This week's sign of the apocalypse
Australian courts are going to make distributors of a computer program (Kazaa) responsible for the illegal use of their program by end users.
See:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050905/ap_on_hi_te/australia_kazaa
Does this mean that you and I can be held responsible for any product we create or distribute that ends up being used illegally by someone else?
The US Supreme Court recently ruled similarly against the distribution network Grokster:
http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=12536&hed=Grokster+Loses
So if software makers and/or distributors are responsible for the illegal use of their products by end users, why have they refused to do the same for gun makers? Where is the press on this one?
Definitely stinks of favoritism for and lobbying on the part of the entertainment industry!