Judge: Kazaa can be sued in U.S.

[Skippy]

A Los Angeles federal judge has ruled that record companies and movie studios can proceed with a lawsuit against the parent company of Kazaa--the most popular online file-swapping service--in the United States.

In a 46-page decision that became public Friday, U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson said a lawsuit against Sharman Networks could proceed, since Kazaa software had been downloaded and used by millions of Californians.

Sharman Networks is headquartered in Australia and incorporated in the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu. The company had filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing it was not bound by U.S. laws since it did not have substantial contacts with California.

"Given that Sharman's (Kazaa) software has been downloaded more than 143 million times, it would be mere cavil to deny that Sharman engages in a significant amount of contact with California residents," Wilson wrote. Also, he said, "many, if not most, music and video copyrights are owned by California-based companies."

The Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America applauded the decision in a joint statement.

"We are pleased that the court denied the efforts of Sharman Networks...to avoid being subject to the suit. Sharman Networks...should be held accountable by U.S. laws, which clearly indicate that what they are doing is illegal, and that they should not profit from it," the trade associations said.

Sharman Networks could not be reached for comment Friday.

This week's ruling came after Wilson heard oral arguments in Nov. 2002, and could mean that the Kazaa lawsuit will be rolled into a larger one involving Streamcast Networks and Grokster, two rival file-swapping companies that use the same underlying technology as Sharman.

Wilson said the case was different from a similar one involving a Texas man who was sued in California for distributing a DVD-descrambling utility online. The California Supreme Court said in November 2002 that Internet distribution of software did not subject someone to California jurisdiction. The U.S. Supreme Court briefly put that decision on hold, then backed out of the case this month.

Source: AmigaWorld

[amigamad]

About time this program is  full of bugs.

[weirdami]

I'm not so much concerned with getting it shut down because of bugs. I hope it goes the way of Napster because it too involves wholesale theft of copyrighted materials.

[Skyraker]

I dowload ALL my music from Kazaa, and until the labels bring down CD's to a respectable amount, i'll keep using it....

This is about freedom of information and free speech not about piracy.... The RIAA's tactics up til now have been disgraceful.....

[weirdami]

I dowload ALL my music from Kazaa, and until the labels bring down CD's to a respectable amount, i'll keep using it....

You're using the 'faceless corporation' excuse. It's OK because them there in the suits and the fancy office don't care about me so I'm gonna screw them. I doubt that you would stop stealing music even if the price for a was brought down to "a respectable amount"-- which you have yet to define. Besides which, "respectable" is subjective, is it not? Maybe it's not. Here's what "respectable" is: I want to sell something. I set a price. I sell lots of somethings at that price. I stay in business. Therefore, the price is good, and all is right with the world. Economics determine prices.

Theft doesn't bring down prices, theft destroys industries. Stealing is not the same as not-buying. Not-buying reduces prices because demand is low. Right now, the demand is high. So, prices are unlikely to drop.

It's not like they're charging $200 for a bottle of water after a hurricane. It's entertainment. You don't need every known recording of Weird Al's 'Eat It', including the first live performance on Doctor Demento. Sure, it'd be nice to have, but you're not going to die of dehydration by not having it.

This is about freedom of information and free speech not about piracy....

It's not about freedom if information or speech, it's about a commodity which costs money that you are stealing.

What speech is being penned-up because your cheapness makes you steal? What information is being kept from you behind the razor wire of copyright? None, actually.

The RIAA's tactics up til now have been disgraceful.....

You're going to go down THAT road? How is it not disgraceful that people have no respect for the law or for the property of others? If I remember correctly, people were stealing music off the Internet long before the RIAA (or even Metallica) got involved. The disgrace lies with the pirates.

---

:Users, forgive me if I screwed up the quotes, 'tis my first attempt. :-) :

[Waccoon]

I suppose it doesn't matter anymore.  By the time the lawsuits are filed and things are going to court, everyone has already made a ton of money.

Napster was shut down.  But, the people who started it walked away as millionaires.  What does that tell anyone interested in starting the next Napster, Kazaa, etc.?

Song artists don't get the money.  It goes to the dopes running these services.

[KennyR]

Bye bye Kazaa, won't miss ya.

[amigamad]

You dont need kazza, irc and direct connect are all you need .

[Skyraker]

RIAA employee/rent boy/brown tongue said: blah blah blah blah blah blah

/troll
I never buy music, and wouldn't if kazaa wasn't there, so no one is losing anything, they wouldnt get it if i did use kazaa or if i didnt... I get to listen to more music though.... which is nice....

\troll

[Paul_Gadd]

Kazaa is a complete joke anyway for files, use something decent like Edonkey, Direct Connect for films,games, and for music those Open nap servers and irc channels are great,

Not forgeting the great newsgroups which can be brilliant for files.