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Australian Court says Kazaa Users Breach Copyright

Posted by Hemos on from the not-surprising-ruling-at-this-point dept.

mferrare writes "This from Reuters UK: An Australian court ruled on Monday that users of Kazaa, a popular internet music file-swapping system, breached music copyright and ordered its owners to modify the software. The music industry told the court that Sharman Network licensed users to access a network it knew was being used for piracy and hence it was authorising people to infringe copyright"

3 of 346 comments (clear)

  1. Freenet needs your support by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting
    While Kazaa is a rather unsympathetic defendant, these rulings against P2P file sharing networks set dangerous precedents with respect to people's freedom to communicate over the Internet. While everyone hopes that political means can be used to resist the erosion of our digital rights, there is a backup plan.

    The Freenet Project is working towards the next major release of the Freenet software, hopefully this side of Christmas. Among the major new features will be:

    • Trusted links, so that only your friends will know that you are part of the network
    • Switch from TCP to UDP to support seamless firewall traversal
    • Complete code rewrite and simplification
    • Support for live broadcast of information, in addition to storage and retrieval (allowing everything from IRC over Freenet to "instant RSS")
    Freenet's goal is to ensure that people have the freedom to share knowledge without fear that someone is looking over their shoulder. Unlike Kazaa, Freenet is a voluntary, non-profit free software project.

    The Freenet project requires $2,300 per month to pay for its full time developer, Matthew Toseland, but currently the project's reserves are very low, so if you can spare it (especially given the more immediate drains on people's generosity), your donation would be much appreciated.

  2. nice call by germ!nation · · Score: 3, Interesting

    so when are car companies going to be told to put limiters on all their cars set to the max speed limit in that country because, you know if they allow me break the law by speeding then obviously i have no choice but to do it.

    1. Re:nice call by ray-auch · · Score: 4, Interesting


      Fairly soon if you believe the news - some systems on trial already (eg. in the uk)

      Plus, the main thrust of the judgement (according to news reports) seems to have been not that the software merely allowed, but that the defendants encouraged/incited the users' behaviour.

      Car companies (at least here) are _already_ banned by advertising regulations from inciting people to speed.