No more than 2 per cent of people using the music file-sharing software Kazaa are located in Australia, Sharman Networks' counsel Anthony Meagher told the Federal Court during the civil trial against the company over alleged music copyright infringement.
The Federal Court of Australia has dealt a heavy blow to the managers of peer-to-peer software Kazaa, finding they had authorised users to infringe music industry copyright and directing them to modify the application to reduce the practice.
An Australian legal music download company partnered with major record labels has backed the blocking of Kazaa to new Australian users as a sign piracy will no longer be tolerated by authorities here.
A witness on the ongoing civil trial against peer to peer software provider Sharman Networks has added weight to testimony last week that logs can be maintained to trace users who are exchanging unlicensed music online using the Kazaa software.
Eminem, Madonna and Kylie Minogue are just some of the popular artists whose songs are to be blocked from being illegally distributed on the peer-to-peer network Kazaa following Federal Court orders yesterday.
The largest copyright infringement case in Australian history sees Sydney-based Sharman Networks and other "respondents" involved with peer-to-peer software Kazaa face 30 record company "applicants" from Australia, North America and Europe. The outcome could impact pending lawsuits in the US, and indeed alter the course of the music industry.
There's nothing worse than setting up your home office, only to have the kids destroy the lot with an errant game install, virus infection or jam covered keyboard.