Update: About time that IFPI shutdown eDonkey servers in Germany, France and Netherlands right after the incident below.

For years P2P networks and site owners have suffered judgements from courts. As we thought things are growing brightly when iTunes, YouTube, Veoh, Mp3Tunes, etc. are looming to make P2P legal, here comes the German government cracking down on the ED2K network (original). I completely agree with cracking down on piracy, but under the banner of facilitators??

If I understood correctly, what it means is, sites and/or applications that allow a user to transfer files can be liable for copyright infringement due to its technical nature. An example would be MSN file sharing feature that allows users to transfer media files to another is in effect under copyright infringement! Many (web) applications we see this day facilitates such illegal file-sharing. Where and how do they draw the line?

At least it’s not as bad as America, where a company can sue you for using keyword tags.