SCOTUSblog reported this morning that

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that developers of software violate federal copyright law when they provide computer users with the means to share music and movie files downloaded from the internet.

Um, not quite. Reading the actual decision, it seem that the Court held that

One who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright, as shown by clear expression or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement, going beyond mere distribution with knowledge of third-party action, is liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties using the device, regardless of the device’’s lawful uses.

So, just distributing software that enables users to share music and movie files is not enough, and just distributing such software and knowing what people might do with it is not enough: to be violating copyright law, the developers have to actively promote the use of the software for violating copyright.

Of course, no one knows what exactly active promotion of copyright infringement is and isn’t. Arguably, Apple is actively promoting copyright infringement by selling iPods with so much space that you couldn’t possibly fill them with iTunes Music Store purchases alone. So, from now on, whenever a U.S. technology company invents a new product, it will sit on the shelf for years while lawyers debate whether it actively promotes infringement. Meanwhile Chinese and Korean companies will develop five generations of the same product and take the whole market before the U.S. product ever sees the light of day.

Bottom line: this decision won’t have a significant effect on file sharing. The number of file sharers will continue to grow, as will the total number of bits shared. What this decision (along with the Bush administration’s (lack of) broadband policy) will do is help ensure that in 25 years American teenagers will be feverishly studying Mandarin in the hopes that they can get into Peking University, so they can get a decent job in Beijing and send money home to their parents in New York.

Cool with me, I love Chinese food.