If a Chilling Effects report is accurate, Sharman Networks (aka KaZaA) has finally crossed the line and is now using the same tactics as the RIAA and MPAA to get its way - ie, it's trying to nail the competition to the wall using the Digital Millenium Copyright Act as the hammer.

And if the item is accurate, it should come as no surprise. For various reasons, by no means all down to the RIAA subpoena onslaught, Kazaa-not-so-lite has been losing market share (if you can call it that : ) for some time, and Sharman's plans to grow fat off the online music community are fading fast.

An apparent letter from Sharman's lawyers appears here.

Addressed to Google, it demands, "Please immediately remove or disable all access to the Infringing Material."

You can read the full text below.

We've emailed Kazaa Lite and Sharman - the latter via its press area and product site - and we'll keep you posted.

For now, has Google complied? See for yourself. Enter Kazaa Lite, and variations thereof.

============================

Sender Information:
Sharman Networks
Sent by: [Private]
Stubbs Alderton & Markiles, LLP
[private]
Encino, CA, 94136, USA

Recipient Information:
Customer Support, DMCA Complaints
Google Inc.
Mountain View, CA, 94043, USA

Sent via: Federal Express
Re: NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

Ladies and Gentlemen:

We act on behalf of Sharman Networks, Ltd. (the "Owner").

As required under Sections 512(c)(3) and 512(d)(3) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. §§512(c)(3) and 512(d)(3)), we are instructed to place you on notice that:

1. The Owner is the exclusive owner of the copyrights in and to the Kazaa Media Desktop software (the "KMD"); and

2. Utilizing the search query, "kazaa," at www.google.com, the following search results (the "Infringing Material") contain unauthorized copies of the KMD or unauthorized derivative works of the KMD which infringe the KMD and the exclusive rights of the Owner:

a. http://www.kazaagold.com
b. http://mp3download.com
c. http://www.kazaalite.tk
d. http://www.kaaza.com
e. http://doa2.host.sk
f. http://www.k-lite.tk
g. http://www.kazaa-file-sharing-downloads.com
h. http://www.kazaalite.nl
i. http://home/hccnet.nl/h.edskes/mirror.htm
j. http://www.kazaa-download.de
k. http://www.zeropaid.com
l. http//www.kazaalite.nl/downloads.htm
m. http://kazaa.infos-du-net.com
n. http://www.kazaa-lite.tk
o. http://www.kazaa-lite.info

Please immediately remove or disable all access to the Infringing Material.

I have a good faith belief that the use of the Infringing Material is not authorized by the Owner, its agents or the law. The information in this Notice of Copyright Infringement is accurate and under penalty of perjury, I am authorized to act on behalf of the Owner.

Should you require any further information regarding this matter, please contact me at the address, telephone number or email address indicated below:

Stubbs Alderton & Markiles, LLP
[private]
Encino, California 91436
Tel: (xxx) xxx-xxxx
Email: [private]@biztechlaw.com

Very truly yours,

[private]

LOL..just created a thread on this in the forums. Very hypocritical of Nikki H. and company to want the DMCA NOT to be used on them, but to use it to stifle competition.

First, you had their stinkin' malware/adware with the install, and now they don't want people to find a product which is designed better, works better, and is more user friendly.

A pox on the RIAA, and to Sharman Networks in Vanatau, shame on you...
Hmmm...don't squeeze/use the "Sharman".
~one man's opinion

This is one stupid move by kazaa, if it is real, but it won't hold water as YAHOO.COM and many other search engines have it. Plus, the DMCA shows its pure tactics of censorship. The internet is here to be able to have access to anything.

I said it a while ago, and I'll say it now. Kazaa is just as bad as the RIAA. They are one of the enemies.

I also want to know what google has done wrong. Can someone please explain it to me?

Kazaa numbers are back up again:
about 4 million ppl are on now.
I have seen kazaa's numbers drop, but only to now see them rise, but who cares right? Wrong, my research shows that if any articles come out in the next couple months saying kazaa users are down, its not true.

