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.

Comments

Smart Move.

[derrickh]

If a country's laws dont suit your needs...move.

It's only a matter of time until MS becomes based in the Cayman Islands.

D

Re:Smart Move.

[Mr.Spaz]

This may be "funny," but I've said that such maneuvering may be in the future for software / internet firms in the future. There's no big manufacturing plants to build and the money is right for them to "lease" a small island for 99 years and just plant themselves on it. And how hard would it be to recruit personnel to work on gorgeous Caribbean islands? Grow your company to the right size in a protected nation (see USA), then when that country starts to turn on you, pack up and head for your own mini country! If you had sufficient market penetration, the best they could do is put up or shut up.

Re:Smart Move.

[kaladorn]

You might headquarter there as many US Corps headquarter in states that offer shareholders more minimal rights. But I con't think you'd actually move your real physical HQ.

You think it would be trivial to move the tech base required to support a computer industry? To provide all the things like medical, etc. that you require as infrastructural support? To provide equivalent services to all the nearby small companies your company does business with?

I can't see it. And then there are the physical security issues. Remember, Sealand was once taken by hostile forces. And they are arguably inside UK territorial waters! And denial of service becomes far easier if your connection is a seafloor fibre pipe (oops, sorry about that Micro$oft...). Not to mention exposing your HQ and your employees to flooding and tropical storms. And all those wonderful bugs that dont thrive in North America.

It might make sense to maintain a legal fiction with a lawyer and a P.O. Box down there, much like corps do in Virginia, but that's about the end of it. And in this New World of Terrorism (really, the same old world but with a new media focus...), it seems unlikely corporations would be anxious to locate to more vulnerable locations. Or did you think they'd pay for their own army, navy, air force, and significant intelligence assets? There are a few benefits to being HQ'd in the Continental USA!

Besides, if M$ were to relocate to the Carribean, whose Judges would they buy? Whose DoJ would they bribe? :)

Re:Smart Move.

[Incongruity]

And how hard would it be to recruit personnel to work on gorgeous Caribbean islands? Grow your company to the right size in a protected nation (see USA), then when that country starts to turn on you, pack up and head for your own mini country!

Yeah, it'd be wonderful up until huricane abby or some such comes along and wipes out all of your senior software engineers...wait. Can we sell Microsoft on this idea?

This isn't good for KaZaa

[Pop n' Fresh]

If what we've seen over the past few months are any indication (broadband woes, ridiculous internet laws), Australia's laws won't be too kind to file-sharing. Not that it will matter to P2P users, they can just move on to the newest P2P startup that hasn't been gobbled up yet.

Re:This isn't good for KaZaa

[Anonymous Coward]

If what we've seen over the past few months are any indication (broadband woes, ridiculous internet laws), Australia's laws won't be too kind to file-sharing.

So? If someone files a lawsuit against them in Australia they can just sell the company and move to Belgium. There are hundreds of countries on the planet to move to with IP connectivity. It's hard to hit a moving target, especially when the real world lawyers are using crossbows and you're flying around in a jet.

And this helps how?

[Guppy06]

With the recent posting about the mystery blacklist in Australia, I don't see how hosting the service from Sydney is really going to improve the situation all that much from the Netherlands. Sure, they're not currently being sued in Australia, but they're not currently being sued in Australia.

Aussie Internet Laws

[samj]

Interesting someone would choose to base a company like this in Australia... given our track record with Internet censorship, banning porn [hosted down under], forcing gambling overseas (where it does just as much damage, except without our collecting taxes on it), etc.

I'll bet they'll completely ignore the idea that this might actually be a GoodThing[tm] and use it as an excuse to push through more shitty laws.

Anyway it's past my bedtime.

Re:kazaa working fine?

[11thangel]

I had the same thing starting to happen this morning. I can't even create a new account. I don't see a linux download available anymore either...

Napster Mark II

[parliboy]

From the new terms:

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.

Guess someone in the RIAA managed to make a new acquisition, as per the leaked memo.

Okay, new game. Who wants to make acronyms for KAZAA that indicate how f*cked they are?

When...

[J'raxis]

When are people going to realize that if you try to build a business around giving away other peoples work that first youre going to get sued, and if that doesnt work, theyre just going to try and buy you out?

Decentralized, head-less networks like Gnutella or Freenet are, once again, the only way to make sure this doesnt happen. KazaA may have a decentralized network but there still is the one authority distributing the client; if they go down, eventually the network they created will disintegrate. With Gnutella or Freenet, there&#x2019s no one to sue worth their time (individual users?), and no one to buy out at all.

article on webwereld.nl

[leuk_he]

There is an article [dutch] on webwerel.nl:

"According to a monday released press announcement the buyer - Sharman Networks - it is a aboute certain parts of KaZaA. The following company parts are "in ieder geval" involved: The website, name(/trademark), logo's , and a licence on the peer to peer network of fastrack. If the client software is involved is unknown

Futher details are not made public. What amount the from Australia coming Sharman Networdks paid for KaZaA is not clear. According to Nikkki Hemming, CEO of sharman the continuenece of Kazaa is insured. "we think it is fantastic to resume the service of Kazaa and development the tradmark Kazaa"

[sorry for the bad translation, my dutch is better]

rest of article is stuff we already know.
-download suspended.
-talks bumra stemra (riaa)

The Best Country / Law Mix

[Beautyon]

Which country has the best mix of sensible copyright law and robust internet access?

That is where you want to locate a Napster/Kazaa/Morpheus/$whatever; a place where the legislators have better things to do than "fix" imaginary problems, and where everyone from everytwhere can connect fast, every time, 24/7/365.

How long will it be before countries face sanctions for allowing unfettered file sharing from thier soil?

The lobbying pressure will be strong for sanctions, because investors are still putting money into pay for stream/download business plans like Peter Gabriel's OD2

Re:The Best Country / Law Mix

[Anonymous Coward]

First, it is expensive to host on Sealand. The yearly cost for managed co-location is $15,000us.

Second, I doubt that they created it to allow copyright violations. They did it, I suspect, to allow individuals to place data outside of prying government hands. Since they too have ISPs, probably located in the EU, those governments could be persuaded to shutoff internet connectivity to the island if the need should arise.

After all that investment?

[anticypher]

It's only a matter of time until MS becomes based in the Cayman Islands.

Why would they move after investing all that time and money buying all those american politicians, and getting all those pro-microsoft laws passed?

Nope. M$ will stay where they are, this anti-trust thing will be dealt with by a suitcase full of money or the assassination of clueful judges. The bandwidth is too good in the PNW compared to backward tropical islands.

the AC

Re:In related news, Gnutella quadruples overnight

[gorilla]

The proper port ranges for gnutella are 1-65535.

Re:Okay, quick!

[Anonymous Coward]

Australia has a DMCA like law, CDCA or something like that. Australia will bow to pressure from America in a heartbeat, because:

a) It makes our politicians feel like real politicians when they get to speak to foreign diplomats

b) we can't afford to have anything interfere with our beef exports. (Particularly atm as our governments whole basis is to reduce the national debt)