The entire entertainment industry has gone after two tiny software manufacturers - Grokster and Morpheus - who make P2P software. And they've won. According to the US Supreme Court...
...the manufacturers of such software are now responsible for the distribution of material under copyright. It's very complex but this podcast of Open Source has some of the main players thrashing it out. Thanks to Alex Barnett.
I think this is another case of consumers - not big business - owning markets and increasingly leading them. But big business refusing to accept that. Businesses that follow the changing market and adapt succeed. Companies that just call the lawyers because they want everything to stay the same give modern marketeers - like Steve Jobs - the opportunity to enter their industry.
UPDATE: Great analysis from John Naughton, the Observer's Networker, as ever.
this analysis is a bit thin, James. How does your conclusion follow from the setup? It seems like Big Media just got one over on us.
Posted by: James Governor | June 28, 2005 at 03:15 PM
Thanks for your comment James, it wasn't really meant to be analysis...I think the podcast does a good job of that...but I do think that companies that ring the lawyers when their market changes are showing they've lost the plot...
Posted by: James Cherkoff | June 28, 2005 at 10:10 PM