File-sharing services threatened with extinction

Found on Ars Technica on Wednesday, 28 September 2005
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Recently, the two industry lobbying groups have adopted the strategy of running to Capitol Hill and begging for legislation to achieve their goal of maintaining absolute control over their content after it has passed from their hands into the consumer's. They must be overjoyed with comments made yesterday by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) at a US Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Referring to the failure of the recent MGM v. Grokster ruling to significantly curtail peer-to-peer file-sharing traffic, she said that Congress may eventually try to legislate them out of existence.

At this time, there are no bills on the table or even in the pipeline, and Sen. Feinstein wasn't ready to offer specifics on possible legislation. However, her comments indicate that Congress is starting to think about intervening in an area that has so far been confined to the US legal system.

A law outlawing peer-to-peer file sharing services is a possibility at some point; more remote is legislation barring the access of such networks. Sen. Feinstein said that her intent is not to go after every high schooler that logs on to eDonkey. However, it is apparent that Congress will be very closely watching developments in the world of file-sharing in the aftermath of MGM v. Grokster. Some of the networks are: Limewire plans to implement safeguards that would keep unlicensed content from being shared and downloaded over the network. Chances are other networks will take similar steps. Is the possible combination of federal legislation and networks barring content enough to stamp out file sharing, or will it just be driven deeper underground?

Feinstein cannot really think that a US law will stop world-wide networks. Blocking a technology (or the development of it) will only hurt the US. Just imagine today's world without VCR/DVD. The same industry that tried to ban the VCR now makes most of their money with VCR/DVD. Today, they try to ban P2P. Same story, different target.