, then chief executive at Sony BMG Music Entertainment, predicted at the time: "We will no longer have to compete with thieves in the night whose businesses are built on larceny." Yet a year later, peer-to-peer, or P2P, sharing continues to thrive, with firms behind favorite applications such as eDonkey, LimeWire, Morpheus and Kazaa, among others, still in business.