Decentralized File-sharing Tools Ruled Legal

[EvilRemix]

"Streamcast and Grokster have won a major court decision in Los Angeles, shifting the tides of the on-line P2P legal war. Federal court Judge Stephen Wilson has dismissed much of the studios' claims in their lawsuits against them, stating that Morpheus and Grokster were not liable for copyright infringements that took place using their software."
Source

So whats your opinion on this? This is one of the most controversial topics lately, and one that affects quite a few of us (you know who you are). I use p2p all the time, to get all kinds of things. These cases affect me, but not just because if they went away I wouldnt be able to get all this "free" stuff.

There is a bigger picture here, that you have to see. The reason that p2p is doing so well, isnt because it is free, its because it is easy. Companies, especially music companies, need to realise that times have changed. They need to change how they do business, charging 15$ (US) for a CD that has one good song on it is ludicrous. It costs them about 2$ to produce the cd and packaging. I am all for artists making money, but I dont think they need to be millionaires and live lavish lifestyles, and I think they can live with a litle less money. DVD manufacturers, are just as bad. theres no way that DVDs cost 20-30$ to produce...

 

[chcr]

Companies, especially music companies, need to realise that times have changed.

Damned straight. I don't pirate music, but the industry needs to understand the changes and deal with them rather than whining about how they're being robbed. I also won't buy a copy protected cd, regardless of how badly I want it. I don't post it on P2P to share, but if I want to rip a cd I paid for, I should be able to. Just my opinion.

 

[freako104]

they want $$$ and p2p is free so people arent buying the cds and such.i dont agree with the record companies but i do have sympathy for them since they can lose money this way.

 

[fury]

It's just as easy for them to make a sale off a user getting one of the songs off of a P2P - I know many people who end up buying CD's because they got a song through P2P.

The radio isn't as good of a testing tool anymore, because most of the songs getting put on it are remixed or edited somehow. There's just something way different about most of the songs on the radio compared to their CD versions.