WebProNews

The aftermath of the Supreme Court's finding that Grokster marketed itself as a method of infringing copyright sees the company shutting down and paying $50 million to settle piracy complaints.

Grokster is no more. An announcement on its website tells the story:

The United States Supreme Court unanimously confirmed that using this service to trade copyrighted material is illegal.

Copying copyrighted motion picture and music files using unauthorized peer-to-peer services is illegal and is prosecuted by copyright owners.

There are legal services for downloading music and movies.
This service is not one of them.

Grokster hopes to have a safe and legal service available soon.
AP reported on the closing today. Grokster had been expected to continue its existence, which it now lists as an invitation to join the beta for Grokster3G instead.

The report speculates former Grokster head Wayne Rosso, now top executive at Mashboxx, will be part of the Grokster3G fee-based service, but that hasn't been confirmed yet.

Until then, Grokster has planned to sell off assets and launch the new service within 60 days, an executive told AP under condition of anonymity.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.