Some bad news from SCOTUS(Blog).
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that developers of software violate federal copyright law when they provide computer users with the means to share music and movie files downloaded from the internet.
Read Justice Souter's opinion. Justice Ginsburg concurrence (joined by the Chief Justice and Justice Kennedy); and Justice Breyer's concurrence, joined by Justices Stevens and O'Connor. I haven't had a chance to give them a thorough review, but at first glance it looks like they are adopting something along the lines of the "Active Inducement" test suggested by Justice O'Connor at oral arguments.
Ernest is participating in a Grokster Roundtable. Others, including Prof Felten, are participating in SCOTUSblog discussions. Marty has some commentary and Kevin has a good roundup. And don't forget, even though it's a unanimous decision, Fred says we've already won.
Plenty of good coverage out there, as you might expect. An incomplete roundup of additional reading:
- Eric Goldman has a great analysis of the decision. He sees it as a very narrow ruling.
- William Patry says the court punted: "they decided mainly an issue that wasn't in front of them (inducement) and didn't decide the one that was, the effect of Sony on the Internet era".
- EFF: Supreme Court Ruling Will Chill Technology Innovation
- Mark Cuban: Wall St didn't care
More thoughts when I have a chance to read everything, hopefully later in the day.