The End of File Sharing?

Monday’s Supreme Court ruling states that music and movie industries could file piracy lawsuits against software companies that encourage customers to steal copyrighted works. Does this signal the end of an era? The end of P2P as we know it? Even
though Napster went legal ages ago, other P2P programs quickly filled
the void, as any savvy computer user knows. Involved in the lawsuit was Grokster, a well-know peer-to-peer (P2P) software program (whose website homepage is now filled with legalese, not to mention the slogan "support the artist, buy the record").

However, the wording of the Court’s ruling still leaves a grey area: "companies that develop file-sharing technology can be sued if they deliberately encourage customers to download copyrighted files illegally. But a company can find a ’safe harbor’ and avoid being sued if it doesn’t encourage customers to use its products for illegal purposes."

So, wouldn’t that mean the companies just have to pretend that they are offering a service for users to share legal, un-copyrighted files in order to be in the clear? But who is that fooling? What kind of files would you really want to trade with your 10,000 friends? Recipes? Homemade wallpapers?  C’mon! At least the new lawsuits will focus on companies instead of kids and grandmas.