SAN JOSE, Calif. — A year after the Supreme Court's landmark Grokster decision — which set out to curb online theft of music and movies — illegal file sharing is as popular as ever even as Silicon Valley technologists and Hollywood moguls continue their awkward embrace.
The court's unanimous decision that Internet file-sharing services can be sued if they encourage people to use their sophisticated software to steal copyrighted material was hailed as a victory by the entertainment world.
But the ruling, which also detailed protections for technology companies, hasn't stopped the lawsuits and acrimony between the two sides. The Recording Industry Association of America, known as the RIAA. continues to file lawsuits against tech companies. And in just the last year, the association has filed some 6,000 suits against individuals it says are stealing material.
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But changes are occurring, if for no other reason than the entertainment world needs the new distribution channels Silicon Valley can provide, while technology companies depend on content from rock stars and Hollywood to attract audiences.
"There are some people inside of record labels who admit that they are not doing the right thing in certain cases. There is some resistance" to the digital era, said Ali Aydar, the first employee of Napster, the pioneering peer-to-peer music sharing network that eventually went bankrupt after battling the record industry. (A different incarnation of the formerly Redwood City, Calif.-based Napster was launched in 2003 as a music subscription service.)
Aydar now works with Napster co-founder Shawn Fanning at Snocap, a San Francisco company that has developed a technology to make file sharing legal.
"But if you are able to show them how you can make them money, increase their exposure and respect their copyrights, then it's really a no-brainer," he added.
Steve Jobs helped lead the way in showing a successful model of selling digital music through Apple Computer's popular iTunes online store, then sealing deals with entertainment companies to offer up TV shows. Hollywood has started to offer video through its own online sites.
And the industry has even found a common cause with file-sharing technology: In the spring, Warner Bros. agreed to offer video through BitTorrent, the San Francisco-based peer-to-peer technology company whose software code has been used by pirates to illegally trade movies and music.
"It was never BitTorrent's intent to circumvent copyrights," said Ashwin Navin, president of BitTorrent. "That made us a partner, rather than an enemy."