At issue is whether P2P companies and file-sharing networks are guilty of contributing to copyright infringement when their products are used to download protected movies and music.
But Cindy Cohn, legal director of the Electronic Freedom Foundation, the organization defending Grokster, said the case could have much wider repercussions that, in effect, cripple technological innovation based on free and open software platforms.
“We’re used to a world in which you have a good idea, [and] you just build it,” Cohn said. “That freedom has created a space for a tremendous explosion of technology… including the Linux and open source stuff.”
Cohn said the ability to copy and share code is a fundamental driver of new technologies.
“Innovation happens this way,” Cohn said. “People build on each other and the ability to have access to the source code and the ability to change the source code is part of the fundamental way of doing good development.”
This view echoes the Free Software Foundation's four freedoms, which hold that everyone has the right to use, modify and distribute software, including source code as well as any modifications.
According to Cohn, if the Supreme Court comes down on the side of MGM, developers will no longer enjoy those freedoms.
“I know that a lot of geeks don’t like to think about the law, and it’s part of my job to make sure that you don’t have to think about the law,” Cohn said. “What it will mean for U.S. Linux developers [if Grokster loses] is that they’re not going to be able to participate…. They’re not going to be able to innovate in this space, because they could be liable.”
But the recording and movie industry organizations that brought suit against Grokster argue that file-sharing actually hampers innovation.
“The Groksters of the world are not innovators,” said Mitch Bainwol, chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America. “They are parasites who hide behind technology as they steal from the artists that create entertainment. They jeopardize the incentives to create new artistic works for society to enjoy.”