The legal battles concerning the MGM versus Grokster/StreamCast case continue. At the heart of the debate is the 1984 Betamax ruling - a landmark copyright case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1984 that has sheltered a wide array of technology innovators from lawsuits at the hands of the entertainment industries. But opinion varies as to whether the ruling is relevant in this case.
Grokster / StreamCast claim that the Betamax ruling is a good law and has allowed the development and eventual commercialization of many so-called 'disruptive' technologies, such as the VCR, the CD player, Apple's iPod and even the computer. Conversely, Congresswoman Mary Bono claims that the ruling has no bearing on the current issues at hand. The legal arguments continue, with your freedom to use P2P in the future possibly at stake.