Kazaa file-swapping lawsuit gets OK
Monday, January 13, 2003 Posted: 12:46 PM EST (1746 GMT)






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LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- A federal judge has given record companies and movie studios the go-ahead to sue the parent company of Kazaa, a popular online file-swapping service.

U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson refused to dismiss a copyright infringement lawsuit against Sharman Networks Ltd., which had argued that it could not be sued in the United States because it is based in Australia and incorporated in the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu.

In a 46-page ruling issued last week, the judge said Sharman is subject to U.S. copyright laws because it has substantial business dealings in California and its actions are alleged to contribute to commercial piracy within the United States.

Reaction to the ruling
Kelly Larabee, a Sharman spokeswoman, said that while the company was "disappointed" with the ruling on the case, "we fully expect to prevail on the merits."

Larabee said Sharman would be filing a counterclaim that will "set forth the full story for the first time."

The Sharman case is one of the largest in the recent online copyright wars testing the international reach of U.S. courts. The plaintiffs maintain that Kazaa provides free access to copyrighted music and films to about 21 million U.S. users.

Now why can't terrorists target these companies.

**** these scum sucking, capitalistic *******s.

- The Jake

not their fault if they're losing money... I haven't bought a CD since I got programs like that. anyways, file sharing programs are like Hydra's from mythology as it was once said by some one... I forget who... When you cut off its head, 7 more heads grow from where you cut the original, all as potent as the first.

I'm holding back the rage here.

I am a very, very, VERY angry young man right now.....

Thankfully though wireless is becoming more and more popular and soon there will be no need for kazaa as thousands of people will be able to create their own VPNs through wireless networks, free to share and trade without worrying about traffic costs or recording companies interfering because there won't be a thing they can do about it.

- The Jake

So true

it just might force them to stop marketing these pop stars that put out one single and the rest of the album is total crap.

If I like the band, I still buy thier album, to support them. However, if there is a new band and I like ONE of thier songs, I am going to listen to the whole album before I drop down 22.99 of my hard earned money on something that might end up as a coster.

Did u know if u put a CD in the microwave on high for 3 seconds lots of pretty sparks come off it and it looks nifty as a drink coaster?

- The Jake