A (Small) Victory for File-Swapping Services

Submitted by EMason on April 26, 2003 - 12:30.

This article reports that he didn't go so far as to say that file-swapping is legal, but a Los Angeles judge did rule that the file-swapping services Grokster and Streamcast were not liable for their users' copyright infringements. Of course, I can imagine the recording industry might be "forced" soon to go after individual users more directly. Such rulings may end up being an argument for stricter control over and monitoring of individual users (viva Palladium). Does anyone else feel less safe the more that companies get legal protection?

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cel4145's picture

Re: A (Small) Victory for File-Swapping Services

Submitted by cel4145 on April 26, 2003 - 14:43.

I would project that this may be more than a small victory. It establishes a legal precedence protecting Freenet from liability. As the RIAA goes after more individual users, I think we'll see file traders moving towards the anonymity of Freenet.

Re: A (Small) Victory for File-Swapping Services

Submitted by EMason on April 26, 2003 - 16:50.

Thanks for the context, Charlie. I wonder if these groups will be able to maintai an anonymous user base. I've been hunting unsuccessfully for the source, but I thought recently that a law was proposed to make it illegal to send email anonymously. I wonder if anonymity will be the next thing to be attacked on the net. At Wired news, this headline does not give me any confidence: "Online Anonymity Comes Under Fire." Granted, there is a significant difference between Freenet and Verizon in terms of what info they have about users.