June 28, 2005
Breyer saves Grokster? ::
supreme court, tech, legal — No Tags
2:56 pm
Yesterday I mentioned that the Court didn’t give the content producers in Grokster what they really wanted, which was an overturning of Sony/Betamax. But as I suggested in that previous post, the unanimous opinion addressed Sony only to make clear that the Ninth Circuit misinterpreted the rule it established.
Reading that section of the unanimous opinion in conjuction with Justice Breyer’s concurrence paints a slightly different picture. Section II of his opinion, Justice Breyer, joined Justices O’Connor and Stevens, make clear “Sony’s rule, as I interpret it, has provided entrepreneurs with needed assurance that they will be shielded from copyright liability as they bring valuable new technologies to market.” He then goes on to make clear why that standard was integral to the advancement of technology since it was decided in 1984.
Justice Breyer’s concurrence reminds me why I like his thinking so much. More thank any other Justice, he understands that our propsperity (by which I mean not just the opportunity to get rich) has depended on the freedom of technological development. And he was true to form in this opinion.