Also, the numbers on kazaa right now show that the RIAA's scare tactic is not having a huge affect like they say. They will probably use the media in the next couple months to lie about file sharing numbers, lets be prepared

humm lets see now kazaa is the in my head the biggest concern to consumer freedom even more so then the riaa kazaa just asked for public knolage to be taken off the internet bye a surch engine meant to supply the public with full internet web site listing in a way every one wins well the little guy that is and thats all that really counts so if you can't see thay have just made the friest move in trying to trully take away are freedom in the truest sence i wish i could explane what i'm thinking abit better made one of the smarter posters could help me out? hehehe :0)

Umm,

I can't believe what I just read. Kazaa is pissed about copyright infringement? Pot calling the Kettle Black eh? Is Nikki insane or is she in bed with the riaa after all? (that is a truly disgusting thought - Nikki and the boy named sue in bed together) Is she afraid that someone is going to remove Cydoor and Brilliant Digital and cost her a few pennies in lost marketing. I got news for you Nikki, I removed those (and a few others) long ago. in fact I quit using Kazaa when you put that shit in there. Here's what I find troubling, Kazaa wants to start acting like the riaa and flaunt the DMCA when it suits their interests but they don't care if you download any of the assorted worms, viruses and trojans you get from their cesspool (anyone remember the benjamin worm?) I sure hope this is a misunderstanding

"In response to a complaint we received under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, we have removed 8 result(s) from this page. If you wish, you may read the DMCA complaint for these removed results." = at the bottom of the google search page for Kazaa Lite

And unfortunately it is so, searching for kazaa lite would normally bring up www.k-lite.tk, www.kazaalitekpp.com and a slew of other download spots. Now it is news sources about kazaa lite for the most part.

kneo24:

Google is censoring the results of their search engine. That's a very bad precedent because, if it continues, they effectively could limit what internet content many people have access to. Censorship is a bad thing, in general.

ok you did it ifeelfree thats what i whas trying to say every thing on sreach engins is copyrighted so no more internet all thanks to the DMCA!!!!!!!!!!

After seeing this on Zeropaqid last night, I immediately e-mailed google

comments@google.com

It went something to the nature of: If Kazaa, Grokster, etc. are legal (California high courts) then certainly google can link to infringing (debateable) websites.
C'mon Google, I thought you were better than that.

right on IFeelFree !

I just searched google for kazaa.
They removed the results they were asked to remove, I'm sorry to say.
Well, sort of removed them

Kinda like the way they solved it. Do the search, and look at the bottom of the page

Shit

This is really fucked up

Does K++ or other Kazaa derivatives share in any way the same networks as Kazaa??

With all this commotion of DCMA and copyrights out of hand..Im starting to wonder about the future of p2p.

*sigh*

btw...when you search on Google, there are monitors at Google where live people can sit there and see your IP address, and what you are searching for, and I think they keep logs of your IP and what materials you looked for. For those wishing more info on THIS apparent problem with your privacy, you may check out:
http://www.google-watch.org/
~code

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.05/google.html
A must read article if you routinely use Google...you may end up revealing more about yourself than you want to, to people you don't know.
-w/ goo goo googledy eyes @@
~code

Ok that Google thing is disturbing. Are there any honest people in charge in the world? It would be nice if there were some people I did't have to dislike.

So each time they are going to get a letter from a lawyer with the letters DMCA in it they are going to blindly obey? What if I ask my lawyer to send them a letter asking them to remove the link some site because I feel it infringes my work and say DMCA they are going to comply? What? they give no fight? They don't question or challange? They are a search engine, are they responsible for the content of the whole damn internet?

I also suggest to add a new verb to the English language: DMCA. Something like:
"Poor Jeff, he was DMCAed and now he's broke" or "I heard Mary is DMCAing her ex husband" or "He was DMCAed off the island"
A happy DMCA to all of you.

i say we flood google with letters saying the riaa.com is infrigning on this sites copyright and demand google to take it off there list

o yea and bye the way riaa.com is copyrighted and at the bottom of the page we have the domain name riaa.com in plane view i would remove it if i wear you guys and i wonder when i'll be sued for useing it also in the last two posts well i say with in the next 24Hrs that prolby no joke :0(

So tell me exactly how a company based on the island country of Vanuatu can use a US law to stop the use of a similar program? Has Vanuatu been made a part of the US?

In fact, I don't even think the makers of Kazaa Lite are based in the US. They're based in the Netherlands or some other place. So they can't stop them with a US law.

Someone should point this out to Google.

