Judge Rules File-Sharing Service Liable

Judge Rules File-Sharing Service Liable

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge ruled Wednesday against the distributor of the Morpheus online file-sharing software, finding the firm encouraged computer users to share music, movies and other copyright works without permission.

The ruling was a sweeping victory for coalition of Hollywood movie studios, record companies and music publishers who sued Los Angeles-based StreamCast Networks Inc. and similar firms in 2001. The case led to a landmark copyright ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court last year.

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