Aimster Suits on Hold After Bankruptcy Filing
A federal judge in Chicago called a temporary halt to the music and movie industries’ legal assault on Madster, the online file-swapping service formerly known as Aimster. The move came shortly after two of the targets of the industries’ copyright-infringement lawsuit--BuddyUSA Inc. and AbovePeer Inc., which operate Madster--filed for bankruptcy protection .
Matt Oppenheim, an attorney at the Recording Industry Assn. of America, predicted that Madster would meet the same fate as song-sharing service Napster, which a federal judge in San Francisco slapped with a pre-trial restraining order.
Aimster creator Johnny Deep, who runs BuddyUSA and AbovePeer, said the lawsuits and “unfair business practices” forced him to seek protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Deep said he plans to defend Madster by accusing the record companies of antitrust violations and copyright misuse, just as Napster’s lawyers have done.
