Kazaa agrees $115m settlement

After five years of courtroom squabbles, unlicensed filesharing giant Kazaa has settled its differences with the entertainment industry, promising to go legitimate and install anti-piracy measures to prevent sharing of unauthorised copyright material.

Kazaa will pay an estimated US$115 million to settle the action brought by music companies, with a further undisclosed sum due to movie companies.

Kazaa's owner, Sharman Networks, will now discuss licensing and technical practicalities with rightsowners. The company's secure distribution partner Altnet has announced the Global File Registry (GFR) to allow rightsowners to block infringing music.