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File-sharing software firm loses US case

Steven Parker   on 03 October 2006 - 15:51 · 16 comments & 5639 views

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Another file-sharing software maker has been found guilty of causing copyright infringement. A US judge has said the Morpheus software produced by StreamCast breaks the law.

The ruling is another victory for the entertainment industry, which has had a string of recent victories and concessions. Just weeks ago Kazaa settled with the music industry for $100m.

MetaMachine was ordered to pay $30m to settle a copyright suit earlier this month over its eDonkey and Overnet file sharing software. Napster shut down and only the brand survived, now fronting an authorised download site and Grokster has been shut down by courts.

In 2003 Judge Stephen Wilson ruled that StreamCast could not be held responsible for the actions of its software's users, a decision that was backed by the appeals courts. Last year, though, the Supreme Court in the US ruled that file sharing software companies were liable for the software's use because they encouraged or induced users to commit copyright theft.

The Supreme Court then sent the case back to Delaware and to Wilson, who has delivered his revised judgment.

"In the record before the court, evidence of StreamCast's unlawful intent is overwhelming," he wrote this time around in his judgment. Granting a motion for summary judgment against StreamCast, he said there was evidence of "massive infringement" on the StreamCast network.

View: Full Report @ The Register

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(1 reply) #1 Lasker on 03 Oct 2006 - 15:55
you know why the RIAA win? because they can buy the layers of these small companies and win, this how big corporations win
#1.1 spongaweb on 03 Oct 2006 - 16:20
No they won because the idiot who made the software made it too obvious that they were trading illegal files and blatently disregrading copyright laws. I love these big P2P software because they just make it so obvious that they are trading illegal files with stuff that when you start the program the first things it list are MOVIES/GAMES/MUSIC/ETC; they just make no attempt to legitimize their product by trying to distribute free work such as Linux distros and other stuff.

The majority of the free ride on the internet candy store is over because too many people got on the bus. Things were just different back in the old days when they were more complicated to get the stuff; now days they just are holding a big giant target on their head with a loud speaker asking to get whacked.

It is not a romantic internet geek story as much as the geeks tend to make out of it; sometimes you have to come out of your house and have a little social interaction with the laws outside of your 16 inch screen. Hey I don't like the the **AA association more than anybody else but I also hate how the people who do this activity just blatently spit right in their face but cry like a baby running home when they have to face reality.
#2 Nexus on 03 Oct 2006 - 16:05


All this does is shutdown these P2P programs and companies that produce them, in the US. They will just pop up in other countries are not so liberal and allow P2P to grow.
(2 replies) #3 Mystakill on 03 Oct 2006 - 17:29
So how much does it cost to get a judge to do a 180° on his previous ruling?
#3.1 ir0nw0lf on 03 Oct 2006 - 19:33
Quote - Mystakill said @ #3
So how much does it cost to get a judge to do a 180° on his previous ruling?

Don't blame the judge! The judge made a ruling, which at the time was just and fair and had no higher court ruling (that I know of) to tell him otherwise. The Supreme Court thought otherwise over the whole P2P issue and made their ruling. This judge had NO choice in the matter and had to comply with the Supreme Court's ruling.

If ANYONE is to blame, blame our stupid Supreme Court. Don't take it out on the judge who had no further power.
#3.2 Jonny6pak on 03 Oct 2006 - 19:36
Don't imply that someone paid off a judge unless you have some real facts. The Supreme Court made a decision and sent it back to the lower cour to be evaluated on the basis of said decision. The judge was operating under the framework set by the Supreme Court--it's not like he just decided to change his mind. The judge's opinion might not have changed after the SC ruling, but once the SC forces the lower court to reevaluate under a different framework the outcome could be the complete oposite.
#4 Digix on 03 Oct 2006 - 17:55
its just stupid; good-bye limewire; hello frostwire. you wstop one and another pops up. but yes, considering no "please do not share copyrighted files on our network" they kind of deserve it. its
(2 replies) #5 C_Guy on 03 Oct 2006 - 19:32
Eventually the message will get through to people who insist on creating these software clients and networks:

Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.

