The ongoing battle between the RIAA and music pirates continues. Today though, the RIAA won one, and lost one.

Verizon was ordered to reveal the names of the 2 individuals who had been trading copyrighted materials online. Verizon continues to argue that they should not be held liable simply because data crossed their Internet lines. They are currently appealing the court order.

In a shocking move today, a federal judge said that the companies responsible for Morpheus and Grokster, will not be liable for the copyrighted material traded through their programs.

“It’s a vindication. We are not pirates,” said Wayne Rosso, president of Grokster, which is based in Nevis, West Indies. “This is teaching the record companies and the movie companies a lesson. … They need to rethink their business model.”

Unfortunately, the popular KaZaA service was not mentioned in this report because they are currently fighting their own battle.

This ruling may still be reversed through an appeal.






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