Lion7718
07-02-2004, 04:10 PM
Source: CNET (http://news.com.com/Kazaa+copyright+trial+set+for+November/2100-1027_3-5255741.html?tag=cd.lede)
Sharman Networks, the parent company of controversial file-sharing service Kazaa, could face the music by the end of the year following an Australian federal court ruling.
On Thursday, Justice Murray Wilcox set a tentative trial date of Nov. 29 and said that directed discovery and affidavit proceedings should be completed by October. Wilcox also dismissed a range of procedural matters that had been raised by Sharman Networks regarding access to evidence seized from its offices and from affiliated parties earlier this year.
On Feb. 6, the music industry's copyright enforcement arm, Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI), raided the Australian offices of Sharman Networks and Brilliant Digital Entertainment, along with the homes of key executives and several Internet service providers. MIPI was seeking documents and electronic evidence to support its case against the peer-to-peer companies.
In doing so, MIPI had obtained an Anton Pillar order, which allows a copyright holder to enter private premises to search for and seize material that breaches copyright--without alerting the target beforehand.
The evidence is currently in the care of an independent solicitor.
At the daylong hearing Thursday, Sharman attorney Robert Ellicott raised a new motion about the legitimacy of the evidence obtained from the Sharman premises. He also protested a timetable offered by Wilcox, who called for the discovery process to be completed by Aug. 13, with applicants' affidavits filed by mid-August and responses by Sharman filed by early October.
Specifically, Ellicott claimed that the raids executed on the Sharman premises may be in breach of Australia's Telecommunications Act.
Full Story
Sharman Networks, the parent company of controversial file-sharing service Kazaa, could face the music by the end of the year following an Australian federal court ruling.
On Thursday, Justice Murray Wilcox set a tentative trial date of Nov. 29 and said that directed discovery and affidavit proceedings should be completed by October. Wilcox also dismissed a range of procedural matters that had been raised by Sharman Networks regarding access to evidence seized from its offices and from affiliated parties earlier this year.
On Feb. 6, the music industry's copyright enforcement arm, Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI), raided the Australian offices of Sharman Networks and Brilliant Digital Entertainment, along with the homes of key executives and several Internet service providers. MIPI was seeking documents and electronic evidence to support its case against the peer-to-peer companies.
In doing so, MIPI had obtained an Anton Pillar order, which allows a copyright holder to enter private premises to search for and seize material that breaches copyright--without alerting the target beforehand.
The evidence is currently in the care of an independent solicitor.
At the daylong hearing Thursday, Sharman attorney Robert Ellicott raised a new motion about the legitimacy of the evidence obtained from the Sharman premises. He also protested a timetable offered by Wilcox, who called for the discovery process to be completed by Aug. 13, with applicants' affidavits filed by mid-August and responses by Sharman filed by early October.
Specifically, Ellicott claimed that the raids executed on the Sharman premises may be in breach of Australia's Telecommunications Act.
Full Story