American Lawyers vs. Geography: Protecting power vs. Understanding how the net works
"Having vanquished the music swapping service Napster in court, the entertainment industry is facing a formidable obstacle in pursuing its major successor, KaZaA: geography. Sharman Networks, the distributor of the program, is incorporated in the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu and managed from Australia. Its computer servers are in Denmark and the source code for its software was last seen in Estonia.
[...] A group of recording and motion picture companies has asked a federal judge to find the custodians of KaZaA liable for contributing to copyright infringement and financially benefiting from it. [...] Sharman asked the court last week to dismiss the case, asserting that because the company has no assets or significant business dealings in the United States, the court has no jurisdiction over it.[...]
'What they're asking is for a court to export the strictures of U.S. copyright law worldwide,' said Roderick G. Dorman, a lawyer for Sharman. 'That's not permitted. These are questions of sovereignty that legislatures and diplomats need to decide.'"
New York Times story (free login required)
In unrelated news at The Onion: "RIAA sues radio stations for giving away free music - The Recording Industry Association of America filed a $7.1 billion lawsuit against the nation's radio stations Monday, accusing them of freely distributing copyrighted music." It's just a matter of time.
Entry first published 2009-05-18 00:59, last edited 2009-05-19 01:08
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