High Court Keelhauls Grokster On P2P Piracy

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) handed down a unanimous ruling in favor of MGM in MGM V Grokster Inc. (Case #04-480). The movie and recording industries surely rejoice as the decision makes P2P sharing networks liable for file swapping of copyrighted materials. The decision rocks the world of the peer to peer file sharing as many companies will be forced to police their own networks or face lawsuits of epic proportions from the MPAA, the RIAA and various companies tied to the industry. Companies like defendants Grokster Inc. and Streamcast Networks Inc. will likely pay a heavy price for the actions of people who make use of their utilities.