CRIA Applauds Australian Stance On Kazaa

by Mike Godfrey, for LawAndTax-News.com, Washington

08 September 2005

The Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) on Monday welcomed a landmark court ruling in Australia regarding the activities of Internet file-swapping operator Kazaa.

Ruling in Australia's Federal Court, Justice Murray Wilcox found against Sharman Networks, which distributes the Kazaa file sharing software.

Following the filing of a lawsuit against it ten months ago by a group of five record labels, Sharman had argued that it is unable to control the uses to which its software was put, meaning that it could not be held responsible for the copyright infringing activities of its users.

However, Justice Wilcox stated that Sharman had "long known that the Kazaa system is widely used for the sharing of copyright files", further announcing that: "The respondents authorised users to infringe the applicants' copyright in their sound recordings."

Sharman Networks has been given two months to modify its software in order to prevent further copyright abuses, and has been ordered to pay 90% of the record companies' costs. A separate hearing will determine the level of damages payable by the firm.

The CRIA argued that the judgment, coming 10 weeks to the day after the unanimous United States Supreme Court ruling against the file-swapping operator Grokster, "is one of the most significant court actions against Internet piracy since the shutdown of the original Napster in 2001 and helps to lay down the law for the new generation of unauthorised peer-to-peer operators".

"Courts and legislators in Canada and around the world are sending a powerful message that unauthorized file-swapping is illegal, and they're taking decisive action to stamp it out," observed CRIA President Graham Henderson, continuing:

"Today's court decision is a wake-up call to Canadians who continue to engage in illegitimate downloading and should also send an important message to Parliamentarians in Ottawa debating new copyright rules"

Henderson went on to state that:

"In other countries, legal music downloading services are thriving, with legions of consumers attracted by the convenience, selection and high quality that are provided. By contrast, Canada's legal digital music sales continue to be hamstrung by antiquated copyright laws and widespread Internet piracy. Digital sales in this country run at one-half of one percent of US levels, but should be in the 12 to 15 percent range given relative broadband penetration in the two countries."

An Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report released in June of this year found that Canada has the highest per capita rate of unauthorized file-swapping in the world.

The CRIA chief concluded by observing on Monday that:

"We run the danger of perpetuating our status as a piracy haven, a modern day digital Barbary Coast, unless Parliamentarians step in. We are confident this will happen because ineffective copyright laws ultimately hurt consumers and the public interest most by hurting artists and thwarting investment in the arts and legitimate online businesses. This is increasingly being recognized throughout the world."

"Today's Kazaa decision is merely the latest in a long string of victories worldwide for creators of intellectual property and those who invest in them."

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