GregHowley.com

Man Sued for Linking Files

July 14, 2005 -

This blows my mind. The Music Industry (Universal, Sony, Warner, EMI) has successfully sued a man in Australia and his ISP for linking copyrighted material. It wouldn't be surprising if it weren't for the fact that the he wasn't hosting the files - they weren't even hosted at that ISP. All he did was point people to the files.

A Slashdot commenter put it well: In other news, a man in Queensland was found guilty of pointing at a stolen car in the street...

Holy slippery slope! What next? If I can be sued for linking files, then why not for linking to a page containing them? How about linking to a site where infriging material exists? How about mentioning the name of that site? Google may be in trouble.

Comments on Man Sued for Linking Files
 
Comment Thu, July 14 - 2:39 PM by tagger
Fred Pohl and Cyril Kornbluth wrote a couple of books you should read - _The Space Merchants_ (nee _Gravy Planet_) (1952) and _Gladiator at Law_ (1955). Pohl is still kicking - I ran into him in Chicago back in February, and asked him how he liked being a prophet. He shook his head and said, "Not a lot."

You may also want to look at Kornbluth's short "The Marching Morons" (Galaxy, April, 1951).

Once the lawyers take over, it's all . . . over.