Australian record firms fight to shut down file-sharer

SOLICITORS for Australia’s recording industry branded the popular Kazaa computer file-swapping network “an engine of copyright piracy to a degree of magnitude never before seen” as they launched a court battle yesterday to shut down its activities.

Kazaa's owners claim the network's 100 million worldwide users download 3bn files each month, said Tony Bannon, representing Australia's six major record labels.

Network users freely exchange songs and movies without paying royalties to copyright owners.