Artists Soften on File-Sharing Prosecution

BizReport: It is somewhat ironic that filesharing companies (i.e. Kazaa and eDonkey) are publically and legally receiving leniency by a group of established artists like Chuck D and Heart, since these artists are most likely losing significant revenues from illegal downloads every day.  What's even more surprising is that these artists banded together and filed a briefing with the Supreme Court - asking that the P2P companies "not be held responsible for the actions of its users."  While it's true that the technology allows disintermediation and provides a direct new channel, does the inexpensive but efficient ability to reach a global audience for the artist really balance out the culpability of the P2P services?  Exposure is always a good thing for an artist of any size, but at what price or opportunity cost does it then become palatable?  The court is scheduled to hear the case at the end of this month and its ruling will obviously have huge ramifications...According to CNN, "The Court's ultimate decision in MGM v. Grokster is very likely to be one of the landmarks of this term."