Kazaa decided if it was going to be dragged into US federal courts, it would go in with guns blazing. It filed its own lawsuit yesterday against the major record labels and movie studios, alleging that they have colluded to drive potential online rivals out of business and they should be precluded from being able to defend their copyrights in court. Kazaa and its partners met repeatedly with industry reps in 2002 to obtain the rights to licensed content but were shut out – just as the industry has shut out or shut down other independent companies seeking to distribute legal online content. The only companies allowed to survive have been their own creations, crippled and unpopular services like Rhapsody. Judge Patel expressed some antitrust concerns about the online services created by the entertainment industry during the Napster litigation. Here’s an article with more information about Kazaa’s counterattack.
