NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Wayne Rosso, the self-proclaimed "Sultan of Swap," will address the Vanderbilt University community on Monday, Oct. 13, at 7 p.m. His lecture, titled "Take Back the Music," will be held in Room 103 of Wilson Hall on the Vanderbilt campus. The event is free and open to the public.
Rosso is president of Grokster, a peer to peer (P2P) file-sharing service, which allows personal computer users to download any digital file, including images, audio, video, reports and documents. As president of Grokster, Rosso has been a vocal critic of those who oppose the file-sharing industry.
Grokster recently made headlines when it won a landmark federal court decision in a copyright infringement suit filed by the recording and motion picture industries.
Rosso is in the process of forming a lobbying organization, P2P United, to represent the interests of file-sharing services on Capitol Hill and with those in the music world. One of the organization’s primary efforts has been raising money to reimburse those being sued for illegal downloading.
Rosso’s appearance is part of Vanderbilt’s Project Dialogue. Project Dialogue is conducting a yearlong examination of the theme "Ideas, Images, Internet: Who Owns What?" which will explore the concepts of ownership of ideas, Internet ethics and the right to privacy. For more information on Project Dialogue, call 322-6400, or visit www.vanderbilt.edu/dialogue.
Media Contact: Kara Furlong, (615) 322-NEWS kara.c.furlong@vanderbilt.edu