P2P Executives Face Prison In Taiwan

by Mary Swire, for LawAndTax-News.com, Hong Kong

15 September 2005

The International Federation of Phonographic Industries (IFPI) has welcomed the decision made by a Taiwan court on Friday to impose, for the first time, criminal penalties on the top executives of a file sharing firm.

The court last week found that the Kuro organisation, which operated on a subscription basis, was guilty of criminal copyright infringement.

It imposed a fine of NT$3 million (approx US$90,000), and sentenced the three principals of Kuro (brothers Chen Kuo-hua and Chen Kuo-hsing and their father Chen Shou-teng), along with a user, to jail terms of up to three years.

Commenting on the verdict, Lauri Rechardt, the IFPI's Director of Licensing and Litigation suggested that:

"This is good news for artists and the music industry, particularly in Taiwan which has had a history of piracy problems. Kuro has received a criminal conviction which sends a strong message that profiteering from infringement will not be tolerated."

"The case also confirms a growing international trend which will help with the development of the legitimate digital music business."

IFPI Taiwan has called upon Kuro to stop immediately the unauthorised file-sharing, either by closing down or by making the necessary changes to allow the technology to be used legally.

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