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LamaBox P2P media playin' lawsuit in a box


LamaBox

Whoa Nelly, here's a little sumtin' sumtin' to get the attention of the MPAA and RIAA litigation gestapo: Dutch company LamaBox is launching today what they are claiming to be the world's first media player with built-in peer-2-peer functionality. It plugs directly into your TV, provides search and download support for all the major P2P services you'd expect including Bittorrent and Kazaa, ships with a DVD burner and up to 400GB with 2 additional IDE connections for expansion, and is said to play "any format" of image/audio/video files found on the Internet. You may remember that Grokster was taken down due to their file sharing app and for subjectively taking "affirmative steps to foster infringement." So LamaBox is easy prey, eh? Not so fast, see the Dutch supreme court ruled long ago in favor of the then Netherlands-based Kazaa and only classifies the upload of copyrighted material as illegal. As the LamaBox FAQ responds to the question of the legality of downloading films and music, "downloading from the Internet is always legal." Those free-livin' straight-talkin' Dutch are offering the low end 40GB LamaBox 400 for €279/$329 or a 400GB top-end LamaBox 900 with DVD burner for €479/$565. Expect 'em to ship with a subpoena if they ever come Stateside — you know how the MPAA and RIAA roll.

[Via GadgetZone, Thanks Robert]