U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson has given record companies and movie studios the go-ahead to sue Sharman Networks Ltd., the parent company of Kazaa, a popular online file-swapping service. Wilson refused to dismiss a copyright infringement against the company because it has substantial business dealing in California and its actions are alleged to contribute to commercial piracy within the United States. Sharman Networks agued that it could not be sued in the U.S. because it is based in Australia and incorporated in the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu. The record companies and movie studios maintain that Kazaa provides free access to copyrighted music and films to about 21 million U.S. users.
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(via The Associated Press)
{ 71 comments }
if i down loaded kazaa on to my computer and down load songs off of it would i get sued
It seems that most of the people getting sued as of July 2003 are people who are sharing out a lot of music. This means people who are downloading a lot and not moving the information from the shared library are at a great risk of being sued.
Hi,
Is Kazaa legal? Please sent informations about this at crbradshaw4@hotmail.com Thanbk you,
Clinton Bradshaw
i wouldnt recommend you download kazaa either way. its not a good p2p sharing program, due to the fact that it installs so much ad/spyware, when it claims it does not. and you wont get sued by downloading, but if youre caught, youre busted.
whats up with all the law suites ??
should i reformat my hard drive ?? and dump all my files
I personally am sickened that record companies are backing the law suits put forth onto their own customers. I for one am so mad I will NEVER buy another CD from any record company ever again. Lets see how much income they lose when thousands of people just plum stop buying music. A 12 year old being sued for downloading music? It seems irrational to me. I don’t download copyrighted music to begin with, but I do use kazaa sometimes. Anyway, what are everyone’s reactions to what I have just posted?
What are the consequences for downloading material on kazaa if it is copywrited – how do you know what is and what is not copywrited?
Kazza is not legal. Over 300 people have been fined in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. I want to find a legal altirnative but don’t know where to look.
i beleive this is crazy for the whole economy cause what happens is we the people download the music to see if we like it then most of us tend to go buy the cd’s from the artist. i say to boycot MUSIC CD’s from all record companys in the us to fix this problem
we must do something , and stand up for ourselves….
i think this whole thing is ridiculous either way u look at it.. a 12 year old bein sued, rish spoiled singers cryin cuz we try music out before we buy it, there hundreds of things on the net that are way more illegal then this that dont get any attention payed to them… as long as there is p2p sharing software then i think everyone will be sharing. its no different if i burn my neighbor a cd and thats legal, this is just on a bigger scale, but none the less the same thing. as long as we dont profit from it, it is not illegal!!!
Sorry if I sound like an ass here, but sueing people because they download YOUR music is a bunch of bull. You don’t want us to have your music? Fine! But just know, if I don’t hear songs off kazaa, I am not going to bother buying cd’s. Kazaa also allows you to hear a new song, to see if it any good. Should I buy the cd from a store, burn it, and return it the next day? No, so why the hell would I bother buying something I haven’t heard. I say all of you people sueing, (artist, etc.), go find a nice cold place to lie down for the rest of your life, because sueing you CUSTOMERS is a BAAAAD move!
1st things 1st! the companys that should be sued are companys that create cdrw and dvd rw! there the companies which allow people to copy the cd in the first place!! and I also agree with the above that suing a CUSTOMER Is a very bad move indeed! RECORD COMPANIES NEED CUSTOMERS!! If you continue to threaten them with legal action who is going to suffer in the long run?!?! THE RECORD COMPANY!
