Opinions may vary on how much Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. v. Grokster Ltd. will affect file swapping, but technology developers seem to take seriously the "inducement" standard outlined in the Supreme Court’s ruling. During a panel discussion at this year’s Future of Music Policy Summit, experts on law and technology mulled over steps that peer-to-peer programmers can take to avoid sanctioning copyright violations in the eyes of the court.
Jonathan Band, a lawyer who specializes in intellectual-property issues, urged peer-to-peer services to "be really careful" about how they market themselves. Because the Supreme Court used Grokster’s promotional material to divine the network’s intent, "it could be that the biggest impact of Grokster is not on innovation so much as advertising," he said.
Attendees peppered Mr. Band with questions about advertising that were both semantic and anxious. They also debated whether antipiracy filtering technologies—like those that an Australian court ordered KaZaA to add to its file-swapping software—are effective and ethical.
