Law & Policy

Even kids - those who use Kazaa or BitStream, anyway - will be interested in this case. It pitted dozens of huge media companies against two small software companies (and the millions of file-sharers that use their services, Grokster and Morpheus). In a unanimous decision, a US federal court in California ruled Thursday that Grokster, Morpheus, and other P2P services, can't be held liable for the … [Read more...] about File-sharing milestone

University students may be changing their downloading habits but not their mindsets, according to the California Aggie, news site of the University of California, Davis. One freshman stopped downloading at school for fear of repercussions but said she continues file-sharing at home; another student "said he downloads without regard for copyrights to 'stick it to the man'." Still, the number of … [Read more...] about Student-eye-view of P2P

The Business Software Alliance says that the younger people are "the more likely they are to own and use pirated goods" such as software, CDs, and DVDs, the BBC reports. The article cites fresh BSA research finding a "growing disrespect" for copyrights, with nearly half of UK 18-to-29-year-olds owning pirated or counterfeit goods. The study found that 17% of people over 50 own pirated goods, … [Read more...] about The ‘pirate generation’

This may be a little scary to young music fans and file-swappers, and possibly their parents, because the RIAA sues minors too. A federal judge just made the RIAA (Recording Industry Assoc. of America) very happy by granting its request to "unmask anonymous file-swappers accused of copyright infringement," CNET reports. US District Judge Denny Chin ruled that Cablevision, a broadband Internet … [Read more...] about File-sharers to be ‘unmasked’

Whether they're downloading games, music, or software, kids 8-18 are concerned most about viruses (60%), then lawsuits (50%), spyware (43%), and whether or not downloading copyrighted material is wrong (29%). This is according to a just-released Harris Interactive survey sponsored by the Business Software Alliance, which has a particular concern about copyright theft. Eighty percent of US … [Read more...] about What worries young file-sharers