Many people download songs off of Kazaa, like me. When we downloaded Kazaa, it said it was free, mostly because of all the adds and sponsors, and that it is 100% legal. How were we supposed to know that this company is illegally putting out copyrighted material for all of us to download, not knowing that it was illegal! And that’s why we shouldn’t get sued for thousands of dollars for downloading music that we had no idea was illegal. If anyone gets sued it should be Sharman Networks, Ltd. and only them! THIS IS THE WORST FUCKING SCAM EVER TO GET MONEY BACK INTO THE ECONOMY! there are over 20 million people with Kazaa!
hi could any one tell me if kazza lite is affected by this and if anybody sharing files outside of the U.S can be prosecuted
This whole thing really bitesI just signed up for a free “trial” of 100 free songs on “Emusic”—-and it is TERRIBLE—they have no new artists, and the artists they do have are from the 50s. k–a little exaggeration, but you get the point! THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE TO P2Pi am not averse to buying the CD, but I refuse to buy a CD for one song. as was stated before, they have succeeded in making me mad, and I now I really am not going to buy their music cuz the only way i would have is if i could have downloaded it first to see if i liked the song. period. one last hurrah as we watch the death of good music. Forget it–I have found a lot of great new artists on MP3.com.
hi,
i am or used to be a kazaa user. That sue thing that the music company has going on is bull. i am a under 21 but i used to donwload a lot of things. i uninstalled asap when i heard about the lawsuits. i also deleted every song i had from kazaa.
What happens if you dont live in the US? im guessin you can’t be sued since its an americain law suit and the company itself (kazaa) is australian owned… its just plain Americain corporation Greed
i cant believe this horse shit i mean if Micheal Jackson can rape little kids and O.J. can get away with murder why can’t we Download music and then buy the damn CD or should i go buy the CD burn the damn thing then return it the next day!! or should i just borrow a CD and burn it then give it back to whoever i borrowed it from?!?! This is outrages i mean really do singers need more money? does the government need to scam money out of us?? i mean 12 year old kids gettin sued is retarded how are they supposed to know?!?!? i mean damn!! im pissed about this!! we should protest dont buy another CD then watch how much money the singers lose then!! those hog rich bastards the government i think is working with Kazaa to scam we the people out of money plz respond to me at link_wall2007_420@yahoo.com Kazaa was the best thing that happened to the music world and they have taken it away!!!!
I think that KaZaa should still be excepted …. I mean, I would never buy something without hearing it FIRST !!!!!
People, why are we putting up with this in our country? We are the people that can take this country over again. Let’s do it. It’s slipping away. Let’s all get involved in a class action lawsuit against the RIAA and every other organization that is striping our rights. We have to act now before it’s too late! Get involved! Can’t you see that we are all giving up our rights to become global partners in this world? People, we are losing our rights! Stand up before it’s too late to turn back. If this country falls, the whole world will also and you will not get to see your kids grow up as adults! Can’t you see that the lawyers are destroying this country? They are out for their own benefit and not yours! And we the people are letting them turn this country upside down. We are under attack by the powers in the government and by other nations that want us to fall.
This looks like a good case the ACLU. I don’t agree with what they stand for but it’s time they get involved with a case that is for the people and not their own agenda.
Sharing music over the Internet for NO CHARGE is not any different than me listing to my satellite digital quality music channels and recording it then converting to MP3’s so I can listen to it when my computer is on or on my MP3 player. What is the difference whether I download it or record it myself? I’m still going to have it and listen to it and I’m going to find ways to get the songs for free. If I like it, I will be the first in line at the department store to purchase it.
Is it illegal to dig up all of my old tapes and albums and digitize the songs so I can put them on a CD or the Internet so that others may hear the songs and go and buy these albums? It’s all advertising for the music industry. Without us, the music industry will fall.
The problem starts when you burn CD’s from the free songs and try to sale them. Now you are talking about a profit for information you didn’t pay for. If you are doing this, then you are for sure violating the pirating laws for copy written music. There is now a tangible method to calculate loses in profit for you collecting money for the songs. But for free…
How can you put a price on a 10 or 11-year-old kid? They don’t understand that they are doing anything wrong.
The only way that the RIAA can solve this enormous problem, so they say, is by finding a way to corner this market. Look at all the potential customers of your music. Why do you want to slap them in the face? The RIAA should be working and making agreements with these companies for profit. Competition will root out this sort of behavior.