Oh wait. It's the users doing most of the crime and none of the time.

Hhhhmmmmmm........
#5.1 Sp3ctranova on 03 Oct 2006 - 20:39
Quote - C_Guy said @ #5
Eventually the message will get through to people who insist on creating these software clients and networks:

Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.

Oh wait. It's the users doing most of the crime and none of the time.

Hhhhmmmmmm........



I disagree. In fact, I believe that if anything the destruction of much of this generation of P2P programs will incite the users and coders of these programs to write new and better P2P programs.
I forget who said it--I believe it was a famous scientist, it's in the Asimov essay "Alas, All Human"--but he said that the only real way to get new ideas out and challenge the old ways is for all the current scientists to die. I think it's exactly the same for P2P; only when the old heads of the **AAs and other steamrolling organizations die off will P2P be given a chance and not hunted mercilously and relentlessly.

But....alas, that may be a very long time from now.
#5.2 Havin_it on 03 Oct 2006 - 21:48
Sp3ctranova, with due respect it's a poor comparison. Scientists can prosper by debunking the concepts of their forebears. Yes, businessmen can do that too, but only if the prevailing logic of the original concept no longer holds true in the new marketplace. When the concept in question is also the raison d'ętre of the organisation (protect the stupidly inflated margins of the content-providers who fund us), I can't see the next head of the RIAA making a real big about-face.
#6 Dragular on 03 Oct 2006 - 21:45
"When one goes down, another pops up"

You really think the RIAA gives a fuc king shi t about software piracy?
No.

They made 100m off Kazaa, 30m on some other one and so on. LOTS of money to be made this way.
#7 OfF3nSiV3 on 04 Oct 2006 - 00:19
"file sharing software companies were liable for the software's use because they encouraged or induced users to commit copyright theft."


i never saw things like "with our software you can download movies and games for free!" on their websites
just 'share videos and files with your friends' or something..
#8 ANova on 04 Oct 2006 - 02:48
If we can't make as much money off the consumer as we wanted we'll just do it this way.
(1 reply) #9 ThaCrip on 04 Oct 2006 - 04:22
yeah frostwire is basically a good replacement for limewire ... but generally speaking i usually use tor*ents or mI*C for al*ums (which im sure all the wiser people do) ... as u get the full *D with no screwing around and usually better quality to since those rippers (atleast official release groups) usually use EAC with LAME which is the best at getting high quality mp3's at a reasonable file size (average bit rate is 192 ish) .... since with EAC/LAME combo it encodes differently than everything else out there as far as i know cause u can see when it's encoding a mp3 file it basically shows a graph as as each frame goes through it (lame encoder) and it puts it to a certain bit rate thats needed to maintain high quality (as automatically determined by the encoder) ... which might be 128bit rate or lower or might even be as high as 320... it "varies" quite a bit durring the song and near bottom right of the dos window that comes up (lame does this when it encodes mp3's) u can see the average bit rate.

basically to sum it up this is pretty much the best way to encode a mp3 song while retaining high quality at a decent bit rate... i would say average bit rate generally speaking is around 192... sometimes more sometimes less depending on the music it's doing and how complex etc it is.

ill bet reason the average joe dont use EAC with LAME is cause u cant just install EAC and encode... u need to manually download the LAME encoder program and tell EAC where it's located before EAC can tell lame to encode the mp3 files u rip from your original audio cd's.
#9.1 RealFduch on 04 Oct 2006 - 14:41
a bits strange guide
#10 Savagearth on 05 Oct 2006 - 01:27
By using the same logic that a judge is using, it will be totally acceptable to also bring car maker to court since they are building car that people can kill themself with or even gun maker since they are building a weapon that people can use to kill another person.

I mean, to all the judge out there...don't be so stupid, you can control what the people are doing with a manufactured product.

Sav

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