Farewell sweet Grokster, we used you well November 9, 2005

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File sharing champion Grokster has been forced to admit that it’s service was illegal. The rest of us knew that but that didn’t stop us using it – such is the nature of us generous Web-surfers willing to share their belongings for free with our fellow human beings. Or pirates, as we prefer to be labeled. The admission has cost Grokster $50m in damages and the closure of its service. The entertainment industry is still popping champagne corks. Grokster has said it will be back with a legal file-sharing service in the next few months but, frankly, who cares? Will it stop illegal file sharing? No. Will it stop individuals with the Grokster software continuing to share files from hard drive-to-hard drive? No. Will it stop me asking rhetorical questions, now? Well, OK.

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