Kazaa gets stay of execution

Kazaa has been given a new lease of life after an Australian judge, angered by the attitude of the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), has given the P2P network more time to build anti-piracy code into its platform.

Sharman Networks, which runs Kazaa, was due to have implemented the software, which blocks key name searches for popular artists, by 5 December or face shutdown. But Justice Wilcox of the Federal Court of Australia granted Kazaa an extension until late February 2006 and told the ARIA lawyer that he had "shot himself in the foot".

At the heart of the problem was a series of technical meetings to be held between Sharman staff and ARIA technical specialists. The second of these meetings was cancelled by ARIA, but the judge said that the method of cancellation was unacceptable.

An email withdrawing from a 9am Monday meeting was sent at 17.52pm on the Friday beforehand. Justice Wilcox said that he was "extremely angry" with the actions of the ARIA.

A spokesperson for Sharman said the action of the record company in refusing to attend the second court-ordered meeting revealed that its true intention was not to foster agreement about an acceptable filtering technology, but to shut down Kazaa and rid itself improperly of a competitor.