A US Federal Court has ruled in favor of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) over an infringement case against Usenet.com. However, the summary judgment still does not include the penalty against the file-sharing website.
In its summary judgment rendered on Friday, the federal court found Usenet.com “guilty” of a number of infringement charges including explicit infringement of copyrighted materials and other incentive violations.
In an interview, RIAA Executive VOP and General Counsel Steven Marks said that the decision of the court only showed the value and importance of copyright law.
He also said that the court has protected the rights of music and video providers against individuals who are “notorious” in violating anti-copyright rules.
The VOP said that other people who engage in this kind of activities should take note of the decision and stop all their illegal actions.
Earlier reports told that Usenet.com has been doing everything it can to halt the process since they already knew the judgment will be against their favor.
The reports added that the internet company has been sending top employees and executives out of the country to delay the verdict.
If these executives were out of the country, they can be inaccessible for trials.They can also destroy all the important data that can hold the company liable to the offense, the reports added.
Originally intended for discussion groups using “old-age” messaging system, the website has turned into a commercial access provider where users can store and forward copyright materials to other people in the network.
The company could exercise its control over these copyrighted materials since it is stored in its own date base.
And unlike other P2P file-sharing applications such as BitTorrent, Usenet.com became a “safe haven” to all infringement violators.
The case was filed in October 2007 and sought for the total shut down of all the Usenet system including the Usenet.com.