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.