KaZaA BV has conceded defeat to the music industry because it
can no longer afford to fight the copyright litigation. The Dutch
company began – but no longer controls – KaZaA.com, the most
popular file-swapping service on the internet.
The company is credited with creating the file swapping
technology called FastTrack that powered KaAaA, Grokster and an
early version of Morpheus. The KaZaA site is now owned and operated
by Sharman Networks Limited, a company registered in the Pacific
island of Vanuatu. Sharman Networks has not been sued – so far.
According to Newsbytes and CNet News, the Dutch company’s court
filing accuses the music industry of “Rambo-style litigation.”
Recently, Amsterdam’s court of appeals found that KaZaA BV was not
liable for the copyright infringements committed by its users. That
ruling was being appealed when KaZaA took the decision to throw in
the towel. It has asked its opponents for “their terms of
surrender,” according to CNet.
According to KaZaA.com, its P2P software has been downloaded
almost 82 million times.
