그록스터 사건에 대한 미 연방대법원의 최종 판단과 온라인서비스제공자의 불법행위책임

U.S. Supreme Court’s Final Decision of Grokster Case and OSP’s Liability for Illegal Act

At the Final Decision of Case “Grokster/Streamcast”, the United States Supreme Court admitted the responsibility of OSPs, as with the Case “Napster”. This decision would provide the owners of the copyright with more powerful right, while it would invite a fatal blow to development and distribution of P2P technology of Online Service Providers. U.S. Supreme Court judged that distributor of a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright ist liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties using the device, regardless of the device’s lawful uses. The Court clarified the reasons as follows: ① Each of the respondents showed itself to be aiming to satisfy a known source of demand for copyright infringement, the market comprising former Napster users. ② Neither respondent attempted to develop filtering tools or other mechanisms to diminish the infringing activity using their software. ③ Respondents make money by selling advertising space, then by directing ads to the screens of computers employing their software. This paper critically analyzes and carefully examines this decision as to whether it is applicable in Korea.