COURT READIES INJUNCTION AGAINST MADSTER P2P SERVICE
In another legal setback for online music file-sharing networks, federal judge granted preliminary injunction against Madster peer-to-peer (P2) service Wed. in response to copyright infringement suit by RIAA and record labels. In order shuttering P2P network that is to take effect Sept. 11, Judge Marvin Aspen of U.S. Dist. Court, Chicago, said Madster -- formerly called Aimster -- “is a service whose very raison d'etre appears to be the facilitation of and contribution to copyright infringement on a massive scale.” He said defendants “managed to do everything but actually steal the music off the store shelf and hand it to Aimster’s users.”
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Aimster changed name to Madster after AOL sued it for trademark infringement on ground that name resembled AIM acronym for AOL Instant Messaging. RIAA pursued current suit against Madster, but that was halted temporarily in March when Madster filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. That stay was lifted to enable Judge Aspen to decide on music industry’s request for preliminary injunction.
Despite court’s overwhelmingly favorable conclusion on plaintiffs’ arguments, extent of injunction has yet to be determined. Judge gave RIAA and co-plaintiffs until next week to propose language for “narrowly tailored” injunction that would prevent further copyright infringement by Madster “while allowing noninfringing uses of the Aimster system, if any, to continue.” Plaintiffs said they planned to submit language for proposed injunction by court’s Sept. 11 deadline. Madster then will have 2 business days to respond. Judge ordered plaintiffs to post $500,000 bond to compensate Madster for losses in event injunction was reversed or vacated. Meanwhile, RIAA Chmn. Hilary Rosen applauded court’s order: “This unequivocal ruling today underscores that companies and individuals will not be permitted to build a business on music they do not own and will be held responsible for their actions.”
Judge Aspen wasn’t swayed by Madster’s argument that it had no way to block or filter only copyrighted files because material was encrypted in transmission and to do so it would have to shut whole system down. “This argument, even if it were true, would not provide that defendants did not have the right and ability to supervise,” judge wrote. “The fact that users must log in to the system in order to use it also demonstrates that defendants know full well who their users are,” he said. Aspen also rejected argument that “Aimster’s architecture” prevented it from discovering “physical Internet address” of users. He ruled “there is nothing about the right and ability to control which requires defendants to have such precise identifying knowledge.”
Earlier this week, courts blocked sale of Napster file- sharing service to Bertelsmann group, as result of which bankrupt Napster switched to Chapter 7 liquidation from Chapter 11 reorganization. It also laid off last of its 42 employees at Redwood City, Cal., hq.