There's no subterfuge with Joel Tenenbaum.
(Credit:
Greg Sandoval/CNET News)
The graduate student accused of copyright violations admitted in court on Thursday that he shared files and knew others were downloading the music he made available on Kazaa, according to a Twitter post from blogger Ben Sheffner.
Sheffner, a copyright lawyer who is covering the story from the courtroom, wrote "(Music industry) attorney getting scores of admissions from Tenenbaum. Joel doesn't resist."
The four major music labels, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, EMI and Sony Music filed the copyright suit against Tenenbaum and in previous statements he denied sharing, according to Sheffner.
By admitting guilt, it appears Tenenbaum is going to take his chances that his attorney, Prof. Charles Nesson can convince the jury that sharing unauthorized music files doesn't cause that much harm and ordering defendants to pay big damages isn't justified.
Tenenbaum, along with Jammie Thomas-Rasset, are the only people accused of illegal file sharing that have taken their cases before a jury. In June, Thomas was found liable of copyright infringement and ordered to pay nearly $2 million.
The new Kazaa appears to be mostly a run-of-the-mill subscription music service, but it does add a few new twists. The one that stands out right from the sign-up phase is that subscribers can either pay by credit card or via their telephone company.
(Credit:
Kazaa.com)
"Brilliant Digital Entertainment Inc. (BDE) and Kazaa are not affiliated with your local telephone company," Kazaa writes in the company's terms of service, "However, for your convenience, BDE's charges will appear on your local telephone bill."
Music industry insiders have long talked about creating subscription services in partnership with Internet service providers, who could tuck monthly charges into a phone bill. The thinking is that consumers would be less likely to feel the pinch of by monthly fees if they were mixed in with all the other fees found in typical phone bill.
These ISP-music stores have yet to emerge in any significant way, but Kazaa's subscription service, announced Monday, appears to borrow this idea in an attempt to make the $20 monthly charges a little more palatable.
One of the main problems I saw this weekend when I tried out Kazaa's new service was that in order to post the charges to my phone bill, the company asked me to submit my Social Security number. That is bound to spook plenty of people.
Ring-tone companies have charged customers this way for a while, but to the best of my knowledge, not another major music service offers a similar payment option.
After becoming one of the world's most popular file-sharing programs, Kazaa was nearly sued out of existence several years ago. The new iteration is much more legal, if not much more routine.
The songs are protected by digital rights management, which is the norm for most subscription services. The service supports PCs only, not Mac or Linux, which means it is not compatible with iPods. Of course, like most subscription services, when a person stops paying, they lose their songs.
Brilliant Digital Entertainment, Kazaa's parent company, appears to be betting that Kazaa's brand will give it an advantage in a U.S. market, which has seen a score of music subscription services come and go. None of them have found a significant audience.
Kazaa is coming back from the dead.
One of the most recognizable brands in the history of illegal downloading is due to officially resurface, perhaps as early as next week, sources close to the company told CNET News. Only this time the name Kazaa will be part of a legal music service.
Altnet and parent company Brilliant Digital Entertainment attached the Kazaa brand to a subscription service that will offer songs and ringtones from all four of the major recording companies. For the past few months, a beta version has been available.
The company tried recently to ratchet up expectations with a series of vague, and what some considered misguided, press releases.
The site will open with over 1 million tracks. According to the blog TorrentFreak, the new Kazaa will offer unlimited downloads for $20 a month.
Kazaa was developed by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis and rose to prominence following the first wave of peer-to-peer networks. The courts effectively shut the company down when it ordered it to prevent users from committing copyright violations.
Kazaa is joining the growing number of former rogue file-sharing applications and services whose names are now being used for legal operations.
First came Napster, and just this week a Swedish software company revealed that it planned to relaunch BitTorrent tracking site the Pirate Bay as a pay service.
What hasn't been proven yet is whether any of the once outlaw brands can be used to make money legally.
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