Dutch court clears Web music swapping (KAZAA)

[Bud]

Reuters
March 28, 2002, 6:30 AM PT


In a setback for efforts to halt copyright abuse, a Dutch appeals court on Thursday told a technology company it could distribute a software program that is designed to let people share music and films on the Internet.
The ruling in the case between Internet software company Kazaa and Dutch music rights organization Buma Stemra overturned a decision in November in favor of the music industry.

The music industry says rampant online piracy has severely damaged recording sales, and the movie industry fears the same could happen to it as computers become more powerful.

The Amsterdam Court of Justice ruled that Kazaa was not liable for any individuals' abuse of its software, which is being used by millions of people around the world every day to swap copyright-protected games, music, pictures and films.

"We are stunned by the verdict," a Buma Stemra spokesman in the Netherlands said, adding that the organization could appeal further to the High Court. But Niklas Zennstrom, the Swedish founder of Netherlands-based Kazaa and its technology provider FastTrack, heralded the decision as "a great victory for our company and for the whole technology sector."

However, he also said the ruling came too late to save Kazaa, whose main assets were sold after the initial ruling last year to Australian company Sharman Networks.

Zennstrom continues to run FastTrack, which developed and licenses the file-swapping software used by Kazaa and its U.S. peer Grokster.

Both companies, and their rival Morpheus MusicCity, are still facing a court battle against music and film industry trade groups the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America, expected to start in October.

Kazaa attorney Christiaan Alberdingk Thijm expected the Dutch ruling to be closely watched in the United States, as his defense was partly built on a 1984 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said manufacturers of video recorders are not liable if consumers use their products to abuse copyrights.

"This is not just about Kazaa. It also affects producers of digital recording devices," he said. These would include DVD recorders from Philips and Panasonic, and digital TV recorders from TiVo.

The Dutch ruling is in stark contrast to last year's decision in which a U.S. judge forced Napster, the original file-swapping Internet service, to cease operation until it could guarantee that there was no copyright infringement on its network.

Unlike Napster, Kazaa and its peers do not operate a central server connecting people and enabling them to transfer files. Kazaa has claimed in its defense that it is unable to control usage after its peer-to-peer software has been installed on PCs.

[Greg12]

well good, someone has some damn sense in the world.

And it's true, Kaza can be used for legal reasons.


I guess Dutch judges rn't bought as easy as American ones.

the makers of Kaza could now release a better client or buy back what they sold.

I wonder if the Dutch have the concept of "let the decesion stand."

[homerpez]

Well... this is good news...

Since Kazaa is from the Netherlands it seems, it means it will be, {ahem} "available", rergardless of what happens in the States.

After all, legal or illegal, if it's available... they will come.

[Sean. madison]

I said it before and I'm gonna say it again, my new site is being beta tested for everything that anyyone needs.

When Morpheus and Kazza die, my site will carry on.....It'll be called somethin like "Musiccity shiZZZoN"......

what'll happen is peeps can aim me on shiZZZoN@aol.com for a passsword. This'll be kept secret between the millions of people using it.

Sorry GodZprofi7..... but yur lame ass is gonna have to use gnutella......

[pacmania_2001]

Not to insult you, but a single website is incapable of holding and trading the capacity of files that Kazaa/Morpheus/Grokster do either individually or together

[Bud]

Don’t get me wrong but Millions of People and Secret cannot be used in the same sentence, if you can a secret……it’s been tried…I know what you're trying to say.........

[alucard2050]

that does appear to be good news....i still wish Napster was around though...i havn't found another program to match that of Napster. and sean, your boasting some powerful words about your website...like i have said before, you need to less advertise your members only area...your leading to trouble with such publicity....seems to be that your announcing your site alot....don't worry, once its there people will check it out...........