Hey, check it out--according to [http://www.scotusblog.com/movabletype/archives/2005/06/grokster_stream.html|a post] over at scotusblog.com, the US Supreme Court has found [abbr: P2P - Peer to Peer] networks, well, Grokster and StreamCast, specifically, liable for any illegal file sharing that is done on their network.
Of course, if we're to use this as an example for other cases, I'm guessing that gun companies are now liable for crimes committed with the guns they produce. Alcohol companies are now liable for drunk driving accidents and for that matter, car companies should now be liable for crimes committed with the help of their vehicles. Hell, it seems like a reasonable person could take it so far as to say parents are responsible for the crimes their children commit.
How absurdly short-sighted is this ruling? Too short to even measure. This saves big business the trouble of alienating their customers by suing them for committing the actual crime of file sharing. This also makes it harder for a lot of independent record-deal-free musicians from getting their stuff heard thanks to file sharing networks being shut down.
One of the things government seems to be doing a lot of lately is making it hard for the little guy to do things on his or her own. Ted Turner said not too long ago that if he tried to start CNN today, he wouldn't be able to. There's no way for just some guy on the street to get a loan and start something like a cable network. Well, now it seems to be happening with recording artists, too.
Of course, it's the Internet--there will be other solutions found.
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