Justices to rule on file swapping this week
At issue is a series of lower court decisions that have enraged studio and label executives by saying that file-swapping companies such as Grokster are not legally liable for the widespread piracy that happens on their networks.
At the core of the file-swapping dispute is an interpretation of the 20-year-old decision that made Sony’s Betamax legal to sell in the United States. Much of the subsequent consumer electronics industry has been built with that decision in mind, and now companies are worried that it’s open for review.
In 1982, testifying in front of Congress before the Supreme Court had ruled, MPAA President Jack Valenti said, “I say to you that the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone.” Hmmm…sounds like BS to me…
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