Supreme Court Takes On Grokster Case

from the a-little-finality-is-all-we-ask dept

It's probably not a huge surprise to many, but the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the Grokster appeal put forth by the entertainment industry. The article paints this as a victory for the recording industry, but depending on how the case turns out, the opposite may be true. By bringing it to the Supreme Court, there should be a final judgment on whether the Betamax standard holds -- meaning that companies who produce technology are not liable for how its users use that technology, or if companies will need to first get permission from various industries before creating innovative applications. If the Supreme Court understands the arguments in the same way that the lower courts did, then there would be a definite precedent, and everyone could stop wondering about all of these lawsuits. Of course, if the Supreme Court decides that the lower courts got the decision wrong, it could be a big blow to the technology industry in the US -- who would suddenly have to make sure any new innovations didn't upset existing industries.

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