The heart has stopped beating but there still remains brain activity. Grokster earlier showed signs that the end was near. Today it is very close.

In an agreement submitted to federal court, Grokster today stopped distributing its software and said it would pay $50 million to settle copyright infringement litigation claims. Grokster was a party to the P2P lawsuit by the Supreme Court earlier this year.

This settlement is unlike recent cases where RIAA allowed developers a period for transition (eDonkey). Grokster may yet rise again as a legal service, perhaps as a brand under Mashboxx with filtering and content licensing from SNOCAP. It would be the first decentralized P2P company to follow Napster's story of brand resurrection. However it is not clear if Grokster can actually pay the large settlement amount, in which case it is unlikely the assets could be freely transferred.

Contrary to the technical inaccuracy of some reports, Grokster is not a P2P network and does not have its own network. Grokster accesses the Fast Track network, also primarily used by Kazaa and iMesh.

Grokster Downloading Service To Shut Down Associated Press

Grokster Shuts Downloading Site BBC News

Grokster Agrees To Shut Down P2P Service billboard

Grokster Shuts Down To Settle Music Download Lawsuit
Bloomberg

Curtain Falls On Grokster Computer World

Grokster Dies But Debate Lives On
CNET News

RIAA Win: Grokster To End File Sharing
CNN

Hollywood Wins As Grokster Agrees To End P2P Service
Hollywood Reporter

Grokster Shuts Down Information Week

Grokster Settles Up, Closes Down Internet News

Grokster Shuts Down In Piracy Settlement LA Times

Update: Grokster Shuts Down Los Angeles Business Journal

Grokster Shuttered In Court Settlement Macworld

Settlement Comes Four Months After Supreme Court Battle MarketWatch

Grokster, Namesake of Landmark Supreme Court Ruling MPAA Press Release

Grokster Closes Internet Music Service MSN

Grokster Settles With Music Industry, Vows To Go Legit MTV

Grokster File-Sharing Service Shuts Down in Settlement NY Times

Grokster Falls To The RIAA p2pnet

Grokster Shuttered In Court Settlement PC World

Grokster Settles Red Herring

Grokster to Stop Distributing File-Sharing Service Reuters

Music Industry Announces Grokster Settlement RIAA Press Release

Settlement Shutters Grokster The Street

Grokster Shuts Down Operations Top Tech News

Grokster Logs Off Variety

Grokster Settles With Studios Video Business

Grokster Gone WebProNews

Grokster Settles P2P Suit With Labels, studios ZDNet

Marc Freedman

RazorPop, developer of TrustyFiles, the leading multiple network file sharing software with search and download of ALL top networks.

Are you a major entertainment company, other content provider, distributor, marketer, advertiser, or other organization seeking to reach the huge 80 million P2P user market? Then you need BrandedP2P.