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Kazaa Going to Court

msim writes "According to the The Sydney Morning Herald" Kazaa will be going to court after their appeal to the Federal Court was dismissed. The case will be going ahead on March 23rd"

19 of 252 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Weird by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I know you are being funny, but K++ the good kazaa client without spyware also works great and HAS NOT dropped in useage online.

    basicalyl there is now 2 "kazaa" networks. 1 the official new client and the other the K++ client.

    although dietK has great dll's that replace all the kazaa spyware crud and it will block ad's also.

    doesn't matter antyways...

  2. Kids by kc0re · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I don't use Kazaa. I was one of the kids fined for downloading music off the internet, and guess what, I still am going to do it. In all seriousness.. I don't see how the RIAA can sue everyone, and besides for them to catch users of Kazaa, don't they have to use Kazaa themselves?

  3. Lindows and P2P by mcx101 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Maybe the attitude of companies to P2P will change when they see the commercial advantages like Lindows have

    --
    My operat~1 system unders~1 long filena~1 , does yours?
  4. Fighting in two fronts by GuyMannDude · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Federal Court Justice Murray Wilcox dismissed an application by the world's largest file sharing network to delay proceedings against it until a similar case in the United States was finalised.

    This has got to be kind of tough. So Kazaa has to defend themselves against two recording industry associations simultaneously? I wonder if there was any agreement between the RIAA and the Australian counterpart to hit Kazaa at the same time. Hopefully Kazaa can use some of the work for one case in the other but still that's not too much fun to have to fight a two-front war. That takes resources and I wonder if Kazaa has enough to hold their own.

    GMD

  5. Why not just tax virgin CD's ? by nabetse · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The USA goverment could put a new tax to virgin CD's . This tax goes for the Music industry. As for MP3 players, they should work only in the way the IPOD does with licensed downloads. Cheers! Luck get a free knoppix CD at loadux.com

    1. Re:Why not just tax virgin CD's ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      The music industry already taxes virgin CD's if they are marketed for the purposes of recording audio. That's why "Audio CD-R's" are several dollars more than "Data CD-R's" even though they are identical.

      Of course the problem is, this doesn't go to the artists or the musicians, it goes to the RIAA to fuel their lawsuits. After watching the actions of the music industry, do we really want to give them the fuel?

    2. Re:Why not just tax virgin CD's ? by tanguyr · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Europe (where the history comes from) already has a tax on blank CD's - it doesn't stop the labels and their trade associations from sueing people and putting pos drm on new CD's so that you can rip them in your computer but can't play them in your car.

      As for MP3 players: look at DVD players: Sony makes sleek units that are difficult/expensive to dezone. Meanwhile, whatever country is doing to the koreans what the koreans did to the japanese is exporting zillions of cheap units that you can dezone by holding down a key combo on the remote.

      Err, and the IPod works just fine with mp3's off the net ...

      i think that about handles it? /t

      --
      #!/usr/bin/english
  6. As Pepsi put it... by PeaceTank · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Even if kazaa goes down, there is no way in the world that they are going to eliminate p2p. They live in a world of red tape and formalities. We just find ways to go around the system, and therefore, we're always a step ahead of them. Networks start blocking ports in schools and offices, we simply change the port we get it through (at least that's what we do at our school in our dorms) The RIAA starts tracking p2p transactions, we set up massive networks based on ant behavior (e.g. MUTE p2p). They take down one major p2p client, we'll set up 10 more. I think Pepsi and iTunes got it right in their commericial... "We're going to keep downloading music for free whether you like it or not..."

    1. Re:As Pepsi put it... by garcia · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I think Pepsi and iTunes got it right in their commericial... "We're going to keep downloading music for free whether you like it or not..."

      Too bad that's not what they meant and everyone knows it. Yes, it is true that everyone will find different ways to get around the roadblocks setup. Yes, it is also true that P2P will continue to evolve at a pace where we will be lightyears ahead of the redtape...

      But, is it all worth it? Why not support FREE music? Artists that support the distribution of their stuff without issue? That's the future. Having the musicians realize that the fans love their MUSIC not how much money they can make.

      Check out Sharing the Groove. Do everyone a favor and jump on the bandwagon.

