Sharman Networks
By 2002, Hemming had established LEF Interactive Pty Ltd, standing for Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité, which would be responsible for managing Sharman Networks.
Sharman Networks was established in Vanuatu, with the stated intention of investing in Internet companies.
In March 2002, Sharman licenced Kazaa and the associated Fasttrack software from company founder Niklas Zennström after Kazaa had been sued by every major record label and movie studio in the US.
As at March 2002, Sharman Networks had a decentralised structure which Hemming had set up. Hemming was the only public figure associated with the company and was widely believed to be the owner. The secretive nature of the new ownership arrangements meant that it took nearly a year for the record and movie industries to have enough information to take legal action against the company.
In the meantime, Kazaa had become popular, reaching an estimated 64 million downloads of the software with four million installations of the program running at any one time. By 2003, Kazaa was the ninth most popular website in the world (source ??).
In 2003, a judge in Los Angeles found that Kazaa was subject to US copyright rules. The US Supreme Court found in MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd. decided during June 2005, that peer-to-peer networks such as Kazaa could be sued for copyright infringement. Although the justices could not agree whether it changed a previous ruling in, what is known as the "Betamax case" Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc. that it is exempt if there are significant legitimate users of the technology.
Kazaa was originally a party but action was dropped against it because it was based in Vanuatu and Australia. Hemming claims that she has offered to work with the recording industry to develop a secure system to download files. She signed a licensing deal with Altnet and Streamwaves to allow the distribution of 20,000 songs.
Kazaa settled all of its outstanding legal issues together with Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom the original founders of Kazaa in August 2006 and all litigation ceased in Australia and the rest of the world.
Read more about this topic: Nikki Hemming
Famous quotes containing the word networks:
“The community and family networks which helped sustain earlier generations have become scarcer for growing numbers of young parents. Those who lack links to these traditional sources of support are hard-pressed to find other resources, given the emphasis in our society on providing treatment services, rather than preventive services and support for health maintenance and well-being.”
—Bernice Weissbourd (20th century)