[LINK] Fwd: FC: Judge says current P2P networks are legal to operate

[Roger Clarke]

>
>http://www.eff.org/IP/P2P/MGM_v_Grokster/030425_order_on_motions.php
>
>From: "Hiawatha Bray" <watha at monitortan.com>
>To: <politech at politechbot.com>
>Subject: Judge: File swapping tools are legal
>Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2003 15:05:23 -0400
>
>http://news.com.com/2100-1027-998363.html?tag=fd_top
>
>A federal judge in Los Angeles has handed a stunning court victory to
>file-swapping services Streamcast Networks and Grokster, dismissing much of
>the record industry and movie studios' lawsuit against the two companies.
>In an almost complete reversal of previous victories for the record labels
>and movie studios, federal court Judge Stephen Wilson ruled that
>Streamcast--parent of the Morpheus software--and Grokster were not liable
>for copyright infringements that took place using their software. The ruling
>does not directly affect Kazaa, software distributed by Sharman Networks,
>which has also been targeted by the entertainment industry.
>
>"Defendants distribute and support software, the users of which can and do
>choose to employ it for both lawful and unlawful ends," Wilson wrote in his
>opinion, released Friday. "Grokster and Streamcast are not significantly
>different from companies that sell home video recorders or copy machines,
>both of which can be and are used to infringe copyrights."
>
><snip>
>
>Hiawatha Bray
>Boston Globe
>
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-- 
Roger Clarke              http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/

Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd, 78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
                 Tel: +61 2 6288 1472, and 6288 6916
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Visiting Professor in the eCommerce Program, University of Hong Kong
Visiting Professor in the Baker Cyberspace Law & Policy Centre, U.N.S.W
Visiting Fellow in Computer Science, Australian National University