  7. Re:Weird by millahtime · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It's a gnutella network. All the machines connect to each other rather than a central localtion. As long as a central server is up somewhere for a starting point then it will work. I do believe that it is almost impossible to take the gnutella network down.

  8. Re:So... by turnstyle · · Score: 5, Interesting
    "They want to crack down on all this evil P2P stuff but, it CAN be used for legal means. I have a telephone but it doesn't mean I make prank calls all day long."

    Most cases so far have upheld the "don't blame the technology" view, and I would tend to agree.

    However, following your own analogy, do you think that you should be held liable if you did make prank calls all day long?

    --
    Here's what I do: Bitty Browser & Andromeda
  9. If Kazaa goes down, what next? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    If Kazaa is killed by this frivolous lawsuit, what next? What is the best alternative p2p source?

  10. TRIPS by Iplaw-dc · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Does anyone know if Australia is referencing TRIPS (trade-related aspects of intellectual property) in their case?

    --
    Jax
  11. Hum... by dark-br · · Score: 2, Interesting

    do believe that it is almost impossible to take the gnutella network down.

    Many problems have been identified with the legacy Gnutella network. For example there is ample research indicating that it cannot scale or that it uses too much overhead. But perhaps more importantly it lacks a clear set of network standards, which has led to a network of unequal clients and abusive behaviour, to the point that one client can consume 80% of the resources on the entire network!

  12. The Ballad of Kazaa by Eberlin · · Score: 3, Interesting

    A retelling of a story based on memory (which means some 'facts' may actually be wrong)

    Once there was a mighty napster whose technology allowed for swapping files. Due to poor insight, the technology also allowed users to be tracked -- Fanning be damned.

    Along came the peer to peer networks, with gnutella seeming to be the frontrunner. Then came the FastTrack network with Sharman in the back and the mighty Morpheus at the helm due to its ease of use and improved reliability.

    The Kazaa folks (Sharman) did not take kindly to Morpheus apparently not paying their bills or whatnot, and thus cut them off the network. Alarm bells should have immediately rung as anyone who has the power to cut clients off a network clearly cannot be "anonymously" peer-to-peer to begin with.

    Morpheus ran to the gnutella networks, gathering up Gnucleus code and branding it. By branding, of course, I mean the trend in p2p software of installing various products, some of which amount to adware and/or spyware.

    Kazaa touts itself the survivor, gathering up more Morpheus users than either bearshare or limewire or [insert gnutella client here].

    Kazaa seen as the filesharing client for the masses and now holds major scrutiny by the recording industry. More p2p networks pop up promising better anonymity.

    Lather, rinse, repeat.

  13. How the music industry might react by tkarr · · Score: 4, Interesting

    So, if Kazaa loses this... do you really think the music industry is going to get more CD buyers? Probably not. It seems to me that the reason most people even download music from Kazaa is because they want to see what other music is on a CD before they buy it. At least there are a few more alternatives now such as Apple's iTunes or some other internet sites. Maybe if the rest of the music industry would wake up and smell the modern age, there wouldn't have to be things like Kazaa to cause them to panic.

  14. Interesting Coincidence by Iplaw-dc · · Score: 4, Interesting

    On 8 February 2004, in Washington D.C., Trade Minister Mark Vaile concluded an agreed text for the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement with his US counterpart, Trade Representative Bob Zoellick. These means Australia will take on IP standards much like the US.

    --
    Jax
  15. Australian Law? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I'm not sure how Austrailian law works but if a non-police orginazation such as this MIPI decided to raid my business, I would get a bit hostile. Who is giving them this authority to raid bussinesses? Sounds like the RIAA tactics here, but I'm sure they look at the street vendor they are about to raid and make a quick determination if they can do it or not by the size and amount of peolpe the vendors have.

  16. Re:A musicians point of view. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    the real reason the RIAA hates file sharing so much isnt that its costing them cd sales (it isnt)

    its that they can no longer control the tastes of the masses

    if everyone had a choice between listening to bubble-gum pop & actual music... the bubble-gum pop would be gone in a heartbeat.

    unfortunately for the RIAA its a lot more difficult to find a charismatic musician than it is to find a charismatic pair of boobs.

    when musicians are left to be judged only by the quality of their art, 90% of the crap on the radio today will be gone & forgotten.