Federal judge Stephen Wilson ruled Friday that P2P networks Grokster and Streamcast cannot be held responsible for the actions of their users. Wilson wrote:
Grokster and Streamcast are not significantly different from companies that sell home video recorders or copy machines, both of which can be and are used to infringe copyrights.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) represented Streamcast in the case.
[links: New York Times; CNET; Wired News; Lessig's commentary; EFF; PDF of decision]