| Subject: Ruling could shape future innovatio |
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Betty
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Date Posted: 12:12:14 01/27/05 Thu
In reply to:
Betty
's message, "RIAA & goofy laws." on 17:09:22 02/01/04 Sun
Ruling could shape future innovation
The high-profile case, MGM vs. Grokster, is expected to decide whether Internet file-sharing services are responsible for their customers illegally swapping songs and movies, a multibillion-dollar legal question that may significantly shape the future of technological innovation.
Consumer electronics manufacturers and high-tech advocates say the outcome of the case will be pivotal in determining what kind of products consumers can buy in the future.
"The Internet has flourished and technology has flourished to large part because of the freedom to innovate," said Alan Davidson, associate director of the Center for Democracy and Technology.
The 28 Hollywood studios and music companies that sued file-swapping services Grokster and Morpheus filed their legal arguments this week. The court is scheduled to hear oral arguments at the end of March, and a decision is expected by summer.
At issue is a legal standard set by the Supreme Court in 1984 when it ruled that creators of the Sony Betamax VCR and other new technologies could not be held liable for acts of copyright infringement so long as a device is capable of substantial legitimate uses. It was a ruling that sought to strike a balance between the competing rights of copyright holders and innovators.
"Betamax and the principles that Betamax represents ... gave the technology industry the license to go out and innovate without having to ask the content" industry's permission first, said Michael Petricone, vice president of technology policy for the Consumer Electronics Association.
Petricone said the Betamax ruling led to a surge of new products, from the DVD to the TiVo digital video recorder to the iPod portable music player.
But increasingly, consumer products that offer innovative new features, such as the ReplayTV digital video recorder that allowed people to transfer recorded shows over the Internet, have come under legal assault from Hollywood, said Petricone.
Dean Garfield, the Motion Picture Association of America's director of legal affairs, said the studios aren't out to erase the protections afforded by the Betamax decision.
"Sony Betamax asks for a balance. That essentially is what we're asking the court to do, to give real protection to that concept of protecting innovation and advancing innovation while also protecting and preserving copyright," he said.
In a joint legal filing Monday, the Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry of America argued that a lower court decision "broke faith and the central tenet" of the Betamax ruling. "Grokster's and StreamCast's services are the polar opposite of the Betamax," attorneys for the RIAA and MPAA wrote. "Grokster and StreamCast built and run services that are principally used for infringement, and it is this infringement -- not legitimate activity -- that makes them money."
StreamCast Networks Inc. owns Morpheus. A broad coalition of technology groups and consumer advocacy groups has filed a brief asking the Supreme Court to preserve the safeguards that Betamax affords innovators.
"What we're most afraid of is putting copyright lawyers into the design process," said Davidson. "Imagine how companies would react, if they knew they could face tremendous liability because they didn't do everything they could to stop their products from infringing."
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