Tweaked again

The Court has accepted another 9th Circuit opinion for review, this one in favor of two peer-to-peer file sharing services. Judge Steven R. Thomas, who wrote the opinion for the 9th Circuit, is a Clinton appointee, but marshals a traditionally conservative argument to oppose legal intervention against file sharing: that government intrusion into markets threatens technological innovation. Once again, this case represents an arguably liberal outcome (a ruling against large business interests) supported by a traditionally conservative doctrine, leaving the high court with a choice between allowing the former to stand or blemishing the latter. In this case, I'm not even sure the Court will reverse.

In other news, the Court also accepted a property case out of the 9th circuit involving 5th Amendment takings doctrine, although it appears that the Court has limited its inquiry into the collateral estoppel question.