An appeals court just confirmed that Grokster is not liable for copyright infringement, because it has a substantial non-infringing and commercial use, and because it did not directly contribute to the infringement enabled by its software. (Read the judgment if you’re interested.)

It’s always nice to see a court decision that not only favors innovation over economic protectionism, but does so for all the right reasons:

We live in a quicksilver technological environment with courts ill-suited to fix the flow of internet innovation. The introduction of new technology is always disruptive to old markets, and particularly to those copyright owners whose works are sold through well-established distribution mechanisms. Yet, history has shown that time and market forces often provide equilibrium in balancing interests, whether the new technology be a player piano, a copier, a tape recorder, a video recorder, a personal computer, a karaoke machine, or an MP3 player.

Three cheers to all the folks at the Electronic Frontier Foundation for making this happen. If you haven’t donated money to them yet, go do it now. (Hell, if you have, go do it again.)