Dutch court ruling supports file sharing

IN AN ECHO of a US court case back in April, the Dutch supreme court has today ruled in favour of the developers of the Kazaa file-swapping software by deciding that software developers cannot be held liable for how individuals use it.

The rejection of the claims by a music copyright agency against the legality of Kazaa's operation is a blow to the RIAA and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IPFI) as they attempt to stamp out what they claim is rampant piracy that seriously affects their business.

Coming on top of the earlier decision by a US court that Grokster and Streamcast Networks could not be held liable for similar reasons, the ruling today will further strengthen that argument and create an important precedent for the legality of peer-to-peer software throughout the European Union and in other countries. µ

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