SC Justices Worried About Stifling Innovation

from the good-start... dept

The Associated Press coverage of the Grokster/MGM case this morning suggests, at the very least, that the Supreme Court Justices are concerned about the potential to stifle innovation, including Justice Breyer pointing out that many of these technologies have "some really excellent uses." Justice Scalia also worried that, if the entertainment industry prevailed: "I'm a new inventor, I'm going to get sued right away." Of course, the other side was represented as well, where Justice Kennedy worried about profiting from illegal activities -- though, that concern doesn't necessarily mean such technology should be banned altogether (though, it may open up companies to being sued over their profits). Of course, with just a few quotes from the AP reporter, it's tough to tell how the overall session went. It will be interesting to hear what others who attended have to say. Update: As expected there are many different reports about what happened. The one thing that most people seem to agree on is that the Court has a pretty good understanding of the issues at hand. That is, of course, a good thing.