Kazaa hit by file-sharing ruling
Found on News BBC on Sunday, 04 September 2005
An Australian court has ruled that the popular file-swapping program Kazaa urged its users to breach copyright.
The Federal Court ordered Kazaa's owners, Sharman Networks, to modify the software to prevent further piracy.
Although the ruling is only enforceable in Australia, the record industry has hailed it as a victory that would resonate around the world.
Kazaa's owners were ordered to modify the software within two months to include filters designed to stop the sharing of copyright material.
"The court has ruled the current Kazaa system illegal," said record industry spokesman Michael Speck said outside the court.
Now that they have a scapegoat, the industry will try to squeeze every dollar out of Kazaa. Why not simply just go bankrupt in Australia, and start in a better place? Or retire and release the sourcecode. Kazaa became useless long ago, so they caught a dying product. Anyway, if this ruling is correct and fair, then it should be applied to others as well; in my opinion, companies like Smith & Wesson or Lockheed-Martin support murder and genocide. On the other hand, they don't infringe copyright; so I guess killing people isn't that bad after all.