Kazaa is one of the most popular of the file-swapping services,
which allows users to download peer-to-peer software and use it to
access the music, images and movie files stored in other users'
computers – all free of charge and mostly in breach of
copyright.
Sharman Networks, which is headquartered in Australia but
registered in the Pacific island of Vanuatu, has been accused of
knowingly allowing the exchange of copyrighted digital material on
its network, and cases have been brought against it by recording
industries in Australia, the US and the Netherlands.
The Australian action, which began today and is expected to last
around three weeks, charges the company, Sharman License Holdings,
the firm's CEO Nikki Hemming, Altnet, which bundles software with
Kazaa, and others, with copyright infringement.
A ruling is not expected until next year, but precedents abroad
have leaned in favour of the peer-to-peer services.
The Dutch action, which came to a head at the end of 2003,
resulted in a ruling that the original providers of Kazaa, KaZaA
BV, were not acting illegally in making their software publicly
available.
The US case against Sharman Networks is still ongoing, but in
August the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals threw out a similar
suit against P2P companies Streamcast Networks Inc., the company
behind the Morpheus file-sharing software, and rival Grokster Ltd,
on the grounds that, while the companies provide the software used
by file-sharers to swap illegally copied digital files, the
software can also be used for legitimate purposes.
The US recording industry is hoping to appeal that ruling to the
Supreme Court.
Elsewhere, software company Computer Associates International
has branded Kazaa's free software as the top internet spyware
threat. It gives Kazaa a high "clot factor," its measure of how
much a program slows a machine by adding unnecessary registry
entries and directories. The higher the clot factor, the more
difficult a pest is to remove.
"What we're saying is, it presents a security risk because
you're opening your machine and file structures to another 3.5
million peers," Simon Perry, vice president of security strategy
for CA told internet news site eWeek.
Kazaa claims its software has been downloaded over 378 million
times.
