"KАZAA" со лисици

Kazaa Settles Copyright Action Kazaa settles its copyright infringement action brought against it by various music and video trade entities for over $100 million dollars in penalties. Kazaa had been found liable by Australian courts for copyright infringement through its file sharing arrangement. Kazaa says they will block members from sharing infringing files and will seek to become a partner in legitimate digital file distribution. Kazaa said that once the transition is complete, it looks forward to being marginalized as an exciting new legal distribution service since it is neither Apple nor Microsoft as a content provider or market leader. Sorry, made that last one up. One question, however. Will Kazaa legal downloads still come with spyware? If so, they can potentially partner with Sony BMG. The company that runs Kazaa, the immensely popular peer-to-peer sharing network, agreed today in an out-of-court settlement to pay compensation to music and movie companies and also to introduce filtering technologies that deter consumers from infringing on copyright rules. The far-reaching settlement announced by Sharman Networks seeks to regulate the vast digital marketplace for music and ensure that millions of Kazaa's on-line audience will no longer be able to distribute and share files that infringe on copyrights. A statement by the trade organizations representing international and American recording industries claimed that Kazaa's activities had damaged the music industry immensely and hurt their legitimate digital business growth. It also stated that at its peak, Kazaa had 4.2 million users worldwide and in May 2003 its owners said it had 239 million downloads, the most at that time for any software. Kazaa's Web site called it a "historic turning point" for both the technology and content industries and said it would "clear the way to enable distribution of the broadest range of licensed content over Kazaa." "This settlement marks the dawn of a new age of cooperation between [peer-to-peer] technology and content industries which will promise an exciting future for online distribution in general and Kazaa users in particular," said Nikki Hemming, chief executive of Sharman Networks, which is headquartered in Sydney, Australia. According to the Associated Press, Kazaa has agreed to pay more than $115 million in penalties to leading music and movie companies and has promised to redesign its program to block customers who try to find and download copyrighted music and movies. Kazaa's popularity declined in recent years because of concern over "spyware" monitoring programs and the emergence of more efficient downloading services, said the news agency. A recent report by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), "Protecting Creativity in Music" reports on a number of unauthorized services in the digital music market that have put an end to their copyright-infringing activities and shifted to legitimacy -- including Grokster, iMesh and Bearshare in the United States, Ezpeer in Taiwan, Soribada in South Korea. A landmark ruling by the Federal Court of Australia last year found Kazaa guilty of authorizing widespread copyright infringement. In June 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that individuals or companies that promote copyright theft by users of Grokster and Streamcast for copyright infringement can be held responsible. Subsequently Grokster settled the case with the record labels and motion picture studios. "This is the best possible outcome for the music industry and consumers," John Kennedy, chairman and chief executive officer of IFPI, said in a written statement. "Our industry will have a new business partner and consumers will experience new ways of enjoying music online, with more choice. This is a win-win scenario." Kazaa's owners said they would be working with the music and motion picture companies to make peer-to-peer an integral part of the future of online digital entertainment. "It has been our long standing goal for Kazaa to play a significant role in the growing market for licensed online distribution and authorised exchange of copyrighted content using peer-to-peer technology, and this settlement ensures that we will be working together with the content providers to the benefit of consumers, businesses and artists," said Sharman's chief Hemming. "This meaningful decision has helped bring legal and moral clarity to the marketplace," said Mitch Bainwol, chairman and chief executive officer of the Recording Industry Association of America. Technorati Tags: law, justice, jus, bloger, justbloger, davor, internetlaw, internetcases, Macedonia, EU, Lawblog.