There is no dispute that individual users violate copyright law when they share files of copyrighted material, and the industry has had some modest success in seeking fines from college students and others. But with millions of users downloading billions of files each month, retail prosecution proved inefficient, so the music and entertainment industries turned their attention several years ago to the commercial services that make the file sharing possible.And then has this to say in the opinion section:
In another landmark decision, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously against Grokster, a company that facilitates illegal exchanges of copyrighted music over the Internet. The justices got the issue exactly right, holding that actively encouraging copyright infringement is illegal, but merely creating new technology that makes it possible is not. The Grokster decision sets out a sensible framework for intellectual property law in the Internet age.Definitely an interesting topic and something I would have probably studied had I not cancelled my law school application. I'd say about 20% of the songs in my iTunes are downloaded/shared files. I don't know if that's high or low or normal or what. But I do know for my own purposes, these downloads in many cases lead to eventual purchases and the reason I use Gnutella is because my remote location makes it extremely challenging to walk into a store and purchase the music I like.
MGM does have a point in protecting its own interests and revenue but history has generally shown a better outcome when you work with the technology rather than against it.
Speaking of downloading, have you guys heard The NP's "The Bleeding Heart Show"?
Neko fucking owns that song.
