Nikki Hemming
Encyclopedia
Nikki Hemming is the CEO and part owner of Sharman Networks
and President of LEF Interactive, an agency based in Sydney
, Australia
, responsible for promoting and developing Kazaa
, a peer-to-peer
file sharing network, since 2002. As such, she has been a figure in the dispute between peer-to-peer networks and the music industry including a legal case between the Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA) and the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA).
She is also suing Jon Newton, founder and editor of Canada's p2pnet
, for alleged defamation http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5230776.stm.
in 1967, and she emigrated to Australia
in the early 1990s to work for Virgin Interactive
. Nikki had previously worked in setting up offices in Germany
, Spain
and South Africa
as well as working for Virgin Interactive and Grandslam Entertainment
in the UK before relocating to Sydney
. By 1997, Hemming was the CEO of Sega World, a now defunct theme park in the Darling Harbour district of the city. Sega World cost A$70 million to build but failed to attract sufficient visitors even during the Sydney Olympics
. After it closed in 2000, Hemming worked for Viacom
for a short while.
, which would be responsible for managing Sharman Networks.
Sharman Networks was established in Vanuatu
, with the stated intention of investing in Internet companies.
In March 2002, Sharman licenced Kazaa and the associated Fasttrack software from company founder Niklas Zennström
after Kazaa had been sued by every major record label and movie studio in the US.
As at March 2002, Sharman Networks had a decentralised structure which Hemming had set up. Hemming was the only public figure associated with the company and was widely believed to be the owner. The secretive nature of the new ownership arrangements meant that it took nearly a year for the record and movie industries to have enough information to take legal action against the company.
In the meantime, Kazaa had become popular, reaching an estimated 64 million downloads of the software with four million installations of the program running at any one time. By 2003, Kazaa was the ninth most popular website in the world (source ??).
In 2003, a judge in Los Angeles found that Kazaa was subject to US copyright rules. The US Supreme Court found in MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd.
decided during June 2005, that peer-to-peer networks such as Kazaa could be sued for copyright infringement. Although the justices could not agree whether it changed a previous ruling in, what is known as the "Betamax case" Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc.
that it is exempt if there are significant legitimate users of the technology.
Kazaa was originally a party but action was dropped against it because it was based in Vanuatu and Australia.
Hemming claims that she has offered to work with the recording industry to develop a secure system to download files. She signed a licensing deal with Altnet and Streamwaves
to allow the distribution of 20,000 songs.
Kazaa settled all of its outstanding legal issues together with Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom the original founders of Kazaa in August 2006 and all litigation ceased in Australia and the rest of the world.
Sharman Networks
Sharman Networks is a company headquartered in Australia and incorporated in Vanuatu. It owns the rights to the KaZaA file sharing software...
and President of LEF Interactive, an agency based in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, responsible for promoting and developing Kazaa
Kazaa
Kazaa Media Desktop started as a peer-to-peer file sharing application using the FastTrack protocol licensed by Joltid Ltd. and operated as Kazaa by Sharman Networks...
, a peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads among peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application...
file sharing network, since 2002. As such, she has been a figure in the dispute between peer-to-peer networks and the music industry including a legal case between the Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA) and the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
(RIAA).
She is also suing Jon Newton, founder and editor of Canada's p2pnet
P2pnet
p2pnet.net is an online news website which mainly covers stories which are relevant to peer-to-peer file sharing .p2pnet is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License, and as such actively encourages other sites to use its content, provided they keep within the...
, for alleged defamation http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5230776.stm.
Early career
She was born Nicola Anne Hemming in Northampton, EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1967, and she emigrated to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in the early 1990s to work for Virgin Interactive
Virgin Interactive
Virgin Interactive was a British video game publisher. It was formed as Virgin Games Ltd. in 1981. The company became much larger after purchasing the budget label, Mastertronic in 1987. It was part of the Virgin Group...
. Nikki had previously worked in setting up offices in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
as well as working for Virgin Interactive and Grandslam Entertainment
Grandslam Entertainment
Grandslam Entertainment was a computer and video games software house based in Britain. It was formed in late 1987 from the ashes of Argus Press Software by former Argus Managing Director, Stephen Hall. Grandslam developed and published many games for home computers during the 1980s and 1990s...
in the UK before relocating to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. By 1997, Hemming was the CEO of Sega World, a now defunct theme park in the Darling Harbour district of the city. Sega World cost A$70 million to build but failed to attract sufficient visitors even during the Sydney Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
. After it closed in 2000, Hemming worked for Viacom
Viacom
Viacom Inc. , short for "Video & Audio Communications", is an American media conglomerate with interests primarily in, but not limited to, cinema and cable television...
for a short while.
Sharman Networks
By 2002, Hemming had established LEF Interactive Pty Ltd, standing for Liberté, Égalité, FraternitéLiberté, égalité, fraternité
Liberté, égalité, fraternité, French for "Liberty, equality, fraternity ", is the national motto of France, and is a typical example of a tripartite motto. Although it finds its origins in the French Revolution, it was then only one motto among others and was not institutionalized until the Third...
, which would be responsible for managing Sharman Networks.
Sharman Networks was established in Vanuatu
Vanuatu
Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.Vanuatu was...
, with the stated intention of investing in Internet companies.
In March 2002, Sharman licenced Kazaa and the associated Fasttrack software from company founder Niklas Zennström
Niklas Zennström
Niklas Zennström is an entrepreneur best known for founding several high-profile online ventures with Janus Friis including Skype and Kazaa. More recently he founded the investment group Atomico and has become a significant figurehead for entrepreneurs in the tech sector.-Career:Zennström started...
after Kazaa had been sued by every major record label and movie studio in the US.
As at March 2002, Sharman Networks had a decentralised structure which Hemming had set up. Hemming was the only public figure associated with the company and was widely believed to be the owner. The secretive nature of the new ownership arrangements meant that it took nearly a year for the record and movie industries to have enough information to take legal action against the company.
In the meantime, Kazaa had become popular, reaching an estimated 64 million downloads of the software with four million installations of the program running at any one time. By 2003, Kazaa was the ninth most popular website in the world (source ??).
In 2003, a judge in Los Angeles found that Kazaa was subject to US copyright rules. The US Supreme Court found in MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd.
MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd.
MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd. 545 U.S. 913 is a United States Supreme Court decision in which the Court unanimously held that defendant P2P file sharing companies Grokster and Streamcast could be sued for inducing copyright infringement for acts taken in the course of marketing file sharing...
decided during June 2005, that peer-to-peer networks such as Kazaa could be sued for copyright infringement. Although the justices could not agree whether it changed a previous ruling in, what is known as the "Betamax case" Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc.
Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc.
Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc., 464 U.S. 417 , also known as the "Betamax case", is a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States which ruled that the making of individual copies of complete television shows for purposes of time-shifting does not constitute copyright...
that it is exempt if there are significant legitimate users of the technology.
Kazaa was originally a party but action was dropped against it because it was based in Vanuatu and Australia.
Hemming claims that she has offered to work with the recording industry to develop a secure system to download files. She signed a licensing deal with Altnet and Streamwaves
Streamwaves
Streamwaves is an online music service launched in 1999. Founded during file sharing service Napster's legal troubles, Streamwaves was the first company to license major label masters for a subscription service, and the first company to launch a subscription service with major label...
to allow the distribution of 20,000 songs.
Kazaa settled all of its outstanding legal issues together with Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom the original founders of Kazaa in August 2006 and all litigation ceased in Australia and the rest of the world.