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11.23.2004
Noninfringing Use Insurance
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If you're running a P2P company and you've just seen your industry's victory in the Grokster case appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, you might want to further inoculate yourself from legal liability by adding a feature to your service that doesn't involve copyright infringement. The more noninfringing applications you can add, the better, right? So it's no surprise that Kazaa has announced that is latest software includes Skype, the free VoIP service. A story in the E-Commerce Times that reads like a press release has Nikki Hemming of Kazaa's parent Sharman Networks boasting of 300 million Kazaa downloaders. She says these downloaders are using the service for legal purposes, like paying to download ring tones. Right. Ring tones. I guess the Australian police who raided Hemming's office a few months ago failed to understand that Kazaa is the pinnacle of legitimate e-commerce.
Anyway, now Hemming can say Kazaa serves a legitimate purpose because it allows users to make free phone calls. Thing is, Skype has been offering that free P2P service for some time now, separate from Kazaa and the unpleasantness of file-sharing of copyrighted works. Seems to me, the folks at Skype might want to keep their distance.
For those interested in the Grokster appeal, we have a list of all of the amicus filings in the case, including our own urging consideration. The Progress & Freedom Foundation is hosting a Congressional Seminar on the subject December 10th on Capitol Hill. Hope to see you there. If you're not in Washington, why not pay a visit? Union Station officials should have hung their gargantuan wreaths by then.
posted by Patrick Ross : 11/23/2004 02:02:39 PM
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