GristyMcFisty and spacegrass used our news submit to tell us that depsite all the lawsuits made by the RIAA on Peer-to-peer software providers, Kazaa are are suing the entertainment companies back for copyright infringement! spacegrass wrote "We, however, find the RIAA's newfound concern for their artists ironic and self-serving."
The federal lawsuit accuses the entertainment companies of using unauthorised versions of Sharman Network's software for tracking down file sharers. Sharman said that they used Kazaa-lite to access the P2P network. They also used Kazaa-lite for sharing bogus versions of copyrighted works and to send warning messages to other users on the network thus violating the terms of the network.
While the RIAA have originally sued 261 users accused of sharing around 1,000 copyrighted songs, they dropped a lawsuit a lawsuit on a 66-year old pensioner accused of sharing around 2,000 songs with Kazaa after finding out she never ran any file sharing software and that her computer is a Macintosh which is incapable of running Kazaa.
Sharman Networks Ltd., the company behind the Kazaa file-sharing software, filed a federal lawsuit Monday accusing the entertainment companies of using unauthorized versions of its software in their efforts to root out users. Entertainment companies have offered bogus versions of copyright works and sent online warning messages to users. Sharman said the companies used Kazaa Lite, an ad-less replica of its software, to get onto the network. The lawsuit also claims efforts to combat piracy on Kazaa violated terms for using the network. Sharman's lawsuit also revives its previous allegation that the entertainment companies violated antitrust laws by stopping Sharman and its partner from distributing authorized copies of music and movies through Kazaa. U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson rejected those claims in July but last week allowed Sharman to try again. Sharman is incorporated in the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu with main offices in Sydney, Australia. The Recording Industry Association of America called Sharman's "newfound admiration for the importance of copyright law" ironic and "self-serving." Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group declined to comment on Sharman's latest lawsuit. |
At least the RIAA are getting experience of what it is like to have a lawsuit filed against them for copyright infringement. They are well used to filing lawsuits for copyright infringement, so let us see how well they cope by being a victim of one. 😉 In this case, the RIAA are actually doing something illegal themselves as not only were they using pirate software, they were also abusing it.
Source: Yahoo Technology News
