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by Jeremy Reimer
The popular file-sharing service Kazaa has been put on notice. Sharman Networks, the Australian company that purchased the Kazaa network and software in 2002, has been told by an Australian judge that they have until December 5 to either filter copyrighted music from its system or shut down their operations entirely.
This ultimatum is a clear follow-up to the previous judgement, handed down by the Australian courts in September, that Kazaa had essentially authorized users to violate copyright. Sharman Networks had appealed this judgement, but it looks like the Australian court is serious about enforcing its desires.
To avoid complete shutdown, Sharman Networks must, as a “first step,” implement a keyword-filtering system for the Kazaa network within 10 days. This would remove the links to many copyrighted files already being shared over the network, but obviously it would be easy for users to add intentional misspellings to their files in order to bypass the filters. There has been no comment about whether or not the fake, static-filled music files hosted on high-speed connections by the music industry themselves would be subject to these same keyword filters.
The chairman of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), an organization that represents the recording industry in over 75 countries, issued this statement:
It’s time for services like Kazaa to move on—to filter, go legal or make way for others who are trying to build a digital music business the correct and legal way.
Kazaa is not the only peer-to-peer file sharing service that has come under legal attack in recent years. Grokster and eDonkey shut down last month under the financial strain of lawsuits. Recently the creator and operator of BitTorrent entered an agreement with the MPAA to remove links to torrents of copyrighted works from the BitTorrent website and search engine. Lawsuits against individuals charged with running BitTorrent and Direct Connect servers have been ongoing. The real question is this: have all the legal actions against P2P networks and users been effective in reducing piracy? Have P2P users grown weary of the constant dance from one network to another? Or will new P2P applications, perhaps more decentralized and less vulnerable to legal action, continue to gain in popularity?
Update: Friday November 25
Sharman Networks is reporting today that their stay of execution has been extended until February. More news on this topic as it comes in.