Some students who illegally download and share music and movie files often have received the complaints of the entertainment industry. Threats of copyright infringement penalties go in one ear and out the other. However, students would be wise to heed the warnings because the slow but steady process of eliminating the illegal practice continues.
Another file-sharing network, Grokster, is suffering the same fate as Napster did several years ago. Because of a crucial Supreme Court ruling, similar file-sharing networks will be held responsible for their consumers' illegal actions if they are deemed to encourage those illegal activities. The bottom line is that Grokster's closing is an indication that illegal file sharing will not survive, and students should get out of the line of fire before even more among their ranks are targeted.
The individual consumers who have borne the shocking high-price lawsuits brought against them by the entertainment industry have been scattered. Although the threat of legal action provided a scare tactic, it proved to be largely unsuccessful in deterring illegal file sharing. Now that the sources of the files are being attacked, it is only a matter of time before the widely accepted practice will be wiped out. The Supreme Court ruling allowing piracy lawsuits against the companies was passed in June, and already Grokster agreed to pay $50 million in a settlement with the money being paid out from various lawsuits. Many of those file-sharing sites might be unable to survive such attacks - but it is becoming increasingly clear that it is not a question of whether they can survive, but when all of those networks will shut down or adapt into a fee-based downloading site.
That decision was imminent, to the dismay of some students and some consumers; however, copyright infringement is something that should not be happening. The availability of free music and movies has been a temporary bonus - and certainly has catapulted the online media downloading industry - but it is time for some groups to come clean, begrudgingly accept the new legal versions of their file-sharing network-of-choice, and remember there is no such thing as a free lunch.
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