In another blow to P2P (peer-to-peer) filesharing, a US federal judge ruled this week that the Morpheus software program encouraged users to infringe upon copyrighted works.

StreamCast, the owner of Morpheus, “cannot seriously argue that it did not know that the popular music and movies traded on its network were copyrighted”, wrote US district judge Stephen V Wilson.

The ruling is another win for record and film companies, which sought an injunction against distribution of the filesharing software in the suit, filed in 2001.

StreamCast continued to fight after two other companies named in the suit, Grokster and Sharman, the company behind the Kazaa filesharing client, reached settlements with the entertainment industry. Streamcast said it could consider appealing, saying the software has legal uses.

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?RSS&newsid=7213

A federal judge ruled today that Streamcast, the distributor of the Morpheus peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing software, encouraged its users to commit copyright infringement by illegally sharing music, movies, and other copyrighted works.

The decision deals a major blow to one of only two P2P firms that had decided to fight back against the legal wrath of the Recording Industry Association of America in the wake of the June 2005 landmark US Supreme Court decision that found that Grokster and Morpheus could be held liable for copyright infringement on their networks. The other is LimeWire, which recently filed a countersuit against RIAA.

In a 60-page ruling, US District Judge Stephen Wilson granted the entertainment companies’ motion for summary judgment, concluding there was more than enough evidence of “massive infringement” on StreamCast’s network, despite the company’s arguments that it did not encourage computer users to violate copyright laws.

“In the record before the court, evidence of StreamCast’s unlawful intent is overwhelming,” Wilson wrote.

A StreamCast spokesman could not be reached for comment on the ruling.

http://www.mp3.com/news/stories/6511.html

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Morpheus is an easy to use file sharing application. Search multiple P2P networks and BitTorrent to download MP3s, videos, games, and more.

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