After a four month wait, it’s here. Peruse the 526 paragraph behemoth for yourself. More comments to follow.

Executive summary:

(i) despite the fact that the Kazaa website contains warnings against the sharing of copyright files, and an end user licence agreement under which users are made to agree not to infringe copyright, it has long been obvious that those measures are ineffective to prevent, or even substantially to curtail, copyright infringements by users. The respondents have long known that the Kazaa system is widely used for the sharing of copyright files;

(ii) there are technical measures (keyword filtering and gold file flood filtering) that would enable the respondents to curtail –- although probably not totally to prevent –- the sharing of copyright files. The respondents have not taken any action to implement those measures. It would be against their financial interest to do so. It is in the respondents’ financial interest to maximise, not to minimise, music file-sharing. Advertising provides the bulk of the revenue earned by the Kazaa system, which revenue is shared between Sharman Networks and Altnet.

(iii) far from taking steps that are likely effectively to curtail copyright file-sharing, Sharman Networks and Altnet have included on the Kazaa website exhortations to users to increase their file-sharing and a webpage headed ‘Join the Revolution’ that criticises record companies for opposing peer-to-peer file-sharing. They also sponsored a ‘Kazaa Revolution’ campaign attacking the record companies. The revolutionary material does not expressly advocate the sharing of copyright files. However, to a young audience, and it seems that Kazaa users are predominantly young people, the effect of this webpage would be to encourage visitors to think it ‘cool’ to defy the record companies by ignoring copyright constraints.

In short:

[521] Accordingly, I propose to make an order restraining the six infringing respondents from further infringing the applicants’ copyright in any sound recordings …

[522] There will be orders providing, in effect, that continuation of the Kazaa Internet file-sharing system will not be regarded as a contravention of the general injunctive order if the system is first modified, in a manner agreed by the applicants or approved by the Court, to ensure keyword filtering or gold file flood filtering. To allow this to happen, the operation of the injunction will be stayed for two months.

[523] The copyright claims will be dismissed as against Sharman Holdings, Mr Morle, BDE Pty Ltd and Mr Rose.