p2pnet - rss feed: Taiwan p2p sites team up
The executive officer of a Taiwanese p2p site under attack from the IFIP (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) says, "We should find a solution to balance the new technology and its impact to existing industries, rather than destroying it."
Now Kuro, Taiwan’s largest online file-sharing site with half-a-million members, and Ezpeer.com.tw, both offering centralized services and both charged with copyright violation after the IFPI filed charges against them, plan to form a p2p association.
IFPI filed charges against Kuro in September and against Ezpeer in August of last year and, says Jessie Ho in the Taipei Times here, Kuro and Ezpeer also have title directories, a service "which is also considered key to their indictments".
Kuro and Ezpeer offered, "to pay compensation to the record labels, but the offer was rejected. Reaching a profit-distribution formula acceptable to both parties is still the best solution to the case, Chen said yesterday."
He’s also quoted as saying, "I’m 100 percent sure that we will win the case, because we only provide a platform for users to swap their files - we don’t illegally distribute them."
It also looks as if Taiwan may suffer the same fate as North America - being swamped with tasteless music industry sites.
IFPI Taiwan secretary-general Robin Lee says the association - the record labels’ enforcvement arm - is, "discussing granting online music distribution rights with a total of seven companies who are willing to gain authorization before allowing users to share their files".
Both Chen and Wu say their investors were unfazed by the indictments, adds the report.
