Bush Administration Seeks To Curb Music, Movie File-Swapping

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January 25, 2005 (12:37 PM EST)

Bush Administration Seeks To Curb Music, Movie File-Swapping

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The Bush Administration has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn lower court rulings that allowed the copying of recordings and movies through file peer-to-peer software technology.
Also siding with the stance taken by Acting U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement were a grouping of strange bedfellows, including the Christian Coalition, Morality in Media, the Motion Picture Association of America, and the Recording Industry Association of America.
The case centers on lower courts' interpretation of the Supreme Court's 5-4 Sony Betamax decision in 1984, in which the court ruled that Sony did not violate copyright law by selling its Betamax recorder. It was claimed that the recorder was used to copy television shows illegally.
Parties seeking to overturn the lower court rulings argue that they--providers of file-swapping software--should be permitted to stay in business.
Filed late Monday, Clement's brief stated: "The evidence suggests that the respondents have developed vast networks of members whose only common characteristic is apparently their desire to download copyrighted music and movie files without paying for them."
Lined up on the other side--supporting the earlier decisions in favor of certain P2P activities--are Microsoft and American Online. Also supporting the earlier decisions with friend-of-the-court briefs are public interest groups, such as the Center for Democracy and Technology.
"File-sharing technology serves as the basis for the Internet and should be unrestricted to produce revolutionary digital products," stated the IEEE-USA Intellectual Property Committee. The IEEE also said copyright owners should not be left at the mercy of parties who intentionally induce others to infringe on copyright law.