New KaZaA downloads upgrade Kate Mackenzie FEBRUARY 12, 2002 THE Australian company that bought popular file-sharing software KaZaA has launched the first new version of the program since it made the purchase. Sharman Networks made the announcement via a Californian company today. It said KaZaA 1.5 allowed users to recommend media files to other users, had a faster search function and loaded quicker than earlier versions. Sharman Networks bought KaZaA from Dutch company Consumer Empowerment DV, which developed the FastTrack technology used in other file sharing programs Morpheus and Grokster. Consumer Empowerment and two US companies, which own Morpheus and Grokster, became the subject of a legal claim by the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association last October. Although little information about Sharman Networks has been made available, its chief executive Nikki Hemming also headed the failed Sega World theme park in Sydney's Darling Harbour. "The demand for the KaZaA Media Desktop continues to exceed our expectations with close to 1.5 million downloads a week," Ms Hemming said in the statement.
