There's a lot of differing evidence when it comes to P2P usage, but the latest report on the whole thing suggests that, despite those high profile and high cost litigation campaigns against people who share music via P2P networks, overall usage, in the
US at least, is up.
The study, released by P2P news source Slyck.com, says that leading
P2P networks eDonkey2000, DirectConnect, FastTrack, Gnutella and Overnet have all experienced increased usage in the last year. They reckon the total number of P2P users is now 8.5 million, almost double the estimated 4.5 million users using P2P in Jan
2003 before most of the litigation began.
While reports on P2P usage are rarely all that accurate, the general consensus that there is an increase in usage is backed up elsewhere, in particular by the latest reports from P2P tracking firm BigChampagne and research company Ipsos-Insight, and in a report by the University of California Riverside.
That news is likely to give the Recording Industry Association of
America, who have now launched over 10,000 lawsuits against alleged file sharers, an increased impetus to pursue changes in US copyright law to aid them in their fight against the illegal sharing of copyright music online.
They will also, presumably, be watching with interest the ongoing court case against Kazaa owners Sharman Networks in Australia.
As previously reported, the music industry in Oz is suing Sharman over allegations that, by creating Kazaa, they are guilty of copyright violation. Allegations Sharman, of course, continually dispute on the grounds that Kazaa has legitimate uses and that therefore they cannot be held liable if and when consumers use their software for illegal purposes. It's an old argument that has rarely been won by the music business in past court cases, but this one is more interesting because Sharman have an administrative base in Australia and are therefore having to comply more proactively with the courts.
The music industry are currently trying to force Sharman boss **Nikki
Hemming** into the witness stand in a bid to reveal all sorts of shady goings on at the company, and in particular that, the software company could, if they wished, track and stop copyright violation committed with the Kazaa software. The labels have won the right to a hearing in the Federal Court to present their case that Hemming should be called to court. It will be interesting to see if they succeed and, if they do, what any Hemming testimony would reveal.