Peer-To-Peer Kazaa's Offices Raided

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February 09, 2004 (8:07 AM EST)

The recording industry widened its legal attack against file-swapping networks by raiding homes and offices of employees of Sharman Networks in Australia over the weekend. Sharman owns Kazaa, the world's largest file-swapping network.

Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI), the recording industry's Australian association, said it plans to proceed with a court action against Sharman later today. "Our objective," said Michael Speck, MIPI head, in a statement "is to have Kazaa shut down its illegal activity."

Sharman denies its peer-to-peer software breaks any laws and, pointing to recent court decisions in Holland and the U.S. in which it prevailed against recording industry charges. In a statement, Sharman said of the Australian raids: "This action appears to be an extraordinary waste of time, money, and resources going over legal ground that has been well and truly covered."

MIPI's investigators raided the Australian homes of two Sharman executives, three Australian universities, and various Internet service providers. The MIPI wants Sharman to separate what it calls the illegal file swapping from legitimate peer-to-peer sharing. Sharman maintains that the centralized nature of its service makes it impossible to separate the two.