From Ray Beckerman : In Chicago, Illinois, a Kazaa customer has filed a class action against Kazaa, Lewan v. Sharman, U.S.Dist. Ct., N.D. Ill 06-cv-6736.

The lead plaintiff, Catherine Lewan, was a Kazaa customer who was sued by the RIAA for her use of Kazaa, and paid a settlement to the RIAA.

In her complaint she alleges, among other things, that

-Kazaa deceptively marketed its product as allowing "free downloads" (Complaint, par. 30);

-it designed the software in such a manner as to create a shared files folder and make that folder available to anyone using Kazaa, while at the same time failing to make the user aware that it had done so (Complaint, par. 36-37); and

-it surreptitiously installed "spyware" on users' computers which made the shared files folder accessible to the Kazaa network even after the user had removed the Kazaa software from his or her computer (Complaint, par. 42-45).

I honestly didn't see this one coming but I think there is actually a small chance that this will work. Granted, the software did offer legitimate free downloads and I'm quite certain the EULA goes a long way in covering Kazaa's ass, but it's a remote possibility.

Other interesting points of note:

-The Sharman Defendants knew most of the users of the KaZaA product would use the KaZaA product to catalog and store digital copies of copyrighted sound recordings and films  (par. 32)

-The Sharman Defendants encouraged, invited and solicited such conduct from the public, its members and users of the KaZaA product  (par. 33)

Full complaint here: http://www.ilrweb.com/viewILRPDF.asp?filename=lewan_sharman_061206Complaint

digg this storry!