Face it RIAA, MP3 music is here to stay. The digital divide is here. You are not going to change it. Wake up RIAA and find a way to make a buck from these music lovers. You and your lawyers are not the police for this country. Spend your time creating competition on the Internet and compete with these companies. Flood the market with cheap good music that is higher quality than MP3’s. We are all looking for music we can sample to see if we like it. That’s what we do for any software demo we download on the Internet. If we are impressed with the software, we buy it.
RIAA along with the music industry, you are so far behind the times it’s not funny and you are not going to solve this problem like this.
RIAA needs to get a clue!
Its like this,now listen very carefully,
When I listen to music on Kazaa and download it onto a CD that I can listen to in my car. If I like the music I’ve copied,I usually end up driving to the music store to buy the whole album and keep it for myself. Think of all the people I just made happy by doing that.
Big Hint????? It has something to do with GLOBALIZATION!
I recommend that you download kazaa lite it is a hacked version of the program and it has no spy ware. You will not get sued for downloading music because for anyone to find out that u are doing so would have to break privacy laws in order to get into your computer…..only if u download from a place like a school or work they can pass on the fines to you as an indervidual…………so feel freee to do it in your own home!!!! peace out
Everyone chill a bit.
You will not get sued if you have good firewall and anti-virus software installed on your PC. You can custom configure your PC while on KAZAA to block any communications you want. This includes blocking all spyware or ad software. Install what ever version of KAZAA you want and filter the traffic by using your firewall. Trust me, no one can get on your system and your IP address is hidden from the world also.
The way that the RIAA gets on your computer to see if you have MP3’s is by first tracking down your IP address and username of KAZAA and then hacking into your system to look for MP3s.
Folks, that’s illegal as is!
They then proceed to install spyware software that allows them to scan you hard disk and look for downloaded MP3 files.
Firewall software stops all of this dead in its tracks.
Another cheaper option could be that if you are running Windows 2000 or XP, then disable the “Server” service under “My Computer/Manage” option. Scroll down to the services and look for this service and disable it. That stops any and all sharing of devices such as disk drives and CD ROMs. No one can scan your system using the vunerabilites of Windows after that.
So chill out a bit, this action from the RIAA will not stop this so hold strong to what you got!
I think that this whole thing with Kazaa and all that is so stupid. I used to download from Kazaa, but know i don’t because I don’t have any money to pay if I get sued for sampling songs. I could just borrow my friends CD and copy the whole thing, and no one would be any little bit the wiser. I think that the whole music industry people should wisen up. I bet that half of them use Kazaa anyways. I wonder if the suing affects anyone in different countries? I want to know. Does anyone know what those big shot’s e-mails are? Thanks ya’ll
i don’t care what kind of firewall or proxy service and virus scanners you’re running… you’re never complete safe from being busted. theres no such thing as being completely anonymous when you’re online. as far as artists not wanting their music downloaded… i can understand they need to make money, personaly i’d rather have my song be the most downloaded song on the internet though than have the most sold CD… people downloading your art just means your shit rocks!
All I can say is the artists and lawyers are crooks. Suing the ones that keep you in business is all wrong. I believe those being suied should take action against the people who build computers, cd burners, dvd burners, and all the software vendors who make this happen.
Biting the hand that feeds you is wrong and will come back to haunt you in the future…
26 oct 2003 – Steve
I say the hell with the RIAA. I have been downloading music off Kazaa for 3 years now. Out of no where they are suing people. I think it is rediculous its people like britney spears who just want more money ,but already have more than they could possibly need and ever use. I think im going to go download some songs.
I think it’s fun to download songs for free! Why would I go out and buy the songs before I listen to them first. The radio doesn’t give enough airtime for the songs. I don’t see any difference between the radio and Kazaa and for that, I think I will download a few more for the road!!! Take that RIAA!!!!
I believe kazaa should not be sued because of money hungry artists, music should be made for the fans, not for the money. Furthermore, I think kazaa is a great idea for distributing music to new fans. I download music to find new bands and check out band albums. I’m a big music collector and have bought many cd’s, so i think it helps artists if anything. Besides, downloaded music doesn’t have near the same quality as a cd, and is great for testing out new music. Money hungry artists – SHUT UP AND STOP WHINING.
