MGM vs. Grokster hit the Supreme Court Tuesday, and the Justices’ we’re asking the right questions:

MGM and nearly a dozen other entertainment companies argued that peer-to-peer software manufacturers Grokster and StreamCast had built their businesses by distributing “infringing machines.” But counsel for the entertainment industry, Donald B. Verrilli Jr. of the law firm Jenner & Block, scarcely finished his opening statements before the Justices interrupted with pointed questions about how his arguments would impact technological innovation. Justice Antonin Scalia asked how the industry would protect nascent technologies from “out-of-the-box lawsuits,” and Justice Stephen Breyer pushed him to explain why MGM’s argument wouldn’t also apply to the iPod, Xerox machines, and even Gutenberg’s printing press.

(I’m finding myself agreeing with Justice Scalia?? First time for everything).

Lots of folk’s turned out to wait in line to get tickets in to the Supreme Court Monday night. Luis Villa’s blog (a Gnome Developer) has some great pictures up, including demonstrators and waiting in line.