While the music industry is attempting to tout its recent legal settlement with file-sharing opponent Kazaa. They will pay, via Sherman Networks, their owner, damages of over $100 million to the four major music companies - Universal Music (V), Sony BMG, EMI and Warner Music (WMG). The money and the agreement to legally offer music was part of the settlement, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
One article calls Kazaa "one of the world's best known file-sharing networks and a longtime source of illicit music and movie downloads."
IFPI Chairman and Chief Executive John Kennedy said, "There are very substantial damages being paid -- in excess of $100 million -- and Kazaa will go legal immediately. They've had time to prepare for this."
Ovum analyst Jonathan Arber commented that the settlement had no real significance because Kazaa is already past its prime.
"It's nowhere near as popular as it used to be. Very few people are thought to be using it anymore because better services came out," he said. "It is a big legal victory, a good symbol for them to put out, but in terms of actually reducing piracy, people migrated to other file-sharing networks a long time ago."
Here's the music industry's problem: When is the last time you heard about Kazaa? They picked them because one time, long ago in Internet time, they were the one to attack and eventually parade before the downloading public in defeat. Now that time is here, and nobody cares.
Kazaa was yesterday's news. They have been abandoned so long ago that it doesn't even register in the mind of the general public.
The music industry is the continual victim of the digital age that changes so fast that litigation for the purpose of teaching a lesson has no meaning here. They'll get the money; but so what?
In the case of Kazaa, since they have been forgotten about so long ago by music downloaders, they are left out to dry also. How many people have you heard defending them or using them as a symbol of resistance? They are no longer today's news.
So what has the music industry won? Money? That's it! Will anybody care about using Kazaa now that they're "legal?" Probably less than Napster.
Does any of this make any difference? Not at all, other than the exchange of money. This isn't really even a bittersweet victory. The news is so old that neither combatant is cared about by the public. The music industry continues to fight the wrong battle.
All of the file sharers have already moved on to other new companies that offer them what they want.
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