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Kazaa ad campaign planned

12 November 2003 15:08 by Petteri "dRD" Pyyny | 9 comments

Sharman Networks, the company which owns Kazaa p2p application, is planning to launch a big scale "offline" advertising campaign next week, running ads in traditional print media.

With the ads, Sharman tries to encourage P2P users and other netizens to defend their rights to use P2P networks (which itself are not illegal, but when a user distributes -- i.e. puts the file in his/her shared folder for people to download -- copyrighted material, that is considered to be illegal in most of the countries) and to also get the decision makers and record labels to understand the message Sharman has been trying to persuade: put it there with reasonable price and people will pay for it.

Sharman and other P2P networks have called lawmakers to change the current entertainment licensing laws in a way that it would force content owners to license their material with fixed price to anyone who's willing to distribute it. It seems that forcing media companies to do this is the only way P2P networks will ever get into legal music and movie distribution business with the major record labels and movie studios.

Sharman's print campaign is scheduled to begin on November 19th in United States.

More information:

ZDNet
PC World

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Discuss this article!
alxdotnet (Inactive) 12 November 2003 17:06
So let me get this straight...downloading mp3 files itself is not illegal, but if I share them then it is? Comp 1: Dell Inspiron P4 2.4Ghz / 512 MB RAM with 24x CD-RW and Firewire In, SVideo Out running XP Pro Comp 2: Dell Dimension P3 550Mhz / 384MB RAM with old 2x CD-RW running XP Home. [ + quote]
AlanTiger (Junior Member) 12 November 2003 19:57
Exactly, The RIAA Can only sue you if you yourself SHARE the file, They just search for a song, Target a person sharing that song, search their list of shared items, and if massive enough perpare to sue Beaming down to a Jungle near you...... [ + quote]
dRD (I hate titles) 13 November 2003 1:10
I don't know whether it is technically legal in States to download music from P2P networks either, but they really do find you only if you share music (well, they CAN find you otherwise as well, but I assume they aren't that interested of casual downloaders who are not sharing even if downloading would be illegal in States). However, downloading from P2P networks, no matter how copyrighted music/movies/etc it might be, is perfectly legal in most European countries. Sharing copyrighted material is illegal. [ + quote]
Ghostdog (Senior Member) 13 November 2003 2:39
But services like Kazaa wouldn�t exist without people who share. [ + quote]
twinke (Junior Member) 13 November 2003 3:15
I have solved this problem. Don't upload, download, or buy RIAA crap. Go indie instead. You won't have to fear lawsuits and you'll get to listen to great music and most indie bands will be grateful that you are sharing their music. Oh, and you won't have to overpay for a CD that costs $12-$18 and has a bunch of crappy fillers and only 1 or 2 good songs. boycott-riaa.com ~Twinkerules [ + quote]
strcruzer (Junior Member) 13 November 2003 4:17
I agree with twinkie, boycott the RIAA and its members. Go to places that support indie musicians and DL/buy their music. I think if we all do this the Labels/RIAA will get the idea we don't need their crap. Starcruiser Intel 440BX MB, Dual Intel 1.2Ghz P3's, 2GB RAM TDK 440N, 390GB ATI AIW 8500DV Win2k Srvr [ + quote]
Ghostdog (Senior Member) 13 November 2003 5:22
Know any good sources for independent music worth checking out? [ + quote]
twinke (Junior Member) 13 November 2003 6:29
If you go to the website boycott-riaa.com they list some places you can go to find indie music and they also have great message boards. Some places I know of to find indie are cdbaby.com, iuma.com, garageband.com, and dmusic.com. Also, if you want to know if an artist is with the riaa go to magnetbox.com/riaa/. ~Twinkerules [ + quote]
vudoo (Member) 17 November 2003 10:02
It is sad that the RIAA has to act like this because services like Rhapsody is a good service. However unfortunatley for Rhapsody many people will not subscribe to the service because of the bully tactics of the RIAA. However I do subscribe however I still use p2p from time to time. Maybe the RIAA should work with Kazaa and maybe have a Kazaa/Rhapsody type system. The kazaa system would have ads to support the artists and if you want music without ads subscribe to Rhapsody. There are so many alternatives to suing everyone that the RIAA could have taken and they could have standed to make some real money in the process. But there is a bunch of 60 and 80 year olds passing laws that they know nothing about. [ + quote]