Tomorrow, the US Supreme court will hear arguments in MGM v. Grokster, a case which will determine the fate of internet filesharing apps — and any other tech invention that could potentially be used for copyright infringement. This news analysis piece in the Economist says "attacking the technology behind file-sharing could stifle innovation without tackling the industry's long-term problems."
But even if the entertainment business manages to coax more users into paying for legal downloads and succeeds in court against Grokster and StreamCast, its problems are unlikely to go away. True, a Supreme Court ruling in the industry's favour would put paid to other P2P services. But it is not clear that curbing illegal downloading will translate into extra sales for the music business. A rush into legal downloading would hardly be good for sales of CDs: some cannibalisation is inevitable. And perhaps the decline in global sales is indicative of a far greater problem for the music industry–consumers simply think that many of its products are just not worth paying for
