US joins entertainment industry in asking Supreme Court to shut down file sharing News
US joins entertainment industry in asking Supreme Court to shut down file sharing

[JURIST] The US government has joined the entertainment industry in arguing before the US Supreme Court that file-sharing services such as Kazaa and Grokster, accused of enabling widespread copyright infringement, should be shut down. Acting Solicitor Paul D. Clement filed a brief in support of the entertainment industry late Monday. In MGM Studios v. Grokster, 04-480, the Court will review [question presented, PDF] a Ninth Circuit decision [text, PDF] that file-sharing software makers were not liable for copyright infringement by users. The Court is scheduled to hear arguments in the case on March 29. The Washington Post has more [registration required].

THIS DAY @ LAW

South Africa becomes first country on continent to legalize same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriages became legal in South Africa on November 30, 2006 as the country's Civil Union Act, 2006 went into effect, making South Africa the only country on the African continent to legalize same-sex marriage. Read the Civil Union Act, 2006.