Taiwan court convicts music sharing service Kuro

Iria · Sep 9, 2005, 11:00 PM

LONDON (Reuters) - The music industry claimed another victory in its legal war against file-sharing networks on Friday when a Taiwan court convicted the service Kuro of criminal copyright infringement and sentenced its operators to jail terms of up to three years.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry said it was the first criminal conviction of a peer-to-peer file sharing service, which distributes information between users instead of through a central server.

Kuro, which charged users to access music files, was fined T$3 million, or about $90,000, IFPI said. Most of the songs available using Kuro were by local artists, none of whom were paid by the service, the music industry trade group said.

"This is good news for artists and the music industry, particularly in Taiwan, which has had a history of piracy problems," said Lauri Rechardt, IFPI's director of licensing and litigation.
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Read More / Source: Reuters

Sep 9, 2005, 11:00 PM	#1
Iria DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7,275 Rep Power: 75	Taiwan court convicts music sharing service Kuro LONDON (Reuters) - The music industry claimed another victory in its legal war against file-sharing networks on Friday when a Taiwan court convicted the service Kuro of criminal copyright infringement and sentenced its operators to jail terms of up to three years. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry said it was the first criminal conviction of a peer-to-peer file sharing service, which distributes information between users instead of through a central server. Kuro, which charged users to access music files, was fined T$3 million, or about $90,000, IFPI said. Most of the songs available using Kuro were by local artists, none of whom were paid by the service, the music industry trade group said. "This is good news for artists and the music industry, particularly in Taiwan, which has had a history of piracy problems," said Lauri Rechardt, IFPI's director of licensing and litigation. ________ Read More / Source: Reuters