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KaZaA Resumes Downloads, Company Sold?
Robert Johnson writes "According to an article on Dotcom Scoop, popular file-sharing service KaZaA may have been sold over the weekend.
"As of last week the company was based in the Netherlands. However, upon close examination of its new terms of use license, the company now says, "This License as well as all disputes arising out of or in connection with this Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the New South Wales, without regard to or application of choice of law rules or principles. Any dispute arising out of or in connection with this License, or in future agreements resulting there from, shall be exclusively resolved before the competent court in New South Wales," the article states. New South Wales is an Australian state."
Update Apparently the website reverted to the former content
which might raise a few eyebrows. Update: 01/21 18:17 GMT by T : DotcomScoop writes: "KaZaA isssued a statement regarding its sale after our story was published." Here is the statement and a little more info.
I am unable to get kazaa to work for the past day or so. I get the following error :
Error logging into Kazaa, continuing as anonymous.
I am using the linux client. Is it only me, or are others also having difficulty logging onto the network?
Don't Panic
Seems that the Linux client is no longer available for download. Posting a link to a mirrored version won't help either, since it stopped working. Error message is "Error logging into Kazaa".
Very odd. Moving the company to Australia doesn't spare Niklas Zennstrom (the guy who cofounded both KaZaA and FastTrack, the company that provides the software) of any liability for his past actions in Europe, especially given that Australia is a signatory to the same international copyright treaties as everyone else. Nor would selling the company be any help, unless he could hornswoggle somebody into assuming the liabilities. That seems unlikely, given that the vicarious infringement liability that Napster is exposed to -- identical to the one risked by KaZaA -- is in the billions of dollars. An acquirer would have to be crazy to take it on, and would probably have a hard time finding hosting services (they're legally exposed, too). And the service is still up and running exactly as it was before. Very hard to figure out this one.
for the unfortuanate:
A week after the company stopped downloads of its software, Amsterdam-based peer-to-peer software firm KaZaA announced on its website that it had launched a new version of its software, that includes a pay service, and a cryptic message made it appear that KaZaA is now owned by an Australian company called Sharman Network Services. Or perhaps not.
The Kazaa.com website was stripped bare of much of its content on Sunday and was allowing users to download an updated version of its software, although attempts to download this software were met with an error message.
By 4:15 AM EST on Monday, the original KaZaA website was back up with no mention of new software or Sharman Network Services. But access to the new terms of use agreement was still possible and the copyright information at the bottom identifies "Sharman Network Services" as the owner of the website's contents.
As of last week the company was based in the Netherlands. However, upon close examination of its new terms of use license, the company now appears to be based in Australia.
"This License as well as all disputes arising out of or in connection with this Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the New South Wales, without regard to or application of choice of law rules or principles. Any dispute arising out of or in connection with this License, or in future agreements resulting there from, shall be exclusively resolved before the competent court in New South Wales," the new terms of use dictate.
New South Wales is Australia's largest state population wise and the home of Sydney.
The "WHOIS" information for the Kazaa.com domain has not been updated, but a note posted on the KaZaA site on early Monday morning EST led users to believe that FastTrack, the company that created the code used for and owns KaZaA, and has licensed its code out to competitors MusicCity and Grokster, no longer controls KaZaA. Various searches for "Sharman Network Services" turned up no results.
"The original brains behind Kazaa have moved on to develop new innovative software. The team now running Kazaa will continue to deliver the best technology for finding, saving and transfering all the data you want: no limits. Get ready for the next version of KaZaA with even better performance and enhanced usability," said a note posted on the KaZaA homepage, before it reverted back to its original state.
In an ironic twist, one major new area of the company's terms of service agreement covers the distribution of the KaZaA software itself. KaZaA and other file sharing companies are under legal fire for allowing users to trade copyrighted material.
"This License allows you to install and use the KaZaA Media Desktop on a single computer. This License does not permit you to install the Software on more than one computer at a time. You may make one copy of the Software in machine-readable form for backup purposes only. The backup copy must include all copyright information contained on the original," according to KaZaA's new terms of use agreement. The original terms of use agreement is still linked on the KaZaA homepage.
The company has also apparently added new features that consumers will be forced to pay for.
