Supreme Court nixes file sharing

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: MICHAEL OSTERMAN ON MESSAGING
07/07/05
Today's focus: Supreme Court nixes file sharing

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* Consequences of the high court's decision
* Links related to Messaging
* Featured reader resource
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Today's focus: Supreme Court nixes file sharing

By Michael Osterman

Last week's decision by the U.S. Supreme Court regarding file
sharing will likely put a serious dent in the market for
peer-to-peer systems that permit users to share files, such as
music and video.

The Supreme Court ruled that providers of peer-to-peer software
can be held liable for files that are illegally copied using
their tools if it can be proved that they encouraged users of
their tools to violate copyright law. Because copyright
violations are punishable by huge fines for each offense, the
ruling could easily make peer-to-peer companies liable for
hundreds of millions of dollars in damages in future lawsuits.
One source estimates that more than 30 billion files are
illegally copied every year.

So what does this mean for the typical enterprise? It's
important to understand the impact of peer-to-peer on your own
network. There are several tools available that will allow you
to scan your network for peer-to-peer traffic and get a basic
understanding of how much peer-to-peer traffic your users are
sending and receiving each day.

With that information in hand, it's important for any
organization to formulate a policy about the use of peer-to-peer
systems on the computers it owns. Just like having an
acceptable-use policy about e-mail and instant messaging
systems, it's important to have a similar policy about
peer-to-peer use. This is made all the more important because of
the fact that an organization that allows peer-to-peer users to
share content using its computers in violation of copyright law
could also be on the hook for damages if an employee is caught
violating the law.

As an example of a good policy is the one that the Anchorage
School District has established, which reads, in part, "Illegal
copies of copyrighted material may not be made or used on
District equipment. The legal or insurance protection of the
District will not be extended to employees who violate copyright
laws."

Any organization must understand how much peer-to-peer traffic
is traveling across its network and the nature of this traffic,
and it must formulate a clear and concise acceptable-use policy
for peer-to-peer systems. Not to do so exposes an organization
to enormous liability.
_______________________________________________________________
To contact: Michael Osterman

Michael D. Osterman is the principal of Osterman Research
<http://www.ostermanresearch.com/>, a market research firm that
helps organizations understand the markets for messaging,
directory and related products and services. He can be reached
by clicking here <mailto:michael@ostermanresearch.com>
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Nokia
Empower Your Mobile Enterprise

Nokia believes that business mobility will fundamentally change
the way work gets done-and for the better. To allow the entire
organization to get the most from this paradigm shift in
productivity, Nokia Enterprise Solutions focuses on delivering
increased efficiency through enhanced mobility. Learn more by
downloading this white paper today!
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=107705
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FEATURED READER RESOURCE
TEN WAYS TO STOP SPYWARE

You will get spam down to a manageable level this year, but then
spyware will kick in. Spyware cleaners will help, but won't
eradicate all the unwanted activity at the office, at home.
Here's a ten step guide you can follow to curb the spyware
problem:
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlmsg3048>
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