A federal court in Los Angeles will today hear arguments as to
whether record labels and movie studios can sue Sharman Networks,
the parent company of on-line song swapping service KaZaA, in the
US.
The hearing is part of a case brought against P2P networks
KaZaA, Grokster and Morpheus which argues that they knowingly allow
the exchange of copyrighted digital works on their networks.
Sharman Networks, which is headquartered in Australia and
operates from the Pacific island of Vanuatu, claims that it has no
substantial business contacts with the US and therefore it cannot
be sued there. The company has recently abandoned a plan to launch
a subscription service that would have been available to US
residents.
The company also denied that it is trying to avoid legal action
against it, claiming that copyright owners can bring their case
before an Australian court.