"Certain features of the KaZaA Media Desktop may require payment in the future including a prepaid fee ("Prepaid Fee"). The Prepaid Fee, and all taxes and other fees related thereto will be paid by you in advance. You shall pay all fees and charges incurred through your account at the rates in effect for the billing period in which such fees and charges are incurred. All fees and charges shall be billed to you, and you shall be solely responsible for their payment. You shall pay all applicable taxes relating to the use of the Software through your account. If you do not pay the applicable fees, including Prepaid Fees, within the prescribed period of time your account will be terminated immediately, without limiting KaZaA's right to demand payment of fees and damages at a later time," the company now says.
The new terms appear to try to help KaZaA further indemnify itself from being responsible for users who trade copyrighted material.
KaZaA suspended downloads of its software last week saying it was awaiting a Dutch court decision on its fate.
"Download of the KaZaA Media Desktop software is temporarily and voluntarily suspended pending Dutch court decision on January 31. We apologise for the inconvenience. Please check back at www.kazaa.com for more information," the company said in a statement issued on its website last week.
A Dutch court ruled in November that the company must stop its users from sharing copyrighted material. The ruling is under appeal and the court will make a decision on Jan. 31.
KaZaA also recently added a disclaimer on its site regarding the copyright issue.
KaZaA, MusicCity and Grokster find themselves the subject of international court pressure. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) launched a lawsuit against the companies last fall in an effort to stem the tide of peer-to-peer transfer of copyrighted music files.
In October, an internal RIAA memo, leaked to Dotcom Scoop, outlined the RIAA's strategy to take on the file-sharing networks. The memo indicated that the RIAA would attempt to negotiate with FastTrack in an effort to shut down its licensees.
"Thus, we recommend (1) filing claims against FastTrack, MusicCity, and Grockster, (2) immediately thereafter initiating discussions with FastTrack about resolving our claims in a way that will provide us with useful information and testimony against MusicCity, and if possible obtain FastTrack's cooperation in shutting down or converting MusicCity and Grokster," the memo stated.
Photos.
This is stright from the front page of he web site:
The original brains behind Kazaa have moved on to develop new innovative software. The team now running Kazaa will continue to deliver the best technology for finding, saving and transfering all the data you want: no limits. Get ready for the next version of KaZaA with even better performance and enhanced usability. Click here to read the new Terms of Use for KaZaA.
To me, this sounds like a mass exodus, not a simple move to avoid some laws...
I'm not a prophet or a stone-age man,
I'm just a mortal with potential of a super man.
See previous article on Somalia having it's internet service disconnected...
6 24 5
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/11/23/174
No it continues to work for a current session if you didnt restart after the changeover. I noticed this on one of my two kazaa sessions on different boxen so I went to try and test to see if I could login via the other one. So I quit my 2nd sessions and then couldnt login again. I proved my point.
Then I slapped my head and said "DOH!"
* DONT terminate your running linux clients! *
they'll stay running if you dont kill them.
Someone gonna hack the protocol to do a fake insert of a hacked linux client into the network?
They've also acquired the fasttrack licence.
Users will be required to agree to new terms of usage, the next time they log in.
Okay... I'll do the stupid things first, then you shy people follow.
[Zappa]
I just downloaded Morpheus this morning because a major HD crash pushed Kazaa off with the rest of my data.
Now I read on that site in the RIAA letter that they [RIAA] is teaming up with the Fast Track team [MC&Kazaa].
Not good for me since my registered name on Morpheus is: IH8URIAA.
I must also report that about 30 mins ago I wasn't getting files [segments] from Kazaa users, but now I'm doing that and also getting great speeds.
I'm going to gnutella [mainstream] if Limewire puts a tad more work into their program. It's great now, and so is gnutella in general. But it doesn't have the 'juice' like Fast Track does. I know I will get flamed for this.
Get your Unix fortune now!
from the terms of use:
6. Payment and fees
6.1 Certain features of the KaZaA Media Desktop may require payment in the future including a prepaid fee ("Prepaid Fee").
The Prepaid Fee, and all taxes and other fees related thereto will be paid by you in advance.
You shall pay all fees and charges incurred through your account at the rates in effect for the billing period in which such fees and charges are incurred.
All fees and charges shall be billed to you, and you shall be solely responsible for their payment.
You shall pay all applicable taxes relating to the use of the Software through your account.
If you do not pay the applicable fees, including Prepaid Fees, within the prescribed period of time your account will be terminated immediately, without limiting KaZaA's right to demand payment of fees and damages at a later time.
*sigh*
sig - .