Examines what can be done to make the illegal downloading of music from the Internet work for everyone involved.
It has been estimated that KaZaA has had over one hundred and sixty million people worldwide download at least one version of their software. Of those millions, over sixty million people worldwide are steady and loyal users of KaZaA?s software. This paper shows that, as can be expected with impressive census figures such as these, KaZaA has become a force to be reckoned with. In one corner, KaZaA has a plethora of advertisers wanting to be part of the high numbers of e-mail addresses that the system reaches. In the other corner, however, sits a music association that will do anything to stop KaZaA from expanding. The paper examines both sides of this argument, looking at the views of both ‘corners’ and suggests ways in which KaZaA and the RIAA could come together to solve the problem.
“The RIAA went after individual users of the KaZaA and other similar software by filing copyright infringement lawsuits in US Federal Courts throughout the nation. The RIAA legal team focused on approximately two hundred sixty specific individuals that the RIAA described as having swapped or uploaded illegally over one thousand copy-written song files. These individuals were found after other legal proceedings came to a head. ?A federal judge ruled yesterday that an Internet-service provider must reveal the name of a subscriber suspected of illegally downloading hundreds of digital music files.? (Glanz, “Verizon must reveal file-sharing customer; Copyright laws at issue in ruling”) With these proceedings being heard today, one can clearly see how the outcomes for these cases will effect how Joe Common will use the internet in the future.”