WASHINGTON -- Neither Napster nor the recording industry should expect any help from Capitol Hill.
Republican and Democratic legislators signaled Monday that the lawsuit wending its way through a federal appeals court is one high-stakes tussle that nobody in town wants to get involved with.
The lengthy decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is based on fine points of copyright law -- such as the Audio Home Recording Act and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act -- and any changes to the law could improve the chances of either the plaintiffs or the defendant winning their case.
That is, if Congress wanted to intervene.
"I don't think you're going to see legislation in the Congress.... We just spent years trying to get things right," said Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va), at a techissues.net event on Capitol Hill. "Things are changing much too fast for us to jump in and try to get it right a second time."
"I think that the decision that has been handed down is a very important one.... It allows the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to do its job," said Goodlatte, a longtime ally of content owners and co-chairman of the Congressional Internet Caucus. "We are going to want to see how the appellate decision and the re-crafted stay order actually work."
Goodlatte has championed legislation, like the No Electronic Theft Act, that is favorable to the entertainment and software industries -- and as chairman of the House Republican High Technology Working Group is in a position to block any pro-Napster amendments to copyright law.
Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the Judiciary Committee's ranking Democrat, cautiously welcomed Monday's ruling.
"While Napster customers may not initially see it that way, the availability of new music and other creative works -- and its contributions to the vibrancy of our culture and in fueling our economy -- depends on clearly understood and adequately enforced copyright protection," Leahy said in a statement.
He added: "The court of appeals has sent the case back to the district court to ensure that the rights of creators are protected and that the online marketplace is just that, and not a free-for-all."
A spokeswoman for Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said Hatch did not have an immediate response to the ruling. Hatch has convened hearings favorable to Napster and took the unusual step of writing to the appeals court last year.
Bob Holleyman, president of the Business Software Alliance, also said he opposed any changes to copyright law that would help Napster. BSA member companies include Microsoft, Apple, and Autodesk, and the group filed an amicus brief last year opposing Napster.
"I don't think the (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) needs to be reopened in any way, shape or form," Holleyman said in an interview. "I think Congress will pay careful attention to what's happened in the court of appeals and in the trial that will occur. At the end of the day, they will not reopen the DMCA."
Holleyman applauded the appeals court ruling, saying Napster was the 900-pound gorilla of the file-trading world. "If you have a huge entity like Napster that is built on infringing activity, then that limits the ability of other, smaller, legitimate services to grow," he said.
The Digital Media Association said it was pleased by the ruling. The DiMA represents firms including RealNetworks, Listen.com and Emusic.com.
"DiMA supports creators' and artists' rights to be paid for their art. Our members, the webcasting and digital download industry, have shown that artists and creators can be rewarded while providing consumers easy access to digital entertainment," the group said in a statement.
"The proper solution to the challenge of consumer demand and technology is in the marketplace. DiMA calls on the recording industry to meet those challenges through fair licensing of digital content."
