Peer-to-peer advocacy group P2PUnited vowed to fight "to the last bell" for the popular file-swapping networks, following the unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this week holding the networks open to litigation for the copyright-infringing activities of their users.
"In sending this case back to the lower courts for a fact-intensive and ultimately subjective investigation of the intent of Grokster’s and Morpheus’ developers, the real import of the Supreme Court’s ruling goes far beyond the fortunes of two innovative and creative companies," said P2PUnited executive director Adam Eisgrau, in a statement released within hours following the high court’s ruling.
"Regrettably, it also may well have thrown open hundreds of courthouse doors across the nation to easily and cheaply mounted anti-technology litigation by powerful copyright interests that the inventors of the 'Next Great Idea' will find prohibitively expensive to fight and venture funders will deem too risky to back," he added.
Eisgrau was unavailable for direct comment, but his statement said people may never know just what or how many "marvelous technological and economic engines were dismantled" with the high court ruling.
"What we do know," he continued, "is that Congress may yet need to act on its ultimate responsibility to protect the freedom to innovate and communicate so critical to America's prosperity in the information age."
Sharman Networks, the parent of P2P network Kazaa, said the Supreme Court ruling in MGM v. Groskter, StreamCast presented another opportunity: the opportunity to be completely vindicated in a court trial.
"[W]e are confident the legal process will affirm that we have never sought to induce users of our file-sharing software, Kazaa Media Desktop, to illegally violate copyright law, and that we have taken numerous steps to discourage copyright infringement by our users," Sharman said in its own statement. "While the Supreme Court apparently found 'substantial evidence … on all elements of inducement' by other P2P providers Grokster and Morpheus, Sharman has never encouraged or assisted users of Kazaa software to share copyrighted material in violation of copyright law."
For its part, Morpheus parent StreamCast swore to keep up what it called its "David vs. Goliath" fight to show the company does not operate other than "100 percent on the right side of the law," as StreamCast chief executive Michael Weiss put it in his statement about the case.
"Once all the evidence is put forward, we are confident that it will be proven that Morpheus did not, does not, and will not promote or encourage copyright infringement," Weiss said. "We voluntarily worked closely and will continue to work closely with federal agencies such as the FTC to go above and beyond the letter of the law to make sure users know they shouldn’t infringe copyright.”
"Grokster and StreamCast are confident that they will prevail as Round II of this watershed case begins," Eisgrau said, "and P2PUnited will be in the file sharing industry's corner in Washington until the last bell rings, because America simply can't afford a technology TKO."
Grokster had not commented on the ruling at the time of this writing, but StreamCast general counsel Michael Nero condemned the ruling as Orwellian because it amounted to naming Hollywood the Thought Police. "In every instance where some product might possibly be used for copyright infringement, the copyright holder can now sue and weigh down innovation with expensive, time- and resource-consuming discovery and trials," Nero said.
“It is unfortunate that product creators will now have to bear a major expense in litigation to defend themselves against the controlling interests of the copyright industry,” he continued. “This will be a full lawyer employment outcome; because when something becomes so fact-intensive and where there is such great uncertainty, lawyers will get pulled into every aspect of innovation and business."
Hollywood does not exactly agree, of course. Motion Picture Association of America president Dan Glickman said of the Supremes' ruling that it was a strong, clear message "that businesses based on theft should not and will not be allowed to flourish.”
“Protecting intellectual property rights and aggressively combating copyright theft will keep an engine of economic growth and job creation thriving, promote innovation, strengthen legitimate businesses that unite technology and content in innovative and legal ways, and ensure a future of quality and choice for consumers in the United States and around the world," Glickman added.
Recording Industry Association of America chief executive Mitch Bainwol said the high court basically answered a threat to the American economy and protected the livelihoods of more than 11 million Americans employed in creative industries.
"The Supreme Court has helped to power the digital future for legitimate online businesses – including legal file sharing networks – by holding accountable those who promote and profit from theft," Bainwol said. "This decision lays the groundwork for the dawn of a new day – an opportunity that will bring the entertainment and technology communities even closer together, with music fans reaping the rewards."
