Filesharing Software Ruled Legal

In an expected, but significant, victory for filesharing technology, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that filesharing companies are not responsible for what users do with the technology– just as ISPs aren’t responsible for what you do with email or what websites you visit. What’s most important here is the message that the courts sent. I’ll let them tell it:

“The introduction of new technology is always disruptive to old markets and particularly to those copyright owners whose works are sold through well-established distribution mechanisms… Yet history has shown that time and market forces often provide equilibrium in balancing interests, whether the new technology be a player piano, a copier, a tape recorder, a video recorder, a personal computer, a karaoke machine or an MP3 player. Thus, it is prudent for courts to exercise caution before restructuring liability theories for the purpose of addressing specific market abuses, despite their apparent present magnitude.”

If there was ever an industry that needed some healthy disruption and reorganization it’s the current music industry. And that’s exactly what’s happening.

Here’s a short article, a detailed article, and the court’s ruling (pdf).