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I think Amazon is going to win this one. The RIAA can't even win cases against grandmas or John Does. I doubt that Amazon's legal team is going to be easier to beat.

(The key argument? "We just transfer the bits." The ISPs' routers don't need music licenses, why should S3?)

If Amazon loses, I hope the RIAA goes after AT&T next for all the music that's inevitably caught in their illegal wiretaps.

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Much will depend on A) the details of existing agreements between Amazon and labels; B) the details of Amazon's implementation.

It matters, for instance, if the cloud storage creates a unique file for each song a person uploads or if it creates 'efficiency' by pointing to a single file if you and I were to upload identical .mp3 files. It probably also matters if their online .mp3 auto-storage is moving a copy of the .mp3, or if it's only storing that you have a license to listen to that song.

These details will matter for determining if Amazon is actually offering storage or if they're actually offering streaming, if their existing agreements speak to streaming.

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