Titan vs. Kazaa

Gay adult studio Titan Media, producers of the Fallen Angel and Manplay series, is getting serious about copyright infringement and going after Kazaa for allowing their files to be copied by users without enforcing spyware technology (see article).

Do you download or share porn video files? Do you worry about getting fined for illegally downloading porn like the music industry is doing? How should porn companies fight copyright infringement? Is Dred Scott hot or what?

From the Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15805-2004Jan14.html

Pirated Peep Shows

While hardly Oscar-worthy material, pirated versions of adult films are also ending up online, cutting into the profits of X-rated film makers. Pornographic film company Titan Media complained to Congress, claiming the operators of the Kazaa file-trading service "have not blocked users of the network from downloading its films, even though they have the technology to do so," Reuters reported. According to Titan Media, "Kazaa's owner, Sharman Networks, can closely monitor activity on the network through 'spyware' installed on users' computers and could use that capability to block its users from downloading copyrighted files. But Titan said in a letter to Congress that Sharman has not cooperated with a request to stop unauthorized copying of Titan's adult videos over its network Titan's letter, released late Monday, is the latest blow to Sharman as it battles charges that it facilitates widespread copyright abuse and the spread of child pornography over its Kazaa network. Millions use Kazaa to copy music, movies and other computer files from each others' hard drives, without paying royalties for copyrighted material."

Titan wants Sharman Networks to block 1,400 of its movies from being traded on Kazaa, the article said. A Kazaa spokesman declined to comment. But a different version of the Reuters article noted that Sharman Networks "has long maintained that it cannot control content on Kazaa because users connect directly with each other, not through company-owned computers. Kazaa does contain a filter to allow users to avoid offensive content."

UPDATE, 1:01 p.m. ET: A later feed of the Reuters report carried a quote from Sharman's outside counsel, who said copyright filters can be easily evaded. "Expert witnesses at a trial last year failed to prove that any filtering system could work, said Larry Hadley. ... 'When those people were deposed, it turned out to be a house of cards,' Hadley said."