Kazaa Can Be Sued In The US

from the of-course dept

Maybe the US courts are just trying to get back at the idiotic Australian Supreme Court for saying they had jurisdiction over a New Jersey web server, but an American judge has ruled that Shaman Networks (makers of Kazaa) can face trial in the US despite being nowhere near the country. This isn't a huge surprise, as the recording industry made a big push to make sure that the long arms of the US courts could reach anywhere they wanted (paid) them to. On the good side, maybe (just maybe) a judge will realize that what Kazaa is doing isn't at all illegal, and will settle this argument once and for all. In the meantime, though, this is just another reminder that we really need to figure out some set of standard rules for internet jurisdiction, or we're all going to get hauled off to random countries for silly trials.