This article is short, but it is a contemporary reaction to the Grokster decision, and the worries expressed in it (almost a year and a half ago) are still very relevant today. Currently, products like TiVo and Slingbox are being called guilty of “place-shifting.” This phrase is similar to the “time-shifting” ideology of the Sony case, which was then considered to be a fair use. With technology like TiVo or Slingbox, the general consensus is that it is not just time that is being shifted, but the place where one watches as well. For example, the Slingbox connects to a television set and then gives the owner the option of watching whatever is broadcast on that television on their laptop even if they are in a different city or state. Thus far, this has not been said to be illegal, but, as this article suggests, a law suit may not be far off on the horizon.

This article quotes from an article in the Hollywood Reporter, which explicitly asked for technology to be incorporated in to the Slingbox product that “will respect copyright.” In other words, it almost sounds as if Hollywood is asking for Slingbox to include a filter. One of the reasons that Grokster was found to be guilty was because there was no filtering mechanism used in the technology. However, the court explicitly stated that the lack of filtration system alone would not be enough to find guilt but would be additional evidence in a situation where other factors led to the appearance of guilt.

And therein lays the biggest part of the dilemma: Slingbox and TiVo and other Me2Me file-sharing has not been said to be illegal, but it has also not been legally ruled as being fair use either. Therefore, as this article asks, if these companies “lose on fair use, are they automatically liable for inducement?” Although many people may be inclined to say no, the Grokster decision may actually make it so they would be liable for inducement. Additionally, these technologies are already being called out for not having filtration systems, which will only come back to haunt them – as it did with Grokster and Napster before it – and may contribute to their being found guilty if they are ever brought to trial.

Before the Grokster ruling, these sorts of companies would only have to have proved that “any substantial use of their product” was non-infringing, however now they may be expected to prove that “every” use of their product is non-infringing. This might be over-exaggerating the situation, but it does illustrate what sort of effect the Grokster decision might have in the future. And, seeing as how now, in the winter of 2006, which are a year and a half into the future since this article was written, it seems that this claim of a future chilling effect is really more accurate than innovators and digital media inventers would’ve liked to admit at the time.