Kazaa Trial In Australia Underway

wadiwood writes "Five record companies are suing the makers of Kazaa. Sharman (moved to vanuatu in Feb 2004) say they are not responsible for what their users do with the software. Personally I don't get what Sony is doing selling MP3 players for all your "favourite tunes" and then selling music which they say you are not allowed to copy to their MP3 players, but that's another story."

Comments

I tried Kazaa, too

[Anonymous Coward]

A while back. Seemed kinda buggy, so I deleted it. I'm sure Australia will do the same.

The boot

[k4_pacific]

As I understand it, a common punishment for criminal offences in Australia is to be kicked with a large boot. Can anyone in the know enlighten me as to whether this is also done in a civil trial? If Kazaa wins, do they get to boot the execs of the record companies? Their lawyers? The artists?

Re:The boot

[bm17]

This is just another example of the american media spreading lies and mistruths about foreign cultures. They use a normal sized boot.

Did you get permission to use that link?

[Bazzargh]

6. Linking to Sony Sites
You must not link to any Sony Site without first obtaining the prior written consent of Sony and such consent must be signed by Sony's Director of Business Affairs to be valid.

(to which I say: ok, lets wipe you off the face of the internet)...Oh shit now I've done it too: 2...no part of the content of this site may be reproduced in any form without the written consent of Sony...

In other words:

[Pxtl]

KaZaa is about to get voted off the island.

sorry.

Re:"I don't get what Sony is doing..."

[Anita Coney]

Yeah, only in America is it legal to copy music but illegal to hold down the shift key!

Did you get permission?

[Anonymous Coward]

According to that Sony site you point us to, you're not allow to point us to their site without their permission... You did get that before you /.'d them eh?

Well, if not, then let me join in on the fun! Nothing like a good ole' DDoS

Only if you know its there

[Anonymous Coward]

If I use a piece of software and it rips it into an MP3, I haven't circumvented any DRM. Maybe the software did, but I don't know anything about DRM, circumvention or any of that fancy tecnical junk. I just want to use my iPod, your honor.

Case dismissed.

Sony AU Site /.'ed

[frank249]

Sony Australia apologises for this interruption in service.

Our servers are currently performing a maintenance function(after melting down) and are temporarily unavailable.

This service outage is not anticipated to take long
and the site should be available within 30 minutes.

Re:"I don't get what Sony is doing..."

[Anita Coney]

So essentially, it's legal for you to buy it but illegal for you to use it. Interesting. I'm really surprised I didn't hear that Kafka won the election!

In Other News

[AnalogDiehard]

The RIAA is suing Sears Craftsman claiming that their crowbars can be used to break open the doors of brick-and-mortar CD stores. The crowbars are blamed for heavy losses in CD sales although no proof has surfaced to support their claims.

This just in... the President signed into law the latest anti-piracy bill banning the sale of Sharpie pens. With puppet strings visible the President remarked "Piracy of entertainment is a terrorist threat to our nation and must be confronted with swift decisive action" although his southern twang was curiously replaced with a heavy Austrian accent. The bill also retroactively forces all computer keyboards to have their shift keys removed.

...Another one from the wire... The MPAA has completed their assimulation of DVD and camcorder production lifeforms to "improve quality of life by ridding the universe of region free players and rogue movie theater pirates." The MPAA spokesborg reiterated their mission statement: "Resistance is futile. All your base are belong to us."

Industry-standard Browser

[Lord Byron II]

The Sony agreement also requires the use of an "industry-standard browser". Sorry, IE users, you'll need Firefox to use their service.

Share Media

[rice_burners_suck]

I'm going to open up a huge company. Using billions of investor dollars, I am going to buy all the record labels, all the music companies, all the studios and movie companies... In other words, all the content providers. I'll sell off all the portions of these companies that I don't need for my scheme.

Then, I'll turn all of these into a new company. I'll call it "Share Media." This company will do three things:

1. It will provide content. Music. Movies. Books. Software. All of these products will bear the "Share Media" name.
2. It will provide technology to copy that content. MP3 players. CD and DVD recorders. Ripping and burning software. Filesharing software. All of these products will bear the "Share Media" name.
3. It will litigate piracy cases. People who buy Share Media media and then share it through products made by Share Media will be sued for piracy.

This will provide a good way for Share Media to make huge profits. Basically, people will buy our media, be encouraged to share it through the means we provide, and then we'll sue them for it.

So I've finally figured it out!!!

1. Invent something.
2. Invent a way for people to share it.
3. ??? (Sue people for sharing it.)
4. Profit!!!

Yup. That's Sony.