Regardless of what the SCOTUS says in the file swapping ruling due anytime, record labels and other content owners have two choices, license content and monetize it, or try to cling to an outdated distribution model and unfair pricing and watch content get traded for free.
File Swapping May be Here to Stay – AP on Yahoo! News
Whether SCOTUS supports the RIAA and other content owners against file swapping networks or not is moot. Court ruling will not roll back technology. The genie is out of the bottle. The distribution model is forever changed. The lower costs of on-line distribution, through files swapping networks or on-line music stores like iTunes obsoletes their business model.
Content owners can try to compete in a new market by lowering the cost of the product and embracing new technology, or they can try to use their lobbying power to make changes to laws that will turn their potential customers into criminals. Either way, there is no real means of preventing people from sharing files from a technical standpoint. Every protection scheme devised by man can be defeated.
A better answer lies in the approach embraced by Canada where content owners are compensated for “fair use” copying by a
[...] pens the stage for a new round of lawsuits by the RIAA and its allies. Has I’ve said before, the courts ruling on this issue is moot. The technology is out there and content [...]