June 28, 2005 8:30

US COURT MAKES BIG DECISION ON FILE-SHARING

It's ruled that makers of the technology are responsible if the law is broken...

A court in America has ruled that file-sharing companies are to blame for what people do with their software.

In what is regarded as one of the most significant decisions against illegal file-sharing, the US Supreme Court have ruled that makers of file-sharing technology are responsible for what users do with it if they break the law.

Speaking about the decision, Andrew Lack, chief executive of Sony BMG, told the BBC: "The court made it very clear that we can go after damages and that we can chase them out. We will do that if necessary, but my hope is that we will find new bridges to legitimise a lot of services that formerly were confused about what was right and wrong, legal and illegal."

The case was originally brought in 2001 by 28 film and music companies against Streamcast Networks, who make the Grokster and Morpheus software.