Email: roman@escape.com
Tel: (212) 888-8780 ext. 888
January 22, 2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For His Subscriber's Website. The Owner of the Controversial Website Remains Unidentified by Federal Court.
Roman Kazan, the founder and owner of Escape.com / Kazan Corp. an Internet Service Provider is sued by 8 major movies studios (Universal City Studios, Inc.; Paramount Pictures Corporation; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.; Tristar Pictures, Inc.; Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.; Time Warner Entertainment Co., L.P.; Disney Enterprises, Inc.; and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation) for hosting a website which offered access to software allegedly allowing people to copy DVDs. Mr. Kazan has been identified by the Plaintiffs as the owner and operator of the controversial www.krackdown.com while in fact, the website is owned, developed and administered by James Thoms, an Escape.com subscriber.
Mr. Thoms learned about Mr. Kazan's trouble from a reporter who called Mr. Thom's telephone number featured on www.krackdown.com. On January 15, 2000 the website owner sent Mr. Kazan an e-mail message in which he stated he had no intention of harming Mr. Kazan who is merely listed as the technical contact for the website.
Mr. Kazan appeared before a U.S. District Court Judge in New York on January 20, 2000. Despite his numerous efforts to explain to Plaintiffs lawyers that he is only an Internet Service Provider, Mr. Kazan was made directly responsible and liable for the content published by Mr. Thoms. In fact Mr. Thoms removed the content related to DVD technology from his website on January 15, 2000.
The case has already attracted an enormous amount of attention from the media. Mr. Kazan is working with the Electronic Frontier Foundation on educating the public about the role of an ISP: as an ISP he is not responsible for content published by Escape.com's subscribers. Mr. Kazan is also receiving his legal defense from EFF lawyers working pro-bono. According to Mr. Kazan and his lawyers he "is not the proper person to be sued."
A larger story follows this news release.