Late last June, in MGM v. Grokster, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that file-sharing companies can be held accountable for what users do with their software. I'm not worried, however. That's because I've never used my computer to steal music.

I have reported on file sharing since the heady early days of Napster. I've interviewed many of the major players. And I've stuck a microphone in the faces of technology industry observers, who have given me their take on the financial, ethical, and societal impact of peer-to-peer networks. But I have never shared the content of my hard drive or downloaded content from others'.