by Ron Miller

5 Questions About Digital Rights Management Published on Electronic House

I published a new article this week for ElectronicHouse.com on Digital Rights Management or DRM. I interviewed Bill Rosenblatt of GiantSteps Media Technology Strategies and the article provides a nice overview of DRM and how it affects the consumer.

Grokster agrees to shut down for good - Tech News & Reviews - MSNBC.com

Link: Grokster agrees to shut down for good - Tech News & Reviews - MSNBC.com.

This is a big "Wow!" Grokster closed its doors today and agreed to pay Hollywood and the music industry a whopping $50M. In addition they have agreed to stop distributing their free software and they plan to launch a paid service later this year.

Linux Pipeline: Supreme-Court Transcript Shows Legal Reasoning In Grokster Case

Link: Linux Pipeline | Supreme-Court Transcript Shows Legal Reasoning In Grokster Case.

This article analyzes the oral arguments in the Grokster case. I'm still surprised that the Court even took this case given its similarities to the 1985 Sony Betamax case in which the court ruled that because a device can be used illegally is no reason to make the device illegal. I don't see how they can remain consistent to this ruling and not rule in favor of Grokster, but I've been baffled by the courts before, so we have to sit and wait until they issue their ruling.