The Kazaa case concludes

[method77]

p2pnet News:- Yawn … 8.30 in the morning … double yawn … didn’t really want to be here. Sydney was blowing a gust and the rain was pounding down. It was March but you would’ve thought it was July (that’s winter for those who are planning a summer holiday in Oz).

Check out this exchange from the bar table:

Lawyer 1 “what are we going to do after this week”

Lawyer 2 “oh it’s alright – we can still send each other abusive letters” (and charge our clients for it – 2nd draft note)

Lawyer 1 “oh I stopped doing that last year” (yeah right – 2nd draft note)

Lawyer 2 “got to admire the judge’s ability to plough through the evidence and move forwards”

Anyway, the judge turned up half an hour late - at just before 9 am. Something about the traffic (Sydney residents will understand). The final day of the case starts and as the clock strikes 9am, the Federal Court tests its fire alarms – all of its alarms. The test is met with good humour – well mostly good humour!

It was that sort of a day – after 13 months of hearings and an estimated $8 million of expenditure by each of the sides it was a welcome end to the process. And what have we learned?

Here are some of the ideas put forward…

From the recording industry:

Internet piracy is a substantial problem and the recording industry has the right to protect their copyright.

The recording industry will exercise that right to protect their copyright – no matter what the cost, and no matter where they are (there was a senior IFPI executive in the Federal Court and IFPI, who are the parents of ARIA and RIAA, have taken a very active role in worldwide anti-piracy actions).

In the recording industry’s view, copyright is important, but they also view downloading as theft, or simple larceny, and in their view the technology involved is a less significant factor – the existence of the theft is more important than the means of the theft.

The recording industry will focus on businesses, business plans and will do everything in their power to follow the money if they think the money has an illicit source.

From the judiciary:

They can and will handle complex cases involving the internet, new technology and new business models.

Where possible, the judiciary will try to keep the parties to a strict timetable – although in practice it doesn’t always work!

From the respondents:

Kazaa involves more than individuals downloading “hit” music from major labels – it is about legitimate non-infringing usage. Kazaa is about free international phone calls, the sharing of information in a world-wide community, and other non-music related activities.

Kazaa is about independent labels selling music. For example, Altnet has deals in place with V2, Artemis and other labels, so consumers can buy music from Moby, Stereophonics and other recording artists. Other indies chose to give away their music – they know much more money can be made from a loyal live following! (Jerry we’re thinking of you, we miss you, wherever you are!)

Kazaa is about personal choice. In the same way as someone can photocopy something legally or photocopy an entire copyright protected book, Kazaa users can chose what they wish to share – but that is their choice, and Sharman can’t control that decision or filter the results if that decision is a “wrong” decision.

Kazaa is about developing and promoting new technology and providing opportunities for artists and the recording industry. The technology is about making the pie larger, not about taking a larger slice of the pie. (reminds me – pizza time! – 2nd draft note)

From the media:

Mainstream media can and will get it right, but they will also get it wrong – no disrespect to them. At least there's the power of the blog!

Finally – we have seen a big increase in our internet bibliography – spoofing, Fast Track, supernode, blue/gold icons, GUI, KMD, TopSearch, filters, IP address, port number, and Contenthash (who are apparently a hot new indie band from Fort Wayne) … you have to love it when lawyers talk IT!

I think I’ll go to onto the internet now – maybe I can download that Federal Court fire alarm! A permanent reminder of the good times!

[KiwiCoromandel]

Kazaa 'built on piracy'

Sydney

March 23, 2005

When the music stops

The internet file-sharing service Kazaa was not akin to community radio and there was no "bill of rights" giving the community a voice because it was built on piracy, the Federal Court has heard.

Tony Bannon, SC, for the music industry, said people could set up their own websites to say what they wanted to say, or express their voice on Google or BigPond. They did not need to do it on Kazaa, which was a commercial operation, not a community service. "You can't let the tail wag the dog," he said.

He was responding to a submission by the Australian Consumers' Association, Electronic Frontiers Australia and the NSW Civil Liberties Council, which argued a broader public interest in the music piracy case.

The music industry has asked the court to shut down Kazaa in its current form. It also wants the court to block any swapping of MP3 files on future Kazaa versions, filtering of songs and titles to be imposed, and the activity of Kazaa users to be monitored.

Consumer groups have argued the privacy of users may be at risk.

Read more......

http://smh.com.au/news/Breaking/Kazaa-buil...1525205604.html

[KiwiCoromandel]

When the music stops

March 23, 2005

A shadow is following Kevin Bermeister. He can't see his pursuer, but he knows someone is there. Half-walking, half-running from the Queen Square court district towards Martin Place, Bermeister scans Phillip Street's reflection in shop windows.

Sensing something, he stops and changes direction.

Bermeister is used to the feeling. He has been tailed, photographed and filmed by private investigators for a year. The Sydney entrepreneur is No.1 with a bullet on the global music industry's hit list, and their investigators never let him out of their sight - whether in the street or at his $8 million Vaucluse home. A video of one such cat-and-mouse game was viewed by the Herald.

On this occasion a music industry investigator is following him with a video camera hidden in the strap of a backpack. The investigator has followed Bermeister out of a courtroom where music industry barristers are attacking the internet song-swapping program Kazaa, which is linked to several Bermeister-associated companies.

This week the music industry's long-running lawsuit against Kazaa - which it blames for the illegal online copying of millions of pop songs - is winding up in a federal courtroom in Sydney.

The case has been closely watched around the world: "Kazaa assets frozen in Australia" (Wired magazine, March 4); "Australian labels sue Kazaa owner" (BBC, November 29); "Kazaa offices raided in Australia" (The Washington Post, February 7 last year).

Just as the industry stomped on Napster - the 1990s song-swapping dot com that famously drew the ire of heavy metal band Metallica - it hopes to kill off Kazaa.

Kazaa has become the most popular software program in history with more than 300 million downloads. Although competing programs have taken away some market share in recent years, Kazaa still boasts 60 million "customers" who trade 3 billion files - songs, television programs, games, anything digital - every month.

Read on..............

http://smh.com.au/news/Breaking/When-the-m...1525205259.html