Int'l org battles 'Net music piracy

Group targeting repeat offenders

By ADAM SANDLER

Hoping to prevent pirated music on the Internet from becoming a worldwide problem, the Intl. Federation of the Phonographic Industry has set in motion a global anti-piracy effort.

As part of this global initiative, recording companies and associations worldwide will work together to ensure that music piracy cannot escape detection by merely crossing borders.

The Recording Industry Assn. of America, the domestic trade org, and IFPI will continue its targeted enforcement aimed at removing pirate music from the Internet.

"Internet piracy is no different than producing counterfeit compact discs," said Frank Creighton, RIAA senior veep and anti-piracy director. "Theft of creative rights is neither fair, nor legal, no matter how you do it, and we have been working aggressively to protect the rights of artists and recording companies on and offline."

The RIAA's online anti-piracy program targets sites that make pirated music widely available. Once a site is identified, the Internet Service Provider (ISP) hosting the infringing songs receives a notice, after which the site is usually taken down promptly.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act's expedited subpoena provision is allowing the RIAA to send out information subpoenas as part of an effort to track and shut down repeat offenders. The subpoenas are also intended to act as a deterrent to those hiding behind the anonymity of the Internet.

"Our goal is to discourage repeat offenders," said Creighton. "We are doing a good job finding pirated material and having it taken down, but the same people are bringing back new sites. We are hopeful that information subpoenas will discourage this activity."

Prior to enactment of the DMCA, it was difficult to learn the identity of those posting pirated material. Information subpoenas provide a streamlined process to work with the ISPs to identify those individuals.

Information subpoenas require the ISP providing access to a particular site to provide contact information for the site operator.

The RIAA will then use that information to send notice that the site must be removed and can also require the individual to pay an amount designed to help defray the costs of the RIAA Internet anti-piracy program.

In addition to a team of Internet specialists who peruse the online universe for violators, the RIAA also uses a 24-hour automated Web crawler and works closely with Internet posting services.