Settlement Shutters Grokster

Grokster agreed Monday to shut down operations to settle a landmark piracy case filed by Hollywood and the music industry, the Associated Press reported.

Grokster, developer of Internet file-sharing software popular for stealing songs and movies online, agreed to a permanent ban from participating directly or indirectly in the theft of copyrighted files, the AP reports. The deal requires the company to stop giving away its software, according to people familiar with the agreement.

Grokster's Web site was changed to display a message that its file-sharing service was illegal and no longer available. "There are legal services for downloading music and movies," the message said. "This service is not one of them."

The case was brought by MGM and was widely supported by the media industry, which claimed that services like Grokster were used entirely for theft. Grokster makes no money from sharing but did have online advertising. Media companies said it and other file-sharing services abetted illegal use of files and should be held liable. ...