Judge Ruling: KaZaa Not Liable For P2P Sharing

Dutch court rules Kazaa not liable for P2P swapping

The controversial peer-to-peer file-swapping technology Kazaa won another important victory when the Dutch Supreme Court dismissed a music industry legal action against it. In a ruling Friday that was criticized by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, the court upheld a March 2002 appellate court verdict that software companies cannot be held liable for how their product is used. “The victory by Kazaa creates an important precedent for the legality of peer-to-peer software, both in the European Union as elsewhere,” Kazaa lawyers Bird & Bird said in a statement. Buma Stemra, the Dutch music royalties collection society, had been seeking a judgment that would ban distribution of Kazaa in its current form and require any future versions to block the transfer of copyrighted materials.