Taiwanese p2p case hots up
The IFIP (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) has threatened Taiwanese and international credit card companies listed on Kuro, p2p file-sharing site in Taiwan.
In the first criminal case against a p2p Web site in Taiwan, the Taipei prosecutor filed charges against Kuro’s management team and one subscriber under the amended Copyright Law. IFPI Taiwan branch secretary-general Robin Lee said, “Our position is that this is great.”
Now, “The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry [IFPI] Taiwan calls for existing investors and potential investors to seriously consider their investments in unauthorized peer-to-peer network operators,” Lee told reporters yesterday.
Quoted in the Taipei Times, the IFPI claims Kuro and similar sites infringe on their members’ copyrights by allowing subscribers to share and download music files without paying royalty fees.
Kuro claims to have 500,000 subscribers using the service, that allows them to find friends, share music and video files, and access a digital magazine, says reporter by Bill Heaney, going on that The companies include Visa, Mastercard, President Chain Store Corp, FarEas-Tone Telecommunications Co and Taiwan Cellular Corp..
“IFPI seriously advises those who collect money on Kuro’s behalf to reconsider the legality of their business activities with Kuro,” Lee said.
However, Kuro spokesman Philip Wang said a more sinister desire to control how music is packaged and sold is the reason for the music industry’s relentless pursuit of his company, says the Times report.
“They are targeting Kuro as Kuro is a threat to traditional music publishing channels,” he said. “That is why they are trying by all means to kill us.”
The IFPI rejected an offer to charge Kuro users an extra NT$50 per month [they pay NT$99] as a form of royalty, showing the IFPI was not serious about coming to an agreement, says Wang.
Government-owned Chunghwa Telecom Co’s Hinet Internet service “removed the ability to pay Kuro from its Web site earlier this year,” says Heaney.
