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Internet pirates new threat for music business

LONDON: Internet pirates are the big new threat to the music business, the industry's chief watchdog Jay Berman warned on Friday.

Pirates are freely plundering the $38 billion industry, costing artists and record companies $4.5 billion a year around the world, mainly in counterfeit compact discs, he said.

"For artists, this (the Internet) is an enormous opportunity to reach a dedicated audience but at the same time, they want to get paid," said Berman, chairman of IFPI, the record industry's international trade organisation that is urging governments urgently to tighten copywright laws.

"The time to deal with it is now," he told Reuters in an interview.

"At any one moment in time, it is safe to say there are one million unauthorised tracks available on the Internet. In cyberspace, we have no idea how many people are gaining access to those tracks. The size of the problem is staggering."

On the day that Britain's record industry gathered for its annual award ceremony, Berman had a stark warning for pop stars: "Speak out. It is your career at stake."

The artists are listening. French composer Jean-Michel Jarre joined the Irish pop group The Corrs to plead for tougher laws in the European parliament. British singers from The Spice Girls to Robbie Williams signed a petition.

The industry thrives on hype and spends millions promoting blockbuster albums. Flamboyant rock stars revel in conspicuous consumption. But Berman pointed out this was only one side of the coin.

"It is a very risky business. Record companies put out 10 albums and only one of those succeeds. It is that one which in effect supports everything else. If you diminish that, you have cut off funding," he said.

The IFPI is campaigning worldwide to get governments to sign up to tougher copywright laws, for the Internet pirate roaming cyberspace knows no boundaries.

"You can put up a site any place. You can reach the world from anywhere and that is the danger. As countries modernise their laws, you will find service providers will go to the country of least resistance," Berman said.

On the international copywright front: "We have succeeded in the United States. They have an adequate law," he said.

"In the rest of the world, we are about halfway towards reaching the target of 30 countries needed to put international treaties into effect."

Stamping out piracy is vital, the IFPI argued, so that consumers, record companies and retailers could all do business with confidence on the Internet, especially as the industry is now fast expanding its sales on the information superhighway.

And the organisation is quick to point out that court cases over the past year in France, Belgium, The United States and Switzerland showed that Internet pirates can be cracked down on.-Reuters