Songs From The Commons 007 - Why Grokster Shouldn't Be Any More Responsible For When It Is Misused Than Smith And Wesson

This covers a few points I brought up in the written portion of
last week’s show. The point then, and now, is that, historically,
in this country, we choose to criminalize the misuse of a
technology, rather than criminalizing the technology itself. Guns,
for example, are only made for killing. Killing and maybe target
practice. It’s what they do. Depending on the circumstances
surrounding when the killing takes place, such killing is legal or
not. But do we hold gun manufacturers responsible for when gun
technology is misused? Of course not. According to White House
Press Secretary Scott McClellan, even President Bush “believes that
the manufacturer of a legal product should not be held liable for
the criminal misuse of that product by others.”