Supreme Court grants cert. in MGM v. Grokster

Big news, the Supreme Court is going to rule on MGM v. Grokster. This is a ruling that could have a serious impact on copyright law in general. Certainly the Sony Betamax "substantial noninfringing uses" doctrine that has allowed for the creation and sale of technologies that copy content without the manufacturers of the technology being liable for third-party copyright infringement is on the table.

My bet - the Supreme Court uses a J. Ponser Aimster style analysis to limit the Betamax doctrine to apply only to technologies that are actually used for more than just infringement on a massive level and not just tech that is "capable" of noninfringing uses. Such a ruling would put the Grokster/Kazaa p2p guys out of business. Of course it will hardly matter with new programs out there like BitTorrent, the RIAA may win some cases, but in the end they need a business plan, pure and simple.

EFF: Press Room - Supreme Court to Hear MGM v. Grokster

Here's more via Google News.