Blessing in Disguise?

While some have misgivings about the effect of MGM v. Grokster on the tech industry, the music industry has taken the decision to mean support for legitimate digital trade, bolstering the industry's confidence in the success of online music sales. Warner Music announced this week that they will be launching a digital music label, which may be good news for struggling independent artists. "The decision in the Grokster case creates an economic incentive to invest in the digital music space ... (accelerating) the growth of legitimate digital music services,"said Warner CEO Edgar Bronfman, Jr. See CNN's full story for more.

The continued reinforcement of legitimate e-commerce in the music industry may ultimately outweigh whatever short-term chill is suffered by innovators in the tech industry. And as of yet, that chill has yet to be evidenced.