Taiwanese P2P Wins Copyright Infringement Case

While the week started with a loss for Grokster, it ends with a legal victory for the Taiwanese file-sharing service ezPeer. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) in Taiwan had filed a lawsuit for copyright infringement against ezPeer, which offers unlimited donwloads to paying subscribers. Yesterday a District Court ruled that ezPeer "did not engage in reproducing or publicly distributing works of copyright holders," according to this news report. "The court also said that current laws and regulations do not specifically ban or limit file-sharing activities." A lawsuit against Taiwan's largest P2P service, Kuro, has yet to be decided.

Of course, the IFPI Taiwan is hugely disappointed, and legal experts are already mentioning the Grokster decision as an example to follow. Considering that ezPeer actually generates money directly from its subscribers, I guess the Grokster standard would not even be needed...if US law would apply.

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Background: Battle against music piracy heats up in Taiwan (The Industry Standard)
File-sharing sites plan to form P2P group next year (Tapei Times)