concur. "I think the Aimster technology has substantial noninfringing uses," says Julie Cohen, an associate professor of Internet copyright law at the Georgetown University (dossier) Law Center. Mark Radcliffe, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based copyright attorney, views Aimster's chances in a post-Napster universe a little more conservatively. "I could foresee a situation where the court rules against Napster but the judgment is written in such a way that it doesn't affect technologies such as Aimster. But I'm guessing the chances aren't better than 40 percent," he says.
Potential music-industry pariah though Deep may be, music executives can console themselves with the fact that he is also a businessman with a wife, four daughters and payments on a Beemer. Thus, he's anxiously seeking ways to wrest cash from his new venture - not just to spend millions on a Napster-style legal fight. "When you've been an entrepreneur," says Deep, "you can tell when you're going to run out of money, just like you can tell you're going to fall off your bike." In the lightning-fast annals of online music- and file-sharing, this may well be Aimster's moment, and Johnny Deep is pedaling as fast as he can.
Colin Beavan writes for Inside.com. Warren Cohen contributed to this article.
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