Kazaa Ruled Illegal in Australia
In yet another milestone victory for the record industry over peer-to-peer networks, an Australian court has ruled that Kazaa is violating copyrights and gave the service two months to eliminate further piracy by its users.
Six of the 10 defendants were found guilty of infringing copyrights, including Sharman Networks, company CEO Nikki Hemming and Altnet, the company which created the software that powers Kazaa. They were ordered to pay 90 percent of the record industry's legal fees and a hearing will be scheduled to determine damages.
Although the ruling is only enforceable in Australia, the storm clouds are clearly gathering over such file sharing services. In late June, the United States Supreme Court found that P2P networks could be held responsible for the actions of their users, if the company actively encouraged or fostered illicit swapping.
"The court has ruled the current Kazaa system illegal. If they want to continue, they are going to have to stop the trade in illegal music on that system," record industry spokesman Michael Speck told reporters. "It's a great day for artists. It's a great day for anyone who wants to make a living from music."
Federal Court Judge Murray Wilcox acknowledged that it was in Kazaa's best interest to keep the sharing of copyrighted materials going in order to maximize advertising revenue, and said the company made no efforts to reign in the ongoing illegal activity.
New versions of Kazaa must actively block the trading of copyrighted content, ordered Wilcox, and the upgrade would be be mandatory for all users. Sharman Networks says it will appeal the decision.
The International Federation of Phonographic Industries hailed the ruling as a landmark victory in the fight against online piracy.
"Today's judgment shows that Kazaa — one of the biggest engines of copyright theft and the biggest brand in music piracy worldwide — is illegal," IFPI chairman and CEO John Kennedy said in a statement. "This is a milestone in the fight against Internet piracy worldwide."