The Dutch Supreme Court on Friday threw out an attempt by a music copyright agency to put controls on popular Internet file-swapping software system Kazaa, a ruling that the music industry attacked as flawed.
The decision is a fresh blow to the media industry, which has fought to shut down file-sharing networks it says have created a massive black-market trade in free music, films and video games on the Internet.
“The victory by Kazaa creates an important precedent for the legality of peer-to-peer software, both in the European Union as elsewhere,” Kazaa’s lawyers Bird & Bird said in a statement.
The decision by the Dutch court, the highest European body yet to rule on file-sharing software, means that the developers of the software cannot be held liable for how individuals use it. It does not address issues over individuals’ use of such networks.
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the music trade group representing independent and major music labels that include Warner Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, BMG Entertainment, EMI Recorded Music and Universal Music Group, criticized the ruling as “one sided” and vowed to continue its legal crusade elsewhere. [more @ www.news.com]