Delay Aussie case, says Kazaa
Kazaa owner Sharman Networks wants the Australian hearing into its alleged copyright violations delayed until the current Morpheus Grokster case concludes.
A pseudo-cop squad funded by Big Music has raided various offices and homes owned by Sharman and associates in Australia and the South Pacific tax haven of Vanuatu.
Also raided were Monash University, the University of Queensland, the University of New South Wales and four ISPs.
Through a unit called Music Industry Piracy Investigations, the major record labels obtained an Anton Pilar order that allows a copyright holder to enter a premises to search for, and seize, material that breaches copyright – without alerting the target.
Sharman’s lawyers says the Australian case shouldn’t go ahead until the US 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals hands down its ruling on similar claims against Kazaa, says an Agence France-Presse report here.
Kazaa is an add-on in a landmark case which has the Morpheus and Grokster p2p program owners pitted against Hollywood, which is trying to shut down file sharing applications it doesn’t own or control.
It could be months before the case winds up.
“Outside the court, a lawyer involved in the US case said the music companies were just looking for another opportunity to sue Kazaa after losing hearings in the US and the Netherlands,” says the AFP report, quoting lawyer David Casselman:
“Now that they’re losing in the United States they seek to come here and fight the same battle on Australian soil. What this is really about is destroying a distribution model that will out-compete them.”
This refers to the fact that while Sharman rails against Big Music, it’s been simultaneously doing it’s best to get into bed with the major labels.
The Australian hearing will resume on February 20 when the court is expected to give its decision on whether to grant an adjournment, adds AFP.