Code wrote, in part: " . . . btw, when you search on Google, there are monitors at Google where live people can sit there and see your IP address, and what you are searching for, and I think they keep logs of your IP and what materials you looked for. You may end up revealing more about yourself than you want to, to people you don't know. . . "
The prospect of this happening really infuriates me and grates at the decent concepts of fairness and privacy!
All the more argument for utilizing a foreign proxy server that facilitates encryption (or otherwise masking) of your IP address, along with blocking of JavaScript and severe filtering of cookies to boot. That'll set 'em back on their heels, by cracky!

indieWarriors...
Yes Kazaa-Lite and KMD share the same network. All through the FastTrack Network. The listing of FastTrack Apps are Kazaa (and all variants) and IMesh.
Gnutella is another network. The Gnutella apps are BearShare, Gnucleus, LimeWire, Morpheus, Phex, Swapper, and Xolox. As far as I know Emule and Edonkey connect to multiple servers and do not have a specified network. (I don't really know this for sure, I don't use these).

captdunsel...
You can remove all the Adware/Spyware from Kazaa or IMesh and block Cydoor's servers from accessing your computer, rendering the Adware/Spyware useless and Kazaa usable. Here is a link to my website that describes how it is done:

http://bush51501.home.mchsi.com

Can someone explain to me what google has done wrong that warrants the use of the DMCA against them?

Hmm...in that case...what would happen to K++ and the other derivatives?

A New Strategy?

As Abe Lincoln reportedly said, "the best way to get a bad law
repealed is to enforce it strictly."

SonofLiberty

Im subpoenaing your ass for posting my username.

On the account of the DMCA you are infringing my copyrights

Hey, don't they know it's not April 1st yet????



It's nice to know that the DMCA is literally being thrown around like a whore at a kegger party. I am seriously beginning to think that private special interest is trying to over-throw our country by making the goverment pass laws that best suits the "bottom line."

When did the idea of "free market trade" get tossed aside? Don't get me started on the whole NAFTA thing either. The USA invited the whole damn concept in the first place...

Ok, I'm going to stop rambling here before I begin a tangent thread on something totally not what this news item is about.

Kazaalitekpp.com does appear (maybe Google allowed it since Negatyve's last search). I got 9 sites filtered on my "k++" search. Due to the way Google has handled this matter I no longer need their services.

Google has been forced to remove search listings like this several times in the past, and has never resisted. Most famously, the Scientologists demanded google stop listing a site that was criticiseing them. Sometimes the listings reappear mysteriously months or years later, presumeably when someone cleans up the spider config file.

Its time kazaa was replaced anyway.

Equally concerning to me about Google is the info I posted a few posts up, about them keeping any logs of your IP address, and a live person who can sit there, and see where you are, what your IP address is, what you are searching for, and Google keeping a log of this information. What's to prevent an RIAA attorney in one of these cases from sending a subpoena to Google to get a list of all searches done by xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx IP address, and using your searches as presumptive evidence that you were indeed seeking information on sharing MP3s or engaging in other activities ?

Privacy violations, fourth amendment violations...lol...it's all part
of 'FREEDOM PLUS'.
~code

This business of a search engine like Google acquiescing to the unilateral demands of an organization (RIAA or a private entity, for example) to withdraw a listing from their database is an oppressive precedent to have been set! As goldenpi said, the church of scientology told Google they should delete a website from their search engine because the site was being critical of some of scientology's positions--and, shades of la-la land, Google complied!
Disgusting, but what are we going to do about it? Shouldn't we consider a measured response, at least through emails and brief letters of protest?

A "FREE" SOCIETY THAT CAN NO LONGER TOLERATE DISSENT IS NO LONGER FREE.

For those of you concerned about what Google is doing try this . http://www.google-watch.org/cgi-bin/proxy.htm

I've been using this for months.

WABBITMAN

And, like Code said, even worse is how they apparently are guilty of privacy violations against anyone that visits their website!!!
In some form or another, we have got to respond to them about these urgent matters!!

Thanks, wabbitman! Wow, that is revealing, isn't it?

What the f.....!?!?

Sharman is telling Google what to do now under the DMCA?

I actually had respect for this company because it didn't sound like they were going to give in to the leeches. Now what? They think that they're going to get into bed with the RIAA and make tons of money on their own terms? Hope they bring a bucket of Vaseline (c).

Isn't there anybody on the internet anymore who provides services for users without getting greedy and wanting to get that 5th Beamer in their garage?

I think some of you are seriously over-reacting with the actions of Sharman when comaring them to RIAA.

Modifying software has been illegal long before the DMCA was ever created. Heck, even look-alike copies were once illegal too, anyone remember KC Munchkin?

But back to a Sharman/RIAA comparison, Sharman is not modifying or creating laws to their benifit, Sharman is not suing the users of KaZaa Lite, Sharman is not price-fixing their software, Sharman is not limiting files we have access too within KaZaa, and the list goes on.


I don't like Sharman because of the Altnet software, BDE software, and especially the audio ads. But don't even try to compare this to what RIAA is doing to the public.

lol that's some funny shit