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.

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.

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?

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:In related news, Gnutella quadruples overnight

[gorilla]

The proper port ranges for gnutella are 1-65535.