dday and Shark7 both submitted the same interesting article on the 'Wired' website. The article describes the 'race to kill KaZaA' which is not an easy task. Unlike with Napster, KaZaA has no central server and there is no plug to pull to stop the software.
KaZaA's servers are in Denmark and the software itself is in Estonia. The domain is registered Australia and the corporation is registered on a tiny island in the South Pacific. Besides that KaZaA's users (roughly 60 million) are everywhere around the world:
Why all the subterfuge? It's an international business model for the post-Napster era. A close look at Kazaa reveals a corporate nesting doll that frustrated Hollywood attorneys for more than a year. From Estonia to Australia, they pleaded with courts to force Kazaa's operators out from the shadows. Meanwhile, every week that Sharman was able to hold the law at bay, countless copies of Kazaa software were being downloaded. In the last six months alone, PC users have downloaded more than 90 million copies. Kazaa has 60 million users around the world and 22 million in the US - an irresistible audience to marketers. Last year, Sharman raked in millions from US advertisers like Netflix and DirecTV, without spending a penny on content. The chase could have gone on forever. |
The article is an interesting read on how KaZaA has been running from the court and is now trying to go legit by bundling the software with Altnet, a service that requires users to pay for downloaded songs.
Source: Wired
