Editing Kazaa (section)

== Transitional period ==

Kazaa's legal issues ended after a settlement of $100 million in reparations to the recording industry.<ref name="BBC"/> Without further recourse, and until the lawsuit was settled, the RIAA actively sued thousands of people across the U.S. for sharing copyrighted music over the network.<ref>{{cite web|title=RIAA v. The People: Five Years Later|url=https://www.eff.org/wp/riaa-v-people-five-years-later#7|website=Electronic Frontier Foundation|date=30 September 2008|access-date=1 November 2016}}</ref> Particularly, students were targeted and most were threatened with a penalty of $750 per song.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2018/03/21/xxx-what-happened-to-the-piracy-sites-that-nearly-destroyed-the-music-industry-part-3-kazaa/|title=The Piracy Sites That Nearly Destroyed The Music Industry: What Happened To Kazaa|last=McIntyre|first=Hugh|date=21 May 2018|website=Forbes|language=en|access-date=2019-05-21}}</ref> Although the lawsuits were mainly in the U.S., other countries also began to follow suit.<ref>{{cite web|title=Piracy and illegal file-sharing: UK and US legal and commercial responses|url=http://us.practicallaw.com/1-502-7956#a768346|website=Practical Law|access-date=1 November 2016}}</ref> Beginning in 2008, however, RIAA announced an end to individual lawsuits.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Anderson|first1=Nate|title=No more lawsuits: ISPs to work with RIAA, cut off P2P users|url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2008/12/no-more-lawsuits-isps-to-work-with-riaa-cut-off-p2p-users/|website=Ars Technica|date=19 December 2008|access-date=1 November 2016}}</ref>

While Napster lasted just three years, Kazaa survived much longer. However, the lawsuits (and a failed venture into a legal, monthly music subscription service similar to Napster)<ref name="BBC"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Sandoval |first1=Greg |title=Kazaa to return as subscription service |url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/kazaa-to-return-as-subscription-service/ |website=CNET |access-date=2022-09-21 |date=2009-07-17}}</ref> eventually ended the company.<ref name=":0" />