Grokster Undone

image source

via NYTimes:
Grokster to Shut Down Downloading Service
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/NYTimes
Published: November 8, 2005

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Grokster Ltd., which came out on the losing end of a Supreme Court decision, has agreed to shut down its file-swapping service and pay $50 million to settle music and movie piracy claims. [...]

also, via Darknet:

Grokster calls it quits

NY Times: Grokster Calls It Quits on Sharing Music Files.

Too bad they didn't pull the plug before mucking up the law for the rest of us.

The popularity of file-sharing networks shows little sign of waning in the wake of the settlement or the earlier court decision. An estimated 9.2 million people are using various so-called peer-to-peer networks at any one time, according to BigChampagne, a data service. The figure has edged up from 8.8 million in June.

Technorati links: "Grokster"

image source "Creative Commies tat"

More from Xeni Jardin at BoingBoing:

Xeni on NPR: Grokster's End and the Future of File Sharing
On today's edition of the NPR News program "Day to Day," I report on the closure of file-sharing software firm Grokster, and the company's agreeement to pay a $50-million penalty to settle a lawsuit with entertainment companies. The move comes five months after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Grokster in an intellectual property dispute. What does the settlement news mean for the future of file sharing on the Internet? Guests in the report include Princeton computer science prof Ed Felten of the freedom-to-tinker blog, Eric Garland of BigChampagne, RIAA spokesperson Jonathan Lamy, and NMPA/Harry Fox Agency chairman David Israelite.

Link archived audio (in Windows and Real)