Even if they end kazaa like they did with nabster someone will make a new one so dont bother. And why would i pay for music when i can get it for free???
Ok folks, i am getting sued. what do i do now?
jeannie: go to http://www.eff.org/ and contact them to find out who is offering assistance.
hey there everyone, i have read all ur comments and i agree completely. I think we should all boycott the companies who are backing up the law suit. That way they can see that kaaza is not riping them of, but helping them. If any one agrees with me email me so we can talk. I really think this is all bullshit. Damm RIAA!! This will haunt you in the end just watch.
I have a comment which i like to say. Kazaa is the greatest. I have downloaded songs by bands tat i really liked. I find out everything about that band/artist. then i start telling my friends about that band and then they look at it and then so on and so on. In that so on and so on process someone must go to the store and buy atleast ONE copy of it. Some bands dont even get noticed but Kazaa helps them get noticed. KAZAA SHOULD STAY…
why do people have to keep paying for the fat cat artists lifestle im into good music not the big headed pompous pop stars kazaa should be allowed esp kazaa lite! down with the music industry!
im ready to down load music
For the record, a firewall does not protect you from getting sued. The RIAA gets your IP address and then contacts your ISP. The ISP is now required to tell the RIAA which users was using that IP at that particular time. I know this is correct, I work for an ISP and have seen the letters from the RIAA. I am just don’t want people to think a firewall will protect you from being sued.
will i get sue if i download from kazaa n fuck the artis shit that want more money how about stick it up ur azz bitch……….
i have always used kazaa to download the songs that are still underground, ie: Atmosphere, tech nine etc. I dont care for the popular music, but stuff like these underground you have to travel all across USA to buy it.. i would rather stick with kazaa and get the band known 100x easier.. my $0.02
I think KaZaA is a program which steals from the rich and gives to the poor.
yes english siongs people will hhaunt u so i wouldnt use kaaza
listen while i sympathize with all you scrubs stealing music, i have to side with the record companies and the hard working artists. these ppl are just doing a job as you do. so lets pay them millions and drive on. also on a positive note as long as we download music and do not share it we wont be prosecuted.
~~~ thats what i do. shhh dont tell the artists. sincerely RIAA DIRECTOR.
kazaa is gay and so are you
I think the goverment should think does it whants to make the united states crumble down and lose provit aand anothere thing im 14 years old my friend told me about kazza said it was the best place but two days later he gets caught using kazza and i got scared so i deleted kazza istanly and i never got to use it again so i think we should all rebel and not buy a single thing so the companys will fall and then the goverment will have too ley kazza legal
i think any one making music just for money isnt making anything but crap kazza is giving art back to the people art should be about expresion not big buissness
yo
I Think Sharing should be aloud if the company gives permisson, but I do NOT agree with Kazza…
They are a basis of Many malware, spyware, and virus sources, and know damn-well.
Kazza should be fined, not some 12 yr old for 500 k…
i just want to listen to music without changeing cds every song. I would pay a small fee as long as i can get to download songs. I want to do it legally because i recieved a bug in my computer that was from illegal download and it sucked. It messed up my entire computer and i am just now getting it fixed so if anyone knows a good legal music download site please contact me
look, the way i see it, i mean sure it sounds crazy to fine people for downloading music, but when you really think about it, what you’re really doing is just stealing, never mind hurting the economy and all of that other stuff. i mean, if you can justify this, than what about shoplifting? it’s no different just because it’s so popular. so the next time you log on to limewire or kazaa, just picture yourself walking into a department store. and every song you download is a pair of shoes, a shirt, or a pair of pants that you decide to just walk out with, not paying.
Kazaa was supposed to be created so that people can preview songs to which they can decided it they like the song enough to buy it. The deal was that you had to delete the song on your computer striaght away though, but that’s dodgey. I agree KaZaA is illegal, but they really have to set somd guide lines so that uneducated KaZaA users etc understand what they are getting themselves into.
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