Jari Ketola
30 Jan 2002 4:39
The Japanese music industry is facing the same problem as it's counterparts in the U.S. and Europe -- on-line music swapping. As always, the increased number of broadband internet subscribers, the introduction of song-swapping services, and a decline in record sales has forced the Japan Phonograph Record Association to consider countermeasures to get things under control.
The measures considered are familiar to everyone following the events in the U.S. -- suing the song-swapping service vendors, issuing copy-protected CDs, and offering pay-per-download music services.
A Japanese version of a service called File Rogue was launched last November and has since reached a user base of over 45,000. The fact that users can now fetch songs in Japanese has caused a turmoil in the Japanese music industry.
President of MMO Japan Ltd., the company behind File Rogue, Michihito Matsuda commented on the topic, "We are asking our subscribers not to violate copyrights. If our service itself is called illegal, then, it is also illegal to sell cars which can run at a speed of 180 kilometers per hour."
The successful lawsuits against Napster and other file-sharing services in the U.S. has encouraged the Japan Phonograph Record Association to study civil and criminal lawsuits against makers of sharing software and service providers. It's probably just a matter of time before we see actual lawsuits in Japan as well.
Source:
Japantoday
Related links:
File Rogue