Thoughts on P2P :: Legal Ruminations

EFF: Peer-to Peer Copyright White Paper

boingboing.net links an updated analysis of P2P networks in an increasingly litiginous environment. My take is that the parade is already around the block and the music cartels lost any chance they had to lead this march.

In addition to the usual litany of arguments favoring the open-source model, the open source approach may offer special advantages in the peer-to-peer realm. It may be more difficult for a copyright owner to demonstrate "control" or "financial benefit" with respect to an open source product. After all, anyone can download and compile open source code, and no one has the ability to "terminate" or "block access" or otherwise control the use of the resulting applications.