Why File-Sharing Piracy Will Never Die

That won't stop content providers from hunting big game on the issue. A research note from market intelligence firm IDC says that by clearing the way for lawsuits, the court gives music and movie studios "an effective way to deal with a problem that has contributed to declining revenue since the first P2P services became available."

It notes, however, that the decision's reach may be limited to companies and others that overtly promote their products as tools to infringe on copyright, and which are subject to U.S. law. Consequently, IDC expects that P2P networks will remain available and that distribution of copyright protected materials will remain an issue for the entertainment industry.

"It was an important battle to win, but there are other battles to be fought," says Susan Kervorkian, an analyst with IDC.

James says he and friends access the latest music, TV and films through BitTorrent and other enabling applications available to anyone who downloads them. BitTorrent, along with Grokster, is decentralized P2P software. Unlike Napster, it doesn't house a directory of the content that is distributed through it.

Kervorkian says it is very likely that services like Grokster will be shut down. Still, whether the same standard that felled Grokster -- intent to distribute copyrighted material -- applies to other protocols like BitTorrent remains to be seen. It might come down to "how they've positioned themselves to consumers," Kervorkian says.

The BitTorrent protocol uses passive "trackers" that allow users to find files among anonymous providers, or seeds. The software locates files at disparate locations online and devises a way to download a full one piecemeal -- a "torrent" -- speeding the transfer and arguably complicating the legal issue of who "sent" it. The technology is the closest thing so far to fully anonymous facilitation of file-sharing, and something like it could eventually make Monday's Supreme Court ruling moot.