Pre-Grokster, in the Bay Area at least, SBC Yahoo! had billboard ads posted along highway 101 (just south of SF, if I recall correctly) that advertised their high-speed internet DSL service. The headline for the ad read something along the lines of: "Download music without missing a beat."
I attended a couple post-Grokster talks. At one talk, I recall Mark Lemley, a Stanford law professor, making the comment that it was questionable if ads like the SBC Yahoo! ad (he specifically referred to this ad) might be evidence of active inducement of copyright infringement in music under the Grokster case. (E.g., one might argue that the ad induces the illicit p2p music downloading that has grown up on the internet and particularly through high-speed internet capabilities.) It's certainly an open question, and one that any company providing technology that might conceiveably be used for infringing purposes now needs to think about in any marketing campaign.
So, why am I writing about this today, nealry 6 months later? Well, the other day I received a print ad in my mailbox which reminded me of Professor Lemley's comments. The ad I received was from SBC Yahoo! and, like the pre-Grokster billboard, it advertises their high-speed internet DSL service inconnection with music downloading. The ad, however, has a notably different headline and tone:
As you can see, the new ad touts the service's ability to let you let you "experience the music you love" but also expressly notes that you'll have to pay a price to get that music -- in other words, it's not just an ad for downloading music, it's an ad for downloading music you must pay for. Now, it's entirely possible I'm reading way too much into this new ad, but I do find it interesting. Of course, the "price" they are talkinig about in the ad has to do with their monthly service charges, but it also serves as a reminder that to "experience the music" you'll have to pay someone (like the copyright owner or record company) for it. The ad's only use of the word "download" is in a phrase ("it's never been easier to download music") that also leads into a description of some of Yahoo!'s paid music services (like Yahoo! Music Unlimited and LAUNCHcast Plus). So, I wonder if SBC Yahoo!'s new ad language is in part a response to the Grokster decision, or if it's just a coincidence that the marketing department is now making express the fact that users will pay for downloading music. If anyone has an answer/response on this, I'd love to hear it.