James Delahunty
22 Jan 2006 16:55
The chairman of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), John Kennedy, has said that legal advances and key victories worldwide in the recording industry's fight against illegal file sharing were helping to contain the problem. He made his comments at the MIDEM music trade fair in Cannes. He called on Internet service providers to begin blocking Internet access to persistent illegal file sharers and condemned the French proposals to legalise online sharing of copyrighted music and movies.
Kennedy said that judgments by four courts in Australia, Korea and the United States represented "a real sea change world-wide" that would help the digital music business to grow. "We believe we are containing the problem," he said. He said that the 20,000 lawsuits against individuals in 17 separate countries "are changing consumers' attitudes". Legal downloads of single music tracks more than doubled in 2005 to 240 million.
As for the French proposals, Kennedy said he was optimistic that the French wouldn't go through with it. He said the move would kill the French music Industry. "I can't believe that at the end of the day, the French government will want this," he said. According to EMI Europe chief executive officer Jean-Francois Cecillon, just 20 million of the 1 billion tracks downloaded in France in 2005 were legally bought.
Source:
Yahoo