Laplink Software takes a stand on P2P technology

[Alexander Turcic]

The U.S. Supreme Court voted 9-0 on Monday that movie and recording studios and artists can sue Grokster and other file-sharing services for piracy because those services encourage people to illegally download copyrighted songs and movies. I received the following response from Rachel of Laplink Software:

Laplink Software, as a pioneer in connectivity technologies, and as a developer and proponent of legitimate, peer-to-peer based technologies, believes that these technologies enhance the computing experience for many millions of users all over the world. They have the potential to transform the computing landscape for the better.
Companies such as Groove Technologies, recently acquired by Microsoft, are bringing the public simple, secure, inexpensive ways to connect with one another and share information. Laplink's ShareDirect is one of these peer-to-peer based technologies, bringing secure, private, encrypted file sharing capabilities to PC users. This product has helped numerous business clients to improve their operations and maintain a competitive edge. While Laplink does not condone the infringement of copyright law, it continues to stand behind ShareDirect and remains committed to building on the early promise of peer-to-peer networking.
Thomas Koll, Laplink CEO was recently quoted in the Seattle Times saying, "It's as if, through some of the debate, everyone doing peer-to-peer is criminalized. A lot of business-class peer-to-peer services offer a legitimate way of exchanging files that is very necessary to the world. We are all connected to the Internet, but not to each other. When businesses want to exchange data, the best way to do it is through peer-to-peer."
Laplink recently announced an investment in the company by Microsoft. This investment will be used in part to continue research and development of Laplink's technologies.