"Chapter 11 just means they're trying to take a breather while they reorganize their assets and liabilities--which can still be affected by the lawsuit," writes Jonathan Zittrain, executive director of Harvard's Berkman Center on Law and Technology, in an e-mail message.

The MPAA may ask for damages of about $150,000 for every movie illegally traded on the Scour Exchange--which would amount to a total of over $200 billion.

"The lawsuit still stands as filed; nothing has happened just because Scour has filed for bankruptcy," says Emily Kutner, MPAA director of public affairs for worldwide anti-piracy. "[We'll] wait and see. Centerspan can say they'll put this technology to legal use, but Scour also claimed that its software was non-infringing."

Zittrain points out, though, that the courts never decided against Scour, which still might have won its case on the grounds that its software has substantial uses that do not involve copyright infringement.

Scour had been working on deals with movie studios and music websites to develop non-infringing uses for its search engine and exchange. For example, it recently launched a promotion with Dimension Films to offer a downloadable trailer for Scary Movie.

"Napster has, in my view, about a 40 percent chance of prevailing on this issue in the appeal currently pending before the 9th Circuit," writes Harvard Professor of Law William W. Fisher in an e-mail message. "Scour believed that it could point to an even more extensive list of legitimate uses of its technology."

Video Killed the Radio Star