Monday, June 27, 2005

The Grokster Case – The Supremes have spoken. Oy.

The Grokster Case is a complex copyright case, and the Supreme Court decision in the case is also complex. But opinion seems to be quickly coalescing, sadly, on one point. The Supreme Court has created a new legal test, and any company that wants to develop a product related to any aspect of copyright will must be prepared for an immense legal cost to avoid the pitfalls of this new test. Any American company, that is. European and Asian companies will be free to innovate without this new cost.
Companies will now be required to avoid any appearance of encouraging customers to infringe on copyright (whatever that means in the future). Innovating companies must be prepared for a high cost of proving their intentions when sued by anyone with deep pockets who wishes to slow them down. Cory Doctorow put it very well in this excerpt at BoingBoing.

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