The end of March saw a group of lawyers in front of the U.S. Supreme Court arguing about the legal responsibilities of peer-to-peer networks in a case that may well outlive the company that inspired it, "Grokster."

It is not stretching a point to say that for the record companies and Hollywood, this case is make or break. Grokster will help Hollywood and the record business map out the path they'll follow in Washington when it comes time to craft copyright and telecom legislation. So far, the industries have been playing a delay game, putting off reckoning with lawmakers—who ultimately represent consumers—as long as possible. The Supreme Court ruling is going to change that strategy, too.

Hollywood's a business like any other and it's just doing what comes naturally. But it is fair to say that most people in the recording and movie business don't understand the multilayered effects possible with online digital networks. They think of themselves as creators and all of rest of us as an audience.

That's inaccurate, says Silicon Valley tech writer J.D. Lasica in his book 'Darknet'. "More and more of us are taking up the tools of the digital generation," Lasica says. "The Grokster case is a great example of what the mainstream media keep missing. It's not just about piracy, it's about people using digital technologies in the way people want to use them."

Being a Silicon Valley guy, Lasica isn't letting all this go with the book. He's teamed up with Macromedia cofounder Marc Cantor on a portal called OurMedia.org which went public in March.

"This is another way people are going to be able to use their networks," says Lasica.

Calling itself the "global homepage for grassroots media," OurMedia.org aims to be a place for people to swap and share what they've created. Think of it as blogging with video and audio, only a little better organized than the mishmash of (mostly text-only) sites up today.

On one level, OurMedia is a community site, the sort of thing that a Hollywood studio person or a talented recording engineer might dismiss as amateurish.

But think about what it's going to look like when someone really creative gets their hands around a digital camera or an MP3 player and then distributes their work to that community. Think about what a filmmaker rejected by the studios or other established outlets might do with OurMedia's savvy audience.

The network is no longer a passive signal from a lone tower on a hill beaming images and sound down to millions of eyes and ears. It's a two-way street between talkers and listeners, watchers and show-offs, creators and the more creative. That's not something that will be argued in the Supreme Court.