Closing Arguments Begin in Kazaa Trial
Closing arguments began Wednesday in the trial between Sharman Networks, parent company of Kazaa, and the record industry, which could decide the fate of the company as well as peer-to-peer file sharing worldwide.
Sharman maintains that it cannot be held responsible for the actions of its users as it can not control what they do, while the record industry says that the company is willfully helping them to break the law.
The trial has seen its ups and downs for the file sharing service. In early February, the prosecution uncovered attempts by the defense to suppress nearly 30 documents that could have proved damaging to Sharman. One document even included an admission by Sharman CTO Phillip Morle that Kazaa is indeed riddled with adware.
"We need to be careful with user resources. Most obvious is in the adware we add to their machine upon installation. This software slows down users’ machines and can affect other activity such as browsing the Internet," Morle wrote. "Consider how many people that work for Sharman Networks and its partners that hate installing Kazaa on their machines."
Lawyers for Kazaa have acknowledged in their closing arguments that Sharman is aware of illegal activity on their network, but can do nothing to stop it. "We tell these users in our Web site and we tell them in our license that they cannot use this for infringing copyright," Sharman Lawyer Tony Meagher explained to Judge Murray Wilcox.
The record industry called it "mind boggling" that Kazaa cannot control its users, and accused Sharman of encouraging them to break the law. According to industry lawyers, Kazaa collects information about its users for advertising purposes, so it should be able to control their usage habits as well.
To Kazaa's defense, in January executives for Sharman Networks said that they had attempted to talk with the industry over unauthorized file sharing. But those talks failed, and according to the record industry, the company became more intent on spreading its software.
Closing arguments in the case are expected to wrap up by Friday. A decision should come within six weeks.