U.S. Court Case


In April 2003, a Los Angeles federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against file-sharing services Grokster and StreamCast Networks, which makes the Morpheus P-to-P software, saying that they cannot be held culpable for illegal file trading done over their networks.

Plaintiffs in that case, including the Motion Picture Association of America, the National Music Publisher's Association of America, and the Recording Industry Association of America, appealed the ruling to a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which heard the case in early February.

The decision of that panel may be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court in a case that is expected to have repercussions on the entertainment and technology industries, as well as on a related case brought by the plaintiffs against Sharman.

The judge will hear the case on February 20, Sharman says. In the meantime, the recording industry is unable to gain access to any documents seized under the order, the company says.

Sharman Networks, the owner and distributor of the Kazaa peer-to-peer network

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The raid was illegal, says Kazaa
Sharman Networks, the owner of Kazaa peer-to-peer network claims that the raid to its office last week was not legal. The search warrant, an Anton Pillar order, which granted the Music Industry Piracy Investigations, MIPI the right to conduct the search was not granted based on all the facts, Sharman says.

An Anton Pillar order is used in software piracy cases, and gives the right to conduct a raid without prior notice to the suspect. According to Sharman the judge who gave the order was not presented with all the relevant facts to the case and therefore the order should be set aside.

Sharman's complaint will be heard on February 20. Until then MIPI cannot access the seized documents, the company says.

Source: Wired
Article was written at 2/10/2004 18:27


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P2P war expands to Canada

RIAA's Canadian counterpart, Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA), has started an American-style legal war against alleged P2P file swappers.

CRIA has sent letters to five Canadian ISPs -- Shaw Communications, Sympatico, Videotron, Rogers Cable and Telus Corp -- demanding the names and other personal details of 29 Canadian customers that it claims have distributed illegal copies of music online via P2P networks. Only one of the ISPs, Shaw Communications, has decided to challenge the demands in court.

"Our customers' right to privacy is very dear to us," said Shaw Communications president Peter Bissonnette.

Shaw's opinion is in clear contrast to the opinion of Videotron, that's owned by a company called Quebecor that also sells music. Videotron stated that they consider file sharing to be "theft" and stated that they will comply with all the court orders and will co-operate eagerly with copyright owners to resolve all issues regarding to P2P use in their network.

Shaw Communications' case will go to court next Monday in Toronto.

Source: CTV
Article was written at 2/13/2004 20:44


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File swappers are generally anonymous on peer-to-peer networks, identified only by an Internet Protocol (IP) address assigned by their ISP. But names and addresses of subscribers can be determined by reviewing ISP records, which can connect IP addresses to individual accounts.

also
December, the Copyright Board of Canada, the country's top copyright regulators issued a ruling in which they said downloading from file-swapping services such as Kazaa appeared to be legal under Canadian law, since the songs were intended for noncommercial personal use. Uploading, or sharing with others through such services, did not merit the same legal shield, they said.


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File-swapping lawsuits loom in Canada

EU to criminalize P2P sharing?
The European Parliament is set to debate a draft law that would weed out mass piracy of digital products, such as music and movies. There is a chance, however, that the proposed law might be stretched to include peer-to-peer file sharing as well.

The changes would create a situation similar to the one in USA, where ISPs and RIAA have been arguing whether or not the Digital Millennium Copyright Act grants copyright holders to obtain personal details of individual customers if they are suspected of P2P piracy.

"The balance between privacy of subscribers and the duty to cooperate with right holders seeking to protect their intellectual property that was reached in the e-commerce directive could be changed by this directive," said Tilmann Kupfer, British Telecommunication PLC's (BT's) European regulatory manager.

World Trade Organization (WTO) rules urge WTO members to impose criminal sanctions for people who counterfeit goods for commercial gain. That was exactly what the original draft of the law sought. European Motion Picture Association (EMPA), however, didn't feel that the proposal was enough.

"The Commission's proposal fell short of international requirements agreed at the World Trade Organization," said Ted Shapiro, director of the EMPA.

European ISPs fear that individual consumers might be placed on the same level with criminals seeking commercial gain by counterfeiting products. Legal experts have expressed similar concerns, and many feel that a law that would criminalize private P2P use would go too far.

Source: Infoworld