COPYCENSE

"The much-heralded Supreme Court showdown in the Grokster case today between old-fashioned entertainment and new-fangled technology found the justices surprisingly responsive to warnings from Grokster and its allies that a broad definition of copyright infringement could curtail innovation.

"Justice David H. Souter asked Donald B. Verrilli, Jr., the lawyer arguing for the Hollywood studios and the recording industry, to envision ‘a guy sitting in his garage inventing the iPod.’

"That David Souter, the least technically minded of the justices, was an indication of how this confrontation of powerful interests had engaged the court.  But by the end of the lively argument, any prediction about what the court will actually decide appeared perilous."

Linda Greenhouse. Justices Seem Responsive to Arguments on File Sharing. The New York Times. March 29, 2005.

See also:
John Borland. Supreme Court Takes Hard Look at P2P. News.com. March 29, 2005.

Jon Healey. Technology or Piracy? Court Asked to Draw Line. Seattle Times. March 29, 2005.

Ted Bridis. Supreme Court Weighs in on File-Sharing. ABC News. March 29, 2005.

National Public Radio. Supreme Court Weighs Online File-Sharing Case. All Things Considered. March 29, 2005.

National Pubic Radio. Slate’s Jurisprudence: File-Sharing. Day to Day. March 29, 2005.

David McGuire. At a Glance: MGM v. Grokster. WashingtonPost.com. March 29, 2005.

Katie Dean. Camping Out for the Grokster Case. Wired News. March 29, 2005.

Update:
Andrew Leonard. Music Rules. Salon. March 30, 2005.

Jim Puzzanghera. Justices Wary of Barring Tools for File-sharing. San Jose Mercury News. March 30, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

"Ken Fuhrman’s Colorado-based start-up company is a television junkie’s dream, making powerful home media servers to hold digitized versions of television shows, movies and music.

"But Fuhrman is worried. On Tuesday morning, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether file-swapping software companies Grokster and StreamCast Networks should be held responsible for the widespread copyright infringement on their networks, and he’s afraid his company, Interact-TV, could be affected too."

John Borland. Top Court to Hear Landmark P2P Case Tuesday. News.com. March 28, 2005.

See also:
John Borland. FAQ: Betamax–Tech’s Favorite Ruling. News.com. March 28, 2005.

Katie Dean. Supreme Showdown for P2P’s Future. Wired News. March 28, 2005.

Saul Hansell and Jeff Leeds. A Supreme Court Showdown for File Sharing. The New York Times. March 28, 2005.

Jon Healey. High Court Prepares for Case Against File Sharing. LATimes.com. March 28, 2005.

Marcia Coyle. Justices to Weigh Key Copyright Case. Law.com. March 21, 2005.

(Editor�s Note: The Times allows free access to their stories on the Web for seven days before sending the stories to the paper�s fee-based Archive.)

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Broadcast.com billionaire and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has announced that he will finance Grokster’s defense against MGM’s peer-to-peer lawsuit, which is expected to be argued in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, March 29.

Cuban, who sold Broadcast.com to Yahoo for $5.7 billion and is now president of HDNet, a provider of high-definition TV programming, wrote in a blog entry Saturday that he had agreed to fund the software company’s defense after he was approached by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and others.

Steven Musil. Mark Cuban to Finance Grokster Defense. News.com. March 27, 2005.

See also:
Blog Maverick. Let the Truth Be Told�MGM vs Grokster. March 26, 2005.

MercuryNews.com. Is a Software Maker or Distributor Obliged to Build Anti-theft Protections, Like Encryption, Into Its Design?. March 27, 2005. (Editorial)

Joan Biskupic. Online File Sharing to Face Judicial Test. USA Today. March 27, 2005.

P2PNet.com. Crux of Big Music’s Problems. March 25, 2005.

Grant Gross. P-to-P Case May Have Far-Reaching Impact. PC World. March 25, 2005.

The Economist. Grokster and StreamCast Face the Music. March 24, 2005. (Editorial)

Julie Hilden. File Sharing Goes Before Supreme Court. CNN.com. Feb. 16, 2005.

Electronic Frontier Foundation. MGM v. Grokster archive. No date.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

The peer-to-peer case is not the only important social software case on Tuesday’s Supreme Court docket.

"When Brand X, a California ISP, gets its day in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, there will be a lot more at stake than whether the company can get access to cable lines. In fact, depending on the details of the court decision, the case could determine the way in which the Federal Communications Commission regulates phone and information companies.

"At the core of the case is Brand X. The ISP wants the FCC to require cable companies to sell access to their networks at wholesale in much the same way that EarthLink Inc and other ISPs are sold access over DSL networks.

"The FCC has ruled that cable is an information service, and as such is not regulated by FCC rules. Because of this concept, the FCC has preempted rules that would tax phone service using cable lines, and state laws that require 911 access for people who use VOIP over cable."

Wayne Rash. Supreme Court Will Rule on ISP Cable Access. eWeek. March 25, 2005.

See also:
Jim Hu. Broadband Scuffle Reaches Supreme Court. News.com. March 25, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

"Sony has just introduced the Playstation Portable in the United States. This is a very impressive device with plenty of features any Palm OS or Pocket PC user would envy. But the Playstation Portable just isn’t the device most current handheld users want, and they shouldn’t waste their time thinking it is.

"I’m not down on the PSP, as it’s usually called. It’s a device that has a lot going for it. But, at the same time, it’s focused on a target market quite different from the one that typically buys handhelds."

Ed Hardy. Why the Playstation Portable Isn’t Going to Replace Your Handheld. Brighthand. March 25, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.