Music Industry Asks Supreme Court
To Overturn File-Sharing Ruling
By SARAH MCBRIDE
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
October 11, 2004; Page B6
LOS ANGELES -- The entertainment industry asked the Supreme Court Friday to overturn a lower-court ruling that lets creators of Internet file-sharing software stay in operation.
The request aims to thwart a decision that threatens to make it much harder for the industry to fight illicit online trading of music and movies.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in August said peer-to-peer services were legal because their software can be used for legal purposes. The judge found the services can't be responsible if users find illegal purposes for the software, such as illegally trading copyrighted material. Analysts say the vast majority of material traded through such services is illegal.
The courts have shut down some file-sharing services, such as Napster and Aimster, because they maintained central directories of available material. The Napster name now belongs to a legitimate music service sanctioned by the industry, although the original company is defunct.
Newer file-sharing services, such as Grokster, a defendant in the current case, allow users' computers to talk directly with one another. That means the services don't have the ability to block access to suspect files.
"The Ninth Circuit has immunized Grokster and StreamCast from copyright liability for millions of acts of copyright infringement that occur on their services every day," the lawyers for the entertainment industry said in their writ.
StreamCast called the appeal a "doomed effort" and said it would continue to develop peer-to-peer technology.
