T-minus-15-hours-or-so...

... to the much-anticipated Supreme Court decisions in MGM v. Grokster and the slightly-less-anticipated, but ultimately more significant, Brand X case. The former is the music/movie industry challenge to P2P networking and the fair use principle in U.S. copyright law, the latter is about the right of broadband network operators to deny access to resellers and therefore maintain significant physical barriers to entry in the market for high-speed Internet access.

I can't imagine that the Court would set aside both for rehearing next session, but the Supremes are nothing if not unpredictable.

On a side note, I guess this is "farewell" to the Rehnquist Court. I'm betting against us entering an era of the "Scalia Court" just because he's far too combative and snarky to be a productive Chief Justice. How about an "O'Connor Court"? It plays into her hand as a moderating (if clearly right-of-center) influence, but she's also rumored to be departing in the next couple years.

In the immortal words of John Riggins, I suppose I should "loosen up" about the whole Supreme Court thing... until I get snapped back to the reality of losing the last fleeting check-and-balance on the "World According to Karl."