Fergie's Tech Blog

Class Action Filed Against Kazaa on Behalf of Customers Sued by RIAA

Ray Berckerman writes on The Recording Industry vs. The People:

In Chicago, Illinois, a Kazaa customer has filed a class action against Kazaa, Lewan v. Sharman, U.S.Dist. Ct., N.D. Ill 06-cv-6736.

The lead plaintiff, Catherine Lewan, was a Kazaa customer who was sued by the RIAA for her use of Kazaa, and paid a settlement to the RIAA.

In her complaint she alleges, among other things, that:

• Kazaa deceptively marketed its product as allowing "free downloads" (Complaint, par. 30);
• It designed the software in such a manner as to create a shared files folder and make that folder available to anyone using Kazaa, while at the same time failing to make the user aware that it had done so (Complaint, par. 36-37); and
• It surreptitiously installed "spyware" on users' computers which made the shared files folder accessible to the Kazaa network even after the user had removed the Kazaa software from his or her computer (Complaint, par. 42-45).

posted by Fergie @ 12/07/2006 11:57:00 AM