News: a (P2) perfect storm?

Within the span of a few days in late March 2005, separate events surrounding peer-to-peer computing starkly illustrated the dichotomy between steady advances in P2P technologies and the murky legal and ethical climate that surrounds them. Those events included the release of a new P2P technology that will enable a user community to filter out mislabeled or corrupt files and the appointment of US Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) - who introduced legislation in 2004 that would have greatly hindered P2P development - to the chair of a key intellectual property Congressional subcommittee. The key event, however, was the 29 March argument before the United States Supreme Court in MGM v. Grokster, a case which the P2P community expects to be a landmark for US policy.