Grokster
Grokster is a peer-to-peer file sharing program which runs under Windows. It uses an interface similar to Kazaa, and combines searches over several P2P networks.
In April 2003, Grokster and Streamcast (providers of Morpheus P2P software) obtained a ruling by a Los Angeles federal court judge, Stephen Wilson, in its favour against the RIAA and the motion picture industry which stated that their file swapping software was not illegal. On 20 August 2003, the decision was appealed by Grokster's opponents. On August 17, 2004, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a partial ruling supporting Grokster, holding "This appeal presents the question of whether distributors of peer-to-peer file-sharing computer networking software may be held contributorily or vicariously liable for copyright infringements by users. Under the circumstances presented by this case, we conclude that the defendants are not liable for contributory and vicarious copyright infringement and affirm the district court's partial grant of summary judgment."
In December 2004, the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. Oral arguements will probably be in March 2005.