WinMX Suspends Operations

An anonymous reader writes "Slyck.com is reporting that it appears the WinMX network has shut down its operations in response to the RIAA's letters threating legal action. Although the WinMX network is currently down, this may only be temporary as developers seem to have relocated from Canada to Port Villa, Vanuatu."

Comments

Tax haven? Not for long.....

[CDMA_Demo]

Sure it is very interesting. But I wonder what will happen if every p2p company takes refuge in Vanuatu. The laws specifically prohibit pornography and don't even think about applying if you've got money laundering on your mind. U.S. can easily pressurize a country of the size of Republic of Vanuatu to extend their laws to prohibit sharing copyright work!

Re:Tax haven? Not for long.....

[Alsee]

if every p2p company takes refuge in Vanuatu...
extend their laws to prohibit sharing copyright work!

First of all you are making the FALSE assumption that P2P companies are sharing copyrighted works. P2P software companies no more "share copyrighted works" than E-mail software companies "share copyrighted works". In fact e-mail software is one of the original forms of P2P software.

Secondly, aside from the extensive body of copyright free materials, you are making a blanket assumption that sharing copyrighted works is inherently improper. There is also an extensive body of copyrighted works that are authorized for unrestricted or conditional distribution. If you want to complain about people who commit copyright infringment, well ok fine. However these companies are not commiting copyright infringment.

P2P software - including EMAIL - can be used to send or receive anything. E-mail and FTP and webserver software are all explicitly designed to distribute files. Software authors and software publishers should not be under assault.

-

United Nations of RIAA

[spyrochaete]

I used WinMX for a while, as it was much more featureful than the crappy Napster client of old and the subscribership was outstanding. I don't seem to remember any feature or message in WinMX that helped users pirate music. It's true that some people used the software to trade music, but there is absolutely no proof that the program was designed for that purpose. I don't know why they took the network down. It is a simple P2P file sharing utility and nothing more.

Furthermore, WinMX is freeware. I presume the author made no money from it. Regardless, why is the RIAA challenging this poor guy on the grounds that he has broken another country's laws?

Re:You have to catch them first.

[MightyMartian]

If they obfuscate their identity, and if the foreign country won't cooperate, then good luck prosecuting them.

"We have every reason to believe that this tiny island country is harboring terrorist agents of Al-qaeda, and is developing weapons of mass destruction to threaten its neighbors with."

Re:Pertinent Links:

[shark72]

"It should be especially hilighted that Kazaa has already moved to Vanuatu, so the island clearly has decent internet connectivity in place already."

Just to be clear... that's where Sharman Networks is headquartered for tax purposes. They don't have servers there. There are probably a dozen outfits on Vanuatu that'll set up a PO box for you and forward your mail.

Running afoul of the Berne Convention or local copyright laws was probably never a reason for Sharman's setting up in Vanuatu -- you can generally be nailed in any country in which you do business, regardless of the address printed on your articles of incorporation.

Re:As a Vanuatu-based geek...THEN HELP US

[Nom du Keyboard]

Second, the information on wikipedia.org is far from complete - and in some cases, inaccurate.

Then help us out and update the Wikipedia. That's what the whole thing is all about!