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Kazaa trial begins

29 November 2004 4:17 by James "Dela" Delahunty | 8 comments

The controversial Kazaa trial has kicked off in Sydney, Australia today with major recording labels claiming it was the worlds biggest music piracy network, and that Sharman knew about this and encouraged music piracy. Lawyers for Universal, Sony BMG, EMI, Warner and dozens of other labels made this claim. These allegations follow investigations by the Australian anti-piracy organization Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI), a body affiliated with the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), the Australian equivalent of the RIAA. The trial is expected to last at least three weeks.

It all started several months back when Sharman's HQ was raided by the Recording Industry. Sharman challenged the legality of the raids but it didn't make any difference. In the United States, it has been ruled that creators of P2P software cannot be held liable for the actions of their users. Sharman will be praying for a similar outcome of this trial. Not only does the recording industry want all illegal trading forcefully stopped on the network, they also seek compensation for lost revenue due to illegal filesharing on the network, which would add up to billions.

"Sharman paints themselves as the defenders of the interests of fans of music [but] they are trading off the copyright-infringing activities of its users. Far from inhibiting infringements, they are actually encouraging them." said Tony Bannon, counsel for the labels. The start of the battle between the labels and Sharman will be an attempt to determine whether Sharman can be held liable for Kazaa user�s activity or not. If they are found liable, then the labels will seek compensation.

Source:
The Register

Permalink to this article

Kazaa gets deadline to filter or shut down (25 November 2005)

Kazaa loses in court (5 September 2005)

Closing arguments heard in Kazaa trial (23 March 2005)

Australian 'file sharing' ISP raided (10 March 2005)

Kazaa assets frozen in Australia (5 March 2005)

Very important documents reveal Sharman lies (7 February 2005)

Red Cross denies its Kazaa link (18 January 2005)

Red Cross caught up in P2P mess (17 December 2004)

RIAA sues 754 more people (17 December 2004)

Sharman lawyer accuses witness of switching sides (8 December 2004)

Witnesses claim Kazaa can filter its network (2 December 2004)

Kazaa denies recording industry claims in day 2 of trial (30 November 2004)

Kazaa trial to kick off in Australia on Monday (26 November 2004)

Kazaa labeled top spyware threat (26 November 2004)

Kazaa 3.0 includes Skype (23 November 2004)

P2P case to be tested in Supreme Court? (8 October 2004)

Australian court rejects Sharman's appeal (8 October 2004)

Kazaa loses P2P crown to eDonkey (22 September 2004)

Kazaa trademark in trouble in Europe (14 June 2004)

Kazaa relies on a 105-year-old ruling (24 May 2004)

Kazaa appeals raid ruling (11 March 2004)

Kazaa loses the first court round in Australia (4 March 2004)

Ruling on Kazaa search orders tomorrow (3 March 2004)

The raid was illegal, says Kazaa (10 February 2004)

Music industry raids Kazaa offices (6 February 2004)

Sharman gets OK to sue enterntainment industry (27 January 2004)

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Discuss this article!
SGSeries2 (Junior Member) 29 November 2004 7:15
I find it ironic that they just released a new version of kazaa with skype included in it, and the trial just kicked off shortly afterward. There's no real connection, other than a hint that kazaa developers are optimistic. [ + quote]
djscoop (AfterDawn Addict) 29 November 2004 10:15
As much as I support file-sharing, I think this is some karma for Kazaa for embedding spyware and adware in their software...thats just not cool. [ + quote]
rico134 (Member) 29 November 2004 10:24
er........yeah dont take this the wrong way file sharing ppl but my friends got kazaa and i think its literally pathetic,i hope they do end up getting a huge fine in the end.they deserve it for half the rubbish & viruses they've got on theie program anyway jeesh! [ + quote]
Dela (Staff Member) 29 November 2004 14:10
You guys are missing the point. The labels arent just hoping to shut kazaa down, they are looking to make an example out of it to other countries, like the pebble that fell and sharted the landslide. If they suceed and the U.S. Supreme Court decides to hear their P2P case, they could use the Australian trial as an example and have an effect on the overall ruling. What could happen then is the Supreme court could rule that people who own/run P2P networks are liable for damages. Imagine the lawsuits. Bram Cohen would definately get hit because of BitTorrent's popularity among P2P users. You must understand that this is a completely different case than "Recording Industry vs. Kazaa". If Kazaa win (which I think they will) then other countries legal systems would be influenced by the decision and uphold the same rulings, if the Recording Industry won...... well you can imagine. [ + quote]
Soulreave (Junior Member) 1 December 2004 4:25
/me smells entrapment [ + quote]
Musky179 (Newbie) 7 December 2004 12:41
Personally,I hope Kazaa wins their case.Although it causes me some grief with my pc now and then.The P2P networks are the only means I have to hear artists from around the world.I buy many cds and dvds once I know what I am buying.Afterall,how can one buy cds of artists that one has never heard of before. Apple,iTunes and Napster don't even offer the music I am looking for. Muskie. [ + quote]
FuckBush (Inactive) 7 December 2004 14:29
Didn't the term "Bling Bling" get 'coined' by the music industry? And here we are with a bunch of rich fucks trying to kill P2P so that more already rich pockets can be lined. These dicks tell us that things like Kazaa (etc) hurt the industry for reasons such as less local bands are unearthing. BULLSHIT! Extremly rich artists and labels miss out on what is relatively chump change and P2P helps spread the music of lesser known artists that the music industry can exploit later on. My opinion anyway. P.S. Just because I downloaded an mp3 for the PC doesn't mean I would have bought the CD if the internet didn't exist. [ + quote]
djscoop (AfterDawn Addict) 7 December 2004 16:05
love your nick [ + quote]