SEM NewsKazaa owner seeks rapprochement with business
2003-11-18
Sharman Networks, the owner of the file sharing programme Kazaa, is launching a $1 million dollar advertising effort in an attempt to rehabilitate its image throughout the entertainment industry.
The company has been trying to induce music and film companies to distribute legitimate, copy-protected products through the Kazaa network, but there have been no takers so far.
The advertising seeks to depict Kazaa users not as pirates, but as customers who have 'embraced' the file sharing technology 'as a new and better way to get their entertainment.'
Sharman CEO Nikki Hemming told News.com that Sharman and Altnet, its marketing and technology partner, 'have experienced deafness on the part of the industry for way too long, and there's a point where you have to take action.'
The advertisements will appear in daily and student newspapers in Great Britain, Australia and America, as well as online at Yahoo! and other sites.
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