KaZaA ordered to cease infringing copyright

Round one to music biz

By Tony Smith • Get more from this author

Posted in Music and Media, 29th November 2001 17:11 GMT

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Updated Music sharing system KaZaA has been given two weeks by a Dutch court to cease infringing recording artists' copyrights.

If the company fails to comply with the order, it faces a penalty of 100,000 guilders ($40,317) a day, the Judge warned.

The ruling concludes a copyright violation case brought by the Dutch wing of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry against the Netherlands-based file-sharing operation.

KaZaA is run by Consumer Enpowerment, which also owns FastTrack, the software developmer which created the Napster-like code KaZaA uses. FastTrack's software is also used by Grokster and by MusicCity's Morpheus system.

The IFPI's interest in pursuing KaZaA and co. was revealed when a Recording Industry Ass. of America internal memo was leaked to Web site Dotcom Scoop. Not long after the leaked memo was published, the RIAA and the Motion Picture Ass. of America sued KaZaA and co.

KaZaA claims its software has been downloaded more than 20 million times.

KaZaA (as Consumer Empowerment) was named alongside MusicCity and Grokster last week in a copyright infringement case brought in Los Angeles by the National Music Publishers' Association.

Still, the Dutch judge didn't settle entirely on the side of the music industry. According to a report on Dutch Web site WebWereld, the IFPI has been told to resume talks with KaZaA about the formation of a legal music-sharing service. ®

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