Kazaa Ruled Legal in The Netherlands

DreamerFi writes "Developers of Kazaa cannot be held liable for the way people use their software, the Dutch Supreme Court has ruled. The dutch version of the RIAA, BUMA Stemra is now expected to start lawsuits against individuals, following the american lead, according to dutch news channels."

Comments

rant time

[grub]

Well d-uh.

Any successful attempt at making code illegal will just turn it into samizdat and speed the adoption of encrypted & anonymous P2P apps (ala FreeNet). It's too bad the recording industry doesn't put as much effort into signing new and original bands as they do fighting to protect their antiquated business model.

Yes, I buy CDs but nothing you'd see on a Top 40 chart, will that make me a criminal one day?

This is the way it should be!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

The dutch version of the RIAA, BUMA Stemra is now expected to start lawsuits against individuals, following the american lead

It's about time some judge realizes that P2P is perfectly legal. If there is illegal activity going on (piracy), then it is up to the authorities/owners to find out who the perps are, and do what they feel is necessary.

Hopefully, if these RIAA-led anti-piracy campaigns are successful, it will be more ammo against the DMCA. After all, why would that unconstitutional law be necessary if they have a more effective means of enforcing their copyrights?

Re:Didn't work in the US..

[Anonymous Coward]

Because it's not the US - it's liberal Europe, with a different mindset. We've outgrown our empire building, and can relax with legal drugs, euthanasia, same-sex marriage, far fewer problems with racism, pornography etc. A far cry from the uptight US.

Ok....

[JawFunk]

If the KaZaa software itself is legal is the smaller battle. The BUMA can still sue people the way the RIAA does in the US for downloading copyrighted music files. So far, suing has been the main repercussion from KaZaa and file sharing. Once a court upholds that I cannot be sued for downloading such files, be it using direct connect, gnutella, KaZaa, then we'll have gotten to the next step. Until, then, I definately approve of this courts decision.

Let's say I use Quickbooks to bookkeep an illegal betting service at my school. Is someone going to sue Quicken Software (or whoever the mfg is) for my use of their software. NO! If anythingthey should allow programmers and designers to learn from the program and develop new ideas on future software. The fact the KaZaa had to be established on the Island of Vanuatu, where corporate laws are far different form US or other westernized economies is ridiculous! Let business flourish! As Adam Sith would say: "laissez faire!"

The Dutch are right

[fruey]

No point making software illegal. The concept is out there, and not so hard to implement, so stopping Kazaa is just like taking a cup of water out of the sea and hoping that you'll stop the tides.

So kudos to the court, who are dead right. Kazaa should not be a special case and made illegal, just like video recorders, DVD burners, CD burners, cassette recorders, MP3 player/recorders, codecs, etc etc. The music industry reply is that the files could easily be filtered to stop copyrighted material from being shared. I beg to know how they propose to find out from an MP3 file whether it is copyrighted; the "copyright" bit in the files is removeable so that's not a solution is it?

sigh... you know kazaa should be guilty right?

[Anonymous Coward]

They blatently prodice a place/means for people to illegally share copyrighted material. this is its major purpose, and the kazaa developers know that.

If you know about a crime, and you don't do anything about it (or at least try to) you are breaking the law in many places. The fact that Kazaa has not ever tried to limit the music swapping is proof that they should be found guilty of at least neglegence.

Just because you provide a warhouse where people can trade goods, if the goods are mostly stolen property, and you know that, you are in deep shit.

I'm posting AC because this will likely get modded down, but this is the way it is people.

Re:Yes!

[mopslik]

That's already happened.

blame gun manufacturers

New York Sues Gun Makers

blame car manufacturers

Car manufacturers, dealers and mechanics are sued for consequences of breakdowns

blame alcohol manufacturers

Bourbon Drinker Sues For Son's Birth Defects

Not Another Penny From Me

[Schlemphfer]

I think the main thing I've learned by following the RIAA and associated international bodies over the past few years is that what we have here is essentially a cartel, that will do everything possible to keep its outdated business model intact.

I wish back in high school that I could have known that, when I was buying records, I was providing the bands I liked with almost no financial support. More than 95% of my purchase price was going straight to one of the most corrupt industries on the planet.

I'm not at all surprised to hear that the Netherlands' version of the RIAA is now going after individual users. The industry has clearly decided that the threat of litigation is about the only thing that's going to keep people buying CD's.

Except for one tiny thing. In the process of trying to scare people, they've made people like me their lifelong enemies. Now, where music is concerned, I have only two ambitions: one is to give the artists I like as much support as possible. And the other is to not give another penny of my money to RIAA labels. Quite simply, the RIAA has a completely different vision of the future than that of music lovers. They want to keep themselves as the middlemen in perpetuity, despite the fact that technology has the potential for making major labels irrelevant.

That's one reason why, as much as I love the iTunes radio store, I would never purchase an album from there that was produced by an RIAA affiliated label.

What people disgusted by RIAA actions need to do is to work hard to educate the public about why the industry does not deserve our support. Music lovers ought to be doing everything possible to starve out the RIAA affiliated labels, and to channel as much of their entertainment dollar directly to artists. And we should especially support artists who are wise enough to help us in this task -- artists who sign with magnatune, or who have a website set up so that they keep the bulk of every purchasing dollar.

Re:Ok but seriously...

[JaredOfEuropa]

Most stuff that Holland is famed for is indeed illegal: they adopted a stance of decriminalising which is, quite frankly, the best way to go. You still can't deal massive quantities of dope or run prostitution scams involving pimping and extortion. The laws are just relaxed at a small time level and for people who pay their taxes on products and services that they buy.

Decriminalising is exactly what they did not do! Holland is famous for our "gedoogbeleid", which means "the policy of turning a blind eye". most of the stuff we are famous for is still illegal; these law are simply not enforced. While I think taking small-time dealing and usage of soft drugs out of the arena of criminals is a good thing, I do not think that not enforcing the laws is the way to do it. Either something is illegal or it isn't. Make the laws accordingly.

Why? Because many of these issues are fundamental questions that should be answered by parliament. As things stand now, these issues are handled on a local level ie. by municipal governments, since they simply can choose to enforce (or not enforce) these laws. The "gedoogbeleid" gives